South Side falls to Division

Mike Purpura had rushing and receiving touchdowns, a pair of two-point conversions and led a Division ground attack that amassed nearly 250 yards last Saturday in a 37-14 victory at South Side in a Conference III football game.

Purpura had 103 yards on 18 carries and keyed a late second-quarter scoring drive by accounting for all but 13 of 58 yards. The Cyclones, playing in front of a spirited Homecoming crowd, answered Purpura’s first-quarter touchdown with an impressive drive but were unable to muster any additional offense until the fourth.

“We’re such a young team and a lot of kids are progressing nicely,” South Side head coach Phil Onesto said. “At one point during the game I noticed we had just one senior [Sam Dantona] playing on defense. That shows how young we are.”

After Purpura opened the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run to give the visitors a 7-0 lead, the Cyclones (0-5) responded on their first possession of the afternoon. Senior quarterback Peter Malizia capped a long drive with a 6-yard touchdown plunge, and junior Tasheen Moore added the extra point to pull the hosts even at 7-7.

“Peter has done a real nice job,” Onesto said of Malizia, who has 650 yards passing and nine total touchdowns in 2015.

South Side’s celebration didn’t last long, however, as Division’s Chris DeMilia returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown. The Dragons led 23-7 at halftime thanks to quarterback Vinny Inciarrano’s 2-yard touchdown run and Purpura’s second straight two-point conversion.

Inciarrano completed only two passes against the Cyclones, but one was a 28-yard touchdown strike to Purpura in the third quarter. Will Torres added a touchdown for Division, which improved to 3-2. South Side put together another scoring drive in the fourth quarter, capped by Moore’s 20-yard touchdown jaunt.

“We play Division at their place in a couple of weeks and we need to be more consistent and cut down on penalties,” Onesto said.

South Side will try to avoid falling behind for a sixth consecutive game when it travels to North Shore this Saturday for a 2 p.m. kickoff. The teams also met in Week 2 and the Vikings prevailed in an offensive slugfest, 45-26.

The Cyclones fell behind 21-0 in the first quarter but fought back with three of the game’s next four touchdowns and trailed 28-20 in the second quarter before North Shore pulled away. Malizia had a 30-yard touchdown run and also hooked up with senior Jose Bisono on a 25-yard scoring toss. Senior Danny Diaz busted a 70-yard touchdown run, and in the fourth quarter Malizia connected with junior Joe Licalzi for a 5-yard touchdown.

In a Week 4 home loss to Lynbrook, the Cyclones showed some grit after falling behind 35-0 to score the game’s final 20 points. Malizia had touchdown passes to Licalzi (18 yards) and Bisono (21), and senior Brandon Bryan added a 52-yard touchdown run. 

After back-to-back road games, South Side concludes the season at home versus Hewlett on Friday, Oct. 30 at 5:30 p.m.