Rams pull away from Rocks

There wasn’t much excitement early in last Friday’s Nassau Conference IV football first-round playoff matchup between West Hempstead and East Rockaway, but a late opening-quarter punt pinned the Rocks at their own 5-yard line and set up the game’s first score.

Senior Noah Beaubrun’s interception on the second play of the second quarter gave the Rams possession inside the red zone, and senior Brendan Sheeler’s 9-yard touchdown reception broke a scoreless tie and set the tone in a convincing 42-7 victory. Senior Thomas Cannisi rushed for 140 yards and two touchdowns for West Hempstead (6-3), which advanced to the semifinals for the third time in six years and will face Locust Valley on Thursday at 4 p.m. at Hofstra.

“It was a defensive struggle for a while,” Rams head coach Dom Carre said. “We made a couple of big plays in the first half and were able to wear them out in the second half.”

The first significant play came off the foot of Sheeler, whose 62-yard punt with less than a minute remaining in the first quarter led to a key turnover and his scoring grab over the middle on senior quarterback Ryan Sandberg’s third-down strike. Sheeler then kicked his first of six successful extra points.

“I thought the punt and interception gave them momentum,” East Rockaway head coach Russ Pajer said. “It was a very defensive game up until that point. 

“Our kids gave everything they had,” he added. “It was a good year. We really didn’t know what we had coming in and we ended up with five wins and a home playoff game.” 

The Rocks (5-4) took the field shorthanded — All-County junior tight end/linebacker Tommy Rogers broke a thumb in the regular-season finale — and lost another two-way starter on their second offensive possession when senior Scott Ovental went down with a shoulder injury after a 20-yard catch.

East Rockaway had a huge punt of its own midway through the second quarter, a 48-yard effort off the foot of freshman Dylan Henshaw that pinned West Hempstead at its 11. But a 20-yard burst by Cannisi gave the Rams breathing room and they drove 89 yards on seven plays to take a 14-0 lead. A 20-yard reception by senior Nicholas Magaraci set up Cannisi’s 33-yard touchdown run with 1:56 left in the half.

West Hempstead, which beat the Rocks 28-14 on Oct. 10, broke things open early in the third quarter. Sandberg’s 24-yard touchdown pass to Beaubrun capped the opening drive of the second half, and then after senior Michael Staines recovered the ensuing kickoff around midfield, senior Vincent Messina capped the next drive with a 3-yard scoring run. “We didn’t intend to kick onside,” Carre said. “We wanted to hit a line drive and muffed it.”

The Rocks got on the board with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter when senior quarterback Michael Del Gais broke outside for a 56-yard touchdown run. Cannisi and sophomore Lincoln Jerome had touchdown runs in the fourth.

“They’ve got a solid team,” Pajer said. “A lot of their coaches are East Rockaway guys, so we always wish them well.”