For the second time in three seasons, Kennedy’s football team has secured at least a .500 finish against conference rivals.
The Cougars, whose lone win in 2024 came in a season-ending non-conference matchup against Oyster Bay, ripped off three straight victories in October before falling 54-14 to visiting New Hyde Park last Saturday to slip to 4-3 in Conference II with a trip to MacArthur on deck.
“We’ve been progressing ever week,” Kennedy head coach John McGuire said. “Kids are excited. If you asked me in August we’d be 4-2 going into the last two games, I’d sign up in two seconds.”
Ranked No. 12 in the 14-team conference, the Cougars have knocked off Roslyn twice, as well as Jericho and Roosevelt. McGuire said their 33-14 win at Roosevelt Oct. 11 was the most impressive of the four.
“That was huge to beat a higher-seeded team,” he explained. “Coach [Joe] Vito is a legend and Roosevelt has a rich football tradition.”
Behind senior Anthony Scali, who torched the Rough Rider defense for 202 yards rushing and four touchdowns, Kennedy exploded to a 26-8 halftime lead and never looked back. Scali had only 11 carries but made the most of them, covering 7, 12, 51 and 21 yards on his scoring runs.
The defense was also lights out against Roosevelt, led by seniors Dom Vaglica’s pair of interceptions and Chase Rule’s two forced fumbles and one recovery. Vaglica also added a 6-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give the hosts a 19-8 lead.
Against Jericho, junior quarterback Dylan Babek, Scali and sophomore Nico Pasquariello starred as the Cougars scored a touchdown in every quarter and earned a 27-7 victory. Babek and Scali hooked up through the air for two scores, a 42-yard connection in the second quarter and a 23-yard dagger in the fourth. Babek opened the scoring with a 2-yard rushing touchdown. Pasquariello had 86 yards on the ground and a touchdown. Senior Jake Epstein’s 11 tackles and junior C.J. Siegler’s nine stops and two sacks led the defensive effort. Siegler has six sacks on the year.
Roslyn remains winless and the Cougars are part of the reason why. They rolled over the Bulldogs 34-0 on the road Sept. 20 and 49-14 at home Oct. 18. Scali had four touchdowns and senior Johnathan Mazzio one in the first meeting, while juniors Demetri Christopoulos and Jonny Cohen each had an interception. The rematch saw Scali not only rush for three scores but answer both Roslyn touchdowns with kickoff-return touchdowns of 80 and 90 yards, respectively.
“Anthony is having an unbelievable season,” McGuire said of Scali, an All-County candidate who has 838 scrimmage yards and 14 total touchdowns behind an offensive line that’s been led by seniors Ian Garcia and Ethan Polinsky, juniors Aaron Ribenbach, Connor Timoney and Ryder Bac6 hisin.
Garcia is out for the remainder of the year with an injury, replaced by senior Logan Cohen. Senior Christian Cruz started in place of the injured Bachisin last week but the latter could be back Thursday evening at MacArthur. Kickoff is 6 p.m.
