Oceanside blanked by Freeport

With consecutive victories over Uniondale and Hicksville to get the 2011 season started, the Oceanside Sailors made a bit of a statement.

For Oceanside, which lost 20 seniors from a team that advanced to the Conference I semifinals a season ago, this wasn’t a year to rebuild it was one to reload.

The Sailors got their first big test as two-time defending Long Island champion Freeport came to town last Friday night. But, sometimes the bright lights and big stage take a little getting used to.

Senior captain Jere Brown scored two touchdowns and threw for a third to lead the top-seeded Red Devils to a 20-0 victory in a Nassau Conference I matchup played in a frog-strangling downpour at Oceanside. Quarterback John Grassi rushed for 55 yards on eight carries to lead the offense for the hosts. Senior Alex Meller had eight tackles and a sack. Hector Quintin added seven tackles. Freeport improved to 3-0.

Rob Blount, who saw his team get blanked for the first time since taking over as head coach three years ago, thought the Sailors may have been caught up in the moment. “You have a lot of guys who were playing in a big game situation for the first time,” Blount said. “It showed in some of the penalties we took, and some of the big plays we gave up. We really killed ourselves. You can’t make mistakes against Freeport and expect to win. They capitalize on mistakes.”

It didn’t take long for the Red Devils to show their big-play capability. After the Sailors could muster just four yards on their opening drive, they were forced to punt. Brown ran up to catch the short kick at midfield, broke through the first line of coverage, and sprinted down the left sideline untouched for a touchdown. Ferdy Torres’s kick gave Freeport a 7-0 lead just 1:47 into the game.