Seaford caps perfect September

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Seaford has picked up right where it left off a season removed from a Long Island title.

A 35-16 win at Carle Place/Wheatley last Saturday moved the Vikings to 4-0 at the midway point of the new season and extended the program’s overall winning streak to 10 games.

While the winning ways are continuing, longtime head coach Rob Perpall sees room for improvement before the playoffs when Seaford will be eyeing a repeat Long Island championship and third straight county crown.

“We have a lot of miles to go,” said Perpall, who has captured seven Conference IV titles and two Long Island championships in his nearly two decades leading the Seaford sideline. “Hopefully we will get there by the playoffs.”

The most dramatic of Seaford’s four first half wins featured a 28-21 come-from-behind win against eight-seeded West Hempstead on Sept. 14 in a rematch of the Vikings’ 14-12 first round playoff win over the Rams. 

The Vikings trailed 21-14 with four minutes left before Ryan Butler reached the end zone on a four-yard touchdown run. A missed extra point meant Seaford still trailed 21-20, but Thomas Viscio recovered the ensuing onside kick, which led to the winning touchdown pass from quarterback Logan Masters to Luke DiCapua.

“That’s the best eight-seed I have ever seen,” said Perpall of West Hempstead. “It was great to show we have the ability to come back.”

A major reason for Seaford’s hot start has been the rushing ability of senior running back Joe Angelastro, who achieved 305 yards in a 34-12 win against Clarke on Sept. 21 and 153 yards in the West Hempstead victory. Angelastro was an integral part of Seaford’s championship march last fall with 133 yards in

the Long Island Class IV title game at Hofstra.

“He hasn’t missed a step,” Perpall said of Angelastro. “He is the hardest worker.”

Masters has also kept up his strong play from last year leading an explosive Seaford offense.  The junior signal-caller threw for 112 yards in the West Hempstead win and ran for a 7-yard touchdown to open the scoring in Seaford’s latest win at Carle Place/Wheatley.

“He is doing a terrific job leading the offense,” Perpall said of Masters. ‘He stays within himself.”

Masters has plenty of offensive weapons to turn to between Angelastro, DiCapua. Butler, Viscio, Andrew Volpi and Tim Russell.  The offense is led upfront by the strong blocking of offensive linemen Sean Kelley, Nick Brandi, Joe Cain, Paul Scaccia, Nick Sylvester and DiCapua at tight end.

Perpall credits his assistant coaches Mike Urio, Mike Wimmer and Brian Gilbert for positioning Seaford for the chance to earn the top seed for the upcoming Conference IV playoffs.  The Vikings kickoff the second half of the season Saturday evening at home against Cold Spring Harbor at 6 p.m. in a rematch of last year’s county finals.

“Every game we play is a challenging game,” Perpall said. “We play the best teams in the conference.”