Wantagh upsets Garden City

History doesn’t always repeat itself.

Wantagh’s football team is proof.

The Warriors ended a 19-game losing streak against Garden City dating back to the mid-1970s, including playoff defeats in each of the past six years, with a thrilling 18-13 over the previously unbeaten Trojans last Friday night in a Nassau Conference II semifinal at Hofstra.

Senior quarterback Robert Tucker’s 64-yard touchdown pass to senior Dylan Beckwith with 9:12 remaining provided the difference for fourth-seeded Wantagh (8-2), which advanced to meet neighboring MacArthur, the No. 3 seed, in the championship game this Friday at 7 p.m. at Hofstra. The Warriors last won a county title in 2004; the Generals in ’02.

“I just had to get Dylan the ball,” said Tucker, who went 8-for-12 for 118 yards and two touchdowns. “The offensive line did a great job keeping the play going. I rolled out and lobbed it up, and as soon as I saw him get behind the defense, I knew it was a touchdown.”

Wantagh’s defense, led by juniors Joe Valenti (nine tackles) and Sean Colbert (eight), held No. 1 Garden City (9-1) without a first down over its last two possessions. When quarterback Tim Schmelzinger’s fourth-and-1 pass fell incomplete at the Trojans’ 25-yard line with just over a minute left, the Warriors jumped for joy.

“It feels great,” Wantagh head coach Keith Sachs said. “It was a tremendous back-and-forth game. I’ve always thought we had a good team, and we’ve improved throughout the year.

“I just wanted us to play well tonight,” he added. “If it turned out not to be good enough to win, we could still hold our heads up high.”

The Warriors fell behind early when Schmelzinger capped an 89-yard game-opening drive with a 4-yard touchdown run, but they trailed only 7-6 at halftime following senior Kyle Sliwak’s 13-yard score late in the second quarter. The drive, which started at the Wantagh 29, would’ve imploded if not for senior Bruno Surace’s (82 yards) fumble recovery on the first snap.

Sliwak (152 yards) got the second half started with a bang, busting up the middle for 54 yards to move the offense into the red zone. Three plays later, Tucker found junior Jimmy Joyce on a fade route for a 3-yard touchdown that produced a 12-7 lead.

Garden City answered right away, taking a 13-12 lead midway through the third quarter on Schmelzinger’s 11-yard touchdown run, but the Trojans never found their way into Wantagh territory again.

“The defense kept us in it for the first time in a long time,” Sachs said. “We ran and blocked well, and our quarterback made some huge throws.”