North Shore, 2-1, trending upward

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After a disappointing start, the North Shore football team regrouped, rallied, and came together as a unit to take back its next two games to bring the record over .500, something it couldn’t boast until Week 5 of last season.

“After our first game, we really came together as a family and realized what we had to do,” head coach Dan Agovino said. “We had to get back to the X’s and O’s, and back to the basics like conditioning.”

Conditioning is a huge part of Agovino’s and Offensive Coordinator Bill Madigan’s style: fast, explosive, and fully loaded. That offense is led by senior quarterback Dan Livoti. “The kid is a true leader,” said Agovino. “After the first game, he just had to settle down and focus on his strengths.”

North Shore’s unsuccessful opener came against Plainedge, and Agovino made no frills regarding his team’s uninspired performance. “We didn’t play with a lot of energy, we didn’t capitalize on our opportunities to make plays; Plainedge beat us,” he said.

On a day where Plainedge rushed for over 300 yards, Agovino said it was important for his team to realize the mistakes before Week 2.

In the oncoming week of practice, the Vikings were working out the kinks, and familiarizing themselves with new areas of the game. “We are a young team, we’ve got a few guys jumping from JV to varsity, and we’ve got a few guys learning a new position,” Agovino said.

The week of refocusing the group paid dividends, as the Vikings scored an impressive victory over a game Floral Park team. “They are a very good team who beat Valley Stream North, which is another very good team,” Agovino said. “They have some great athletes and a quarterback who can scramble, but I don’t think we let him scramble once.”

That defensive success started with junior outside linebacker Marc Aufiero, who played a key role in pressuring the quarterback while also keeping him contained.

“He was on fire, coming downhill and pressuring Floral Park. He played good mental football,” Agovino said.

Besides playing good containment, Livoti had over 200 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, including a 22-yard touchdown throw to running back Will Scarola. A junior, Scarola also rushed the ball 11 times for 76 yards and a touchdown. Senior wide receiver Luca Marra caught 4 passes for 84 yards and a score. He also sealed the deal with a late-game interception to secure a win in the home opener.

North Shore’s latest success came in the form of a 42-0 rout of Division last Saturday. The scoreboard read 15-0 within 27 seconds of the game clock thanks to a 75-yard kickoff return touchdown by Marra and an ensuing onside kick recovery that led to a 6-yard Scarola touchdown run.

“We said we wanted to come out explosive,” Agovino said. Scarola finished with 151 yards on 13 totes for 2 scores (11.6 YPC), while Livoti completed 8 percent of his passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns. Marra also added a 24-yard touchdown catch on top of his kick-return touchdown, while younger brother Max added a 19-yard scoring reception as well.