Seaford rolls into county final

Led by the elusive running of Danny Roell, Seaford grounded its way to a convincing semifinal win against Clarke on Nov. 12 to reach the Nassau County Conference IV championship.

The 5-9 164-pound Roell rushed for 204 yards in the first half with four touchdowns to help the Vikings roll to a 49-14 victory at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium. The senior running back paced a ground attack that amassed 399 yards to help punch the Vikings’ ticket to the county finals versus top-seeded Locust Valley at Hofstra Thursday evening in a 7 p.m. kickoff.

“Our offensive line and lead backs, whoever we have gone against, they have just killed so that has been big factor in my running,” Roell said. “We have so much enthusiasm throughout practice and that is what gets us to win these games.”

Roell opened the scoring with a 25-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-11-draw-play. His 7-yard scoring run late in the second quarter increased Seaford’s lead to 42-0 at halftime.

“He is one of the best backs on Long Island,” Seaford head coach Rob Perpall said of Roell. “He has moves inside and outside.”

Senior fullback Frank Lauretti also contributed to Seaford’s dominant run game with two first half touchdowns. Lauretti’s 1-yard touchdown plunge following a Kevin Digney fumble recovery at the Clarke 31 extended the Viking lead to 14-0. He then raced into the end zone on an 8-yard dash late in the first quarter for a 21-0 advantage.

Clarke (7-3) entered the semifinals riding a five-game winning streak including a 43-6 first round win against Carle Place/Wheatley. The loss to Seaford ended the career of All-County senior running back Aaron Dawson, who ran for 326 yards in the first round win. Dawson was limited to 121 yards by Seaford’s staunch defense with more than half coming on a 72-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter that made the score 49-7.

“He’s had a great career,” said Clarke head coach John Boyle of Dawson. “As good a player as he is, he is a better person.”

Seaford also held Dawson in check during its first meeting (32 yards rushing) in a 26-7 win on Sept. 19. Perpall credits defensive coordinator George Duquette for focusing his players on plans to largely shut down one of the area’s top running backs.

“He’s a great player so we had to give it everything we had and it worked,” Perpall said.  “It was a team effort.”

For Seaford to capture its first county title since 2010, it will need to defeat Locust Valley, which won the regular-season matchup, 33-20, on Oct. 16.

“We want this county championship really bad,” Roell said. “It would mean everything to us.”