53.0°,
Mostly Cloudy East Rockaway tops West Hempstead
Rocks advance to semifinals
It’s back to Hofstra for the Rocks.
Senior Nick Ulip ran for 74 yards and scored twice to lead a ground attack that amassed 244 yards as No. 6 East Rockaway traveled to West Hempstead and knocked off the No. 3 Rams 36-21 in a Conference IV first-round playoff game last Saturday.
With the win the Rocks advanced to the semifinals where they will take on No. 1 Locust Valley Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Hofstra. Ulip and senior Luke Fahrenkrug combined for 141 yards on the ground. Senior defensive end Josh Warner had two sacks, and junior David McClure has six tackles to lead the defense.
“Our defense played very well,” East Rockaway head coach Russ Pajer said. “We have a lot of guys who can make plays, and they got it done today. One of the goals of this team was to get back to Hofstra. We’re there now, but we’d like to do more.”
The Rocks got on the board first. After stopping the Rams on their first drive, East Rockaway needed just seven plays to march 68 yards to the end zone. Ulip took a pitch to the right and went 16 yards for the score. Senior John Neckles, who was perfect on all four of his extra-point attempts, nailed the PAT to give the Rocks a 7-0 lead.
West Hempstead went three-and-out on its next drive and again was forced to punt. This time, senior Danny McClure broke through and blocked the punt to give East Rockaway the ball at West Hempstead’s 29-yard line. Four plays later, the Rocks made it 14-0 when Fahrenkrug bulled in from two yards out.
The Rams answered quickly. Faced with third-and-five, quarterback Bruno DeVito found Danny Sheeler wide open down the right sideline and hit the senior receiver in stride for a 60-yard touchdown reception to cut the lead to 14-7.
The third quarter was all East Rockaway. On the first drive of the second half, senior quarterback Sean Bohan hooked up with Danny McClure for a 25-yard gain, and then senior fullback Anthony Tesoriero, who gained 58 yards on seven carries, rumbled 34 yards down the right sideline to bring the ball to West Hempstead’s five-yard line. Ulip plowed his way into the end zone on the next play.
