Seaford runs away with county championship

Two clutch plays on its opening drive set the tone for what proved to be a convincing championship win for Seaford in last Saturday’s Nassau County Conference IV football finals against Cold Spring Harbor.

Facing a third-and-11 three plays into the game, senior quarterback Tim Navin found junior wide receiver Kyle Britton, who fought for extra yards to gain a crucial first down just past midfield. Three snaps later, Britton executed a reverse on a third-and-nine for 10 yards.

The 7:12 opening drive eventually capped by a 25-yard field goal from Jake Anzelone provided the first points for Seaford en route to a commanding 30-6 win at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium against the same Cold Spring Harbor team that handled the Vikings their lone regular season defeat. Seaford (10-1), which is county champions for the first time since 2019, will now play for a Long Island title this Saturday at Stony Brook’s Lavalle Stadium.

“We pride ourselves on opening up the game strong,” said senior running back Aiden Calvacca, who rushed for 170 yards and a touchdown. “We knew we had to make a strong impact to start the game and keep the momentum going.” 

The big early completion from Navin to Britton proved to be the only pass Seaford would throw all game thanks to a dominant run game led by Calvacca and sophomore Brian Falk, who amassed 143 yards on the ground and three touchdowns.

Early in the second quarter, Falk executed the first of his three downs from seven yards out. Cold Spring Harbor then threatened to get back in the game on the ensuing drive before Louis Cannata recovered a fumble at the Seaford nine-yard line with 5:01 left. Falk then capped a 91-yard drive with a direct snap eight-yard touchdown run for a 17-0 halftime lead.

Falk’s third touchdown run from 2 yards out early in the third quarter stretched the advantage to 23-0. Calvacca finished off the scoring with a three-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.

“They are both tough runners to take down,” third-year Seaford head coach Mike Corcoran said of Falk and Calvacca. “You can’t really load up on one.”

The dominant rushing attack was powered by the Vikings’ offensive line of Anthony Janes, Jake Quinn, Justin DiScala, Rob McNamara and Mike Villeck along with tight ends Devin O’Donnell and Justin Betz.
The county finals played out far differently than Seaford’s 13-7 loss to Cold Spring Harbor on Sept. 30 when both Falk and Calvacca were held to under 100 yards.

Seaford will next vie for the program's first Long Island crown since 2017 on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. against two-time defending champion Bayport-Blue Point, which hasn’t lost a game in two years. However the next game plays out, the 2023 Vikings will go down as champions who were rewarded for hard work after last year’s disappointing county semifinal loss to West Hempstead.

“We haven't won the county championship since 2019 and we knew that and wanted it bad,” Calvacca said. “Immediately after last season we got to work and got together on the field and weight room and we really put it together.”