The Massapequa Chiefs kicked off their 2014 campaign on Saturday, Sept. 13 as they hosted the Farmingdale Dalers in a Conference I showdown.
Unfortunately, the Chiefs came up a few yards short in a 10-7 defeat on a rain-filled Saturday afternoon.
Trailing 10-7 late in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs were knocking on the door of the endzone. After a blocked kick, Chris Bacotti ripped off a 25-yard run which was followed by a nine yard run by senior running back Paul Dilena. A six-yard scamper from Bacotti set up Massapequa with a first-and-goal at the one yard line.
A two-yard loss on first down and a bad snap that eluded junior quarterback Brad Baldinger backed the Chiefs up to the seven-yard line on third and goal. After Bascotti was stuffed for no gain, Badlinger tried a corner fade to wide receiver Griffin Barnathan but had it knocked away by Farmingdale’s Naquan Qarren to complete the goal-line stand. Farmingdale running back Michael Outing took four hand-offs and busted out 24 yards to run out the clock for the Dalers.
Despite the loss, head coach Kevin Shippos was pleased with his team’s performance.
“Overall, we played a really tough game and I thought our guys did extremely well,” said Shippos, who is in his fourth-season at the helm of the Massapequa program. “Defensively, we were outs
tanding, one of the best games I’ve seen since being here.”
The defense did its job in shutting down the Daler offense. No points were scored by either team in the second half as the rain became a major factor. The winning points were scored on a field goal by Zach Kolodny in the second quarter.
The kick came after a Massapequa turnover when Baldinger was sacked and stripped by Nick Campo. The fumble was one of three turnovers of the day for the Chiefs, an area that Shippos knows his team needs to tighten up.
“It is tough when you have three turnovers offensively,” said Shippos. “But there are no excuses. We definitely have some room for improvement and will continue to get better.”
Massapequa’s only score came on a nine-yard touchdown run by Dilena in the game’s opening quarter.
Farmingdale is one of the favorites to take home the Nassau County championship, but Massapequa showed that it can hang with the best of them.
Up next for the Chiefs is the Valley Stream Central Eagles, who will travel to Massapequa after a 36-0 loss to Baldwin in its season opener.
“I’ve only had a chance to watch them on film, but I know it will be a tough test,” said Shippos. “They have tough kids. They run a similar offense to ours, getting the ball to their athletes in space, so I’m expecting a good game.”
The Chiefs will look to notch its first win of the year when the Eagles come to town at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20.
