MacArthur block party beats Elmont

With a steady wind gusting to the tune of 40 mph, MacArthur workhorse Hugh Kelleher had his number called 31 times and produced 190 rushing yards against an Elmont defense that often bent but never broke in last Saturday’s Nassau Conference II football playoff mathchup.

But the last time Kelleher touched the ball proved special. He scooped up a punt blocked by fellow junior Mike Esposito and returned it 15 yards for the game-winning touchdown with 1:35 remaining in regulation as the Generals punched their ticket to the semifinals at Hofstra with a 7-0 home victory.

“I thought we were headed for overtime,” said Kelleher, who came within a shoestring tackle of getting into the end zone a few minutes earlier. “It’s great,” he added. “Mike made a great play to break through the line and get his body on the ball. And when it bounced right to me I wanted to make sure I ran it in because we weren’t able to finish before.”

Kelleher carried 10 times on MacArthur’s previous possession, including a 24-yard run to set up first-and-goal from the Elmont 10. The Spartans (5-4) held him to five yards on the next three carries, and the Generals (6-3) came away empty when a well-struck 22-yard field goal try by junior Brian Carroll was blown wide-left.

Carroll drilled the extra-point attempt and then pinned Elmont inside its own 5 on the ensuing kickoff. Then on first down, senior Justin DeMaria sealed MacArthur’s third playoff win over Elmont since 2012 with an interception.

“It was a crazy ending, but it doesn’t matter how we did it,” MacArthur head coach Bob Fehrenbach said. “The conditions made it difficult on the offenses. I thought it might come down to special teams.”

The Generals will face No. 2 Carey on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at Hofstra. Two-time defending champion Garden City, riding a 33-game winning streak, faces No. 6 Calhoun in the other semi.

“We’ve had some tough losses on this field,” Elmont head coach Jay Hegi said. “MacArthur always seems to find a way to beat us. It’s disappointing. Our defense played lights-out.”

The Spartans put their best drive together early in the fourth behind senior Jalon Rease, who got the bulk of carries with senior Jaiyetoro Gordon-Younge hobbled by an ankle injury suffered in the regular-season finale. However, on fourth-and-1 from the MacArthur 24, a quarterback sneak went nowhere and the hosts took over on downs.

“That was probably the game right there,” Hegi said. “Our kicker [senior Elekwa Onwuchekwa] was bombing the ball all day and we were getting close to field-goal range.”

MacArthur’s defensive front four — seniors Justin Goodwin and Matt Prue along with sophomores Andrew Calderon and Greg Milan — was as difficult to solve as the wind. Seniors Klay Dehaney, Emmanuel Fleming, James Pierre (sack) and Jaden Beausejour (interception) led Elmont’s unit.

“We weren’t able to finish our drives, but we found a way to finish the game,” Fehrenbach said.