The Farmingdale High School campus was flooded with people, who all came to witness the showdown, with first place on the line, between the Oceanside Sailors (4-0) and the Dalers (3-1). The Dalers’ focus was on the Sailors’ quarterback Tyler Heuer, who recently broke an Oceanside school record that was held by former NFL quarterback Jay Fiedler. In last week’s game against East Meadow, the 6’2” senior threw for six touchdowns, surpassing the five scores thrown by Fiedler, a former Miami Dolphins and New York Jets quarterback.
Farmingdale running back Kevin Wahl, capped off the opening drive with a one-yard touchdown run. After forcing a punt by Oceanside, the Dalers reached the end zone again, as quarterback Sal Tuttle found receiver Pat Starke for a TD and the Dalers jumped out to a 14-0 lead.
After forcing another punt by the Sailors, Oceanside got the ball right back when Tuttle threw a deep ball that was picked off by a Sailors’ defensive back. They took advantage of the turnover, and Tyler Heuer showed off his strong arm with excellent throws to his receivers. Oceanside cut the lead to 14-7 as the first quarter came to a close.
After a Daler punt in the second quarter, Oceanside began at its own 15-yard line and marched 85 yards down the field, as Heuer picked apart the Dalers’ defense. The quarterback then ran a score into the end zone on 3rd and goal, but the Dalers blocked the extra point attempt. With a little more than two minutes left in the half, the Dalers’ lead stood at 14-13.
Following a good kickoff return by Vinny Schultz and two handoffs to Wahl and Brian Prendergast, the Dalers added a field goal just seconds before halftime to make it 17-13.
An Oceanside punt early in the second half was followed by a Dalers’ fumble, and the Sailors took over inside the Dalers’ 30-yard line. Following the turnover, Heuer threw for his second TD, and Oceanside took a 20-17 lead, midway through the third quarter.
From there on out, the Oceanside defense was excellent, shutting out the Dalers in the second half. They sacked Tuttle on a third and six that took Farmingdale out of field goal range and forced the Dalers to punt.
The Sailors continued their success against Farmingdale’s defense, running for a TD after more precise passing by Heuer and extending the score to 27-17. Frustration began to run high along the Dalers’ sideline and worsened when Oceanside recovered the ensuing onside kick and scored again, as Heuer threw for his third TD of the game with less than two minutes left in the third quarter. In the fourth, the Sailors added another TD, courtesy of Heuer’s six-yard run into the end zone with about eight minutes left in the game.
The score would stay the same, and Oceanside handed the Dalers an embarrassing 41-17 loss. Heuer finished with 259 passing yards, throwing for three TDs, running for two. Oceanside running back Nick Sherry took 16 carries for 110 yards. Kevin Wahl ran for 118 yards with a TD. Linebackers Carl Brescia and Mike Palmer both led the Dalers defense with 11 tackles each.
The Dalers (3-2) will play Saturday, Oct. 16 at Baldwin (3-2), Friday, Oct. 22 at home against Syosset (2-3), and on Saturday, Oct. 30 at Massapequa (3-2).
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