An unbelievable pass defense led Wantagh to the win column for the sixth time in as many weeks.
The Warriors got interceptions from Ray Azziriti, Luke Martini and Luke Rubbo and held visiting Bethpage without a completed pass in seven attempts Saturday on the way to a convincing 28-7 victory in a Nassau Conference III showdown.
With the victory, the two-time defending county champions improve to a perfect 6-0 record. Bethpage is 4-2.
“I’m happy,” Wantagh head coach Keith Sachs said. “We’re always focused on the end result. I don’t make much out of regular season games. We just want to get better and clean up on mistakes.”
Azziriti’s interception late in the first quarter led to Martini’s 2-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 lead early in the second. Martini had 134 yards rushing and added another touchdown in the second half that made it 21-0.
The 2025 Thorp Award winner is having another outstanding season with 1,004 yards on the ground and 15 touchdowns. “Luke is phenomenal,” Sachs said. “What he accomplished last year was incredible, but this year what he’s in the middle of accomplishing is almost ten times harder. He’s pretty much had eight or nine guys on him every single play. He’s taken on such a bigger load than last year.”
Handing the ball off to Martini is senior quarterback and captain Max Avena whose patience has paid off this season as he assumed the starting role. Avena threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Rubbo just before halftime.
“He waited his turn and he’s been phenomenal,” Sachs said of Avena. “He’s runs the offense and he’s very smart. He’s getting better and better which is great.”
Senior guard and linebacker Patrick Forthofer, another captain who also plays lacrosse, led the team in tackles last season and continues to be a force on the defensive side of the ball. “He’s legitimately physical and tough and our best defensive player and our best lineman,” said Sachs.
The Warriors also get big contributions from senior wide receiver/middle linebacker Joseph Adamo, junior two-way linemen Vincenzo Fullone and Brendon Wood, junior wide receiver/defensive end Jayden Amendolare, senior fullback and captain Ryan Rice, and Rubbo who now has five interceptions on the year.
While being undefeated at this point of the season is a big accomplishment, it’s not the end-all be-all for Wantagh as it exhibited in the past.
Last season, it won the county championship with an 8-4 record and played its best football at the end of the season, a blueprint they want to replicate.
“That seems to be our thing,” said Sachs. “Sometimes you learn more from a loss which we’ve done the last couple of years, but I never want to lose.”
Next up for Wantagh, a visit to Elmont Saturday before closing the regular season with a Halloween matchup at home against South Side.
And then comes the playoffs, the time of the year that matters most to the Warriors.
