Carey drops opener to Garden City

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Sixteen months after capturing its fourth straight Nassau Conference II football championship, Garden City began its title defense in style last Saturday afternoon with a 34-0 victory at Carey in a long-anticipated opening week for high school teams across New York State.

The Trojans, the preseason No. 1 seed, scored three touchdowns within the first nine minutes and didn’t allow Carey’s first-team offense inside the red zone. Junior quarterback Luke Schmitt had two touchdown passes and one rushing score, all in the first half, to help the visitors build a 27-0 lead.

The Seahawks will look to sharpen up when Sachem North, a Suffolk Conference I team, visits this Saturday for a 2 p.m. non-league kickoff. Carey's original opponent for Week 2, Sewanhaka, had to enter Covid quarantine protocol.

“It was great to be back out there [on the field],” Carey head coach Mike Stanley said. “I was excited for our players to get the opportunity to play again.”

Garden City scored 1:57 into the season after six straight running plays set up a play action pass resulting in a 44-yard touchdown reception by senior Pierce Archer. Its next possession began at the Carey 24 and took only two plays — a 13-yard catch by Cascadden and 11-yard run by Cascadden — to double its advantage.

“Obviously, we struggled a bit early and fell into a hole against a great program,” Stanley said. “We’ll fix the mistakes and get better.”

Carey’s offense features senior running back Anthony DeNicola, senior receivers Joseph Todaro and Nick Cowen, and junior quarterback Dean Metzger.

In DeNicola, the Seahawks have their first fourth-year starting back under Stanley and someone who’ll be counted on to produce on both sides of the ball. He was All-County in 2019 after leading the defense in tackles as an inside linebacker and leading the ground attack. He gained 51 yards on 7 carries in the opener. “He’s a strong and intelligent player,” Stanley said of DeNicola, who was named captain along with Todaro and Cowen.

Todaro is in his fourth varsity season as well and serves as a defensive end and slot receiver. He was down on the turf for a few minutes in the third quarter last Saturday with an apparent injury but was able to return.

Cowen is another target in the passing game and a key to the secondary along with senior cornerback Jimmy O’Connell. Senior Mike Farone and junior Joe Binelli start along the defensive front with Todaro, while junior Ray Bedian forms a dynamic linebacker duo with DeNicola.

The offensive line, though inexperienced at the varsity level, possesses size and athleticism. The group will need to improve off the opening performance and give Metzger time to operate in the read-run game. Metzger broke off a few nice runs against Garden City but only completed a couple of short passes, including one to Cowan. Junior Kyle Lewis, another option for Metzger, showed some flashes on special teams in the opener with a couple of strong kick returns.

“Dean stirs the drink,” Stanley said of Metzger. “He’s an absolute double threat and can do a lot of good things.”