West Hempstead (2-1) not satisfied
The West Hempstead football team has already matched its win total from last year thanks to a favorable schedule early in the campaign, and a .500 season could be in the cards with a little more ‘polish’.
The Rams improved to 2-1 with a rain-slogged 21-7 road victory at winless Lawrence last Saturday and find themselves in the middle of the Conference IV standings through three games after going 2-6 in 2023. Their second win last year came in the penultimate game against Carle Place/Wheatley on Oct. 20.
Both of West Hempstead’s victories this season have come against winless teams, including a thrilling one-point triumph at Valley Stream South in the opener, and those were sandwiched around a 53-8 loss to division-powerhouse Plainedge on Sept. 21. Rams head coach Dom Carre recognizes where his team stands and realizes there is still a lot of work to be done if his team wants to be playoff contenders this fall.
“It’s still a work in progress,” he said. “They lack experience and we’re just trying to get better every week. They’re not polished, so we’re trying to get better and polish up everything every week. It’s also how the schedule falls, I guess. Two wins is not exactly what we want.”
West Hempstead, a 2022 county finalist which was ranked 11th in the preseason, got off to a positive start by erasing two fourth-quarter deficits to beat South 28-27. With the Rams down 19-15 with 8:35 left, junior Jayden Higginson took a short pitch and meticulously found a hole on the left side before scampering 43 yards to give his team a two-point lead.
Daniel Casey’s second touchdown of the day restored the Falcons’ lead to 27-21, but Higginson answered with his second score of the contest, a 38-yard burst around the left end with just over two minutes left. He then kicked the game-winning extra point.
Moments earlier, Higginson had a 59-yard touchdown run nullified because of a penalty.
“They did a nice job,” Carre said. “They ran the offense, and when teams crowd the box with 11 guys against you and you crack it, you either get three or 30 or more. They did a nice job running it and Higginson, once he gets into the open field, he wasn’t being caught. He’s a quick little kid.”
Senior Christian Dildy opened the scoring with an 87-yard touchdown run in the first quarter but suffered an undisclosed injury later in the game and is out for the season. Senior quarterback Bryan Tator had a 24-yard scoring romp and a two-point conversion in the second quarter.
Junior Kevin Rivera’s second touchdown run in as many games opened the scoring against Lawrence and sophomore Tim Pendergast had short scoring runs in the second and third quarters to put the game away. The defense pitched a shutout in the second half.
West Hempstead has another winnable game coming up when it hosts 1-3 Oyster Bay this Saturday. The Baymen, who have been shut out twice this season, beat the Rams 28-10 last year.
