The Sewanhaka Indians made their Nassau Conference II debut with a bang. The Indians opened their season at home against the Calhoun Colts, unsure what to expect, as all they had ever seen of the Colts was one tape of a scrimmage.
“It was nerve raking leading up to the game,” said Head Coach George Kasimatis. “We weren’t sure what to expect on offense or defense, you have to guess early on. “
But it didn’t take the Indians long to introduce themselves to the conference, as junior, Quarterback, Elijah Tracey broke a 75-yard run taking it the distance to put the Indians up early, which ended in a 27-7 rout of the Colts.
This was a trend that would continue for the Indians, as on their next drive, Tracey handed the ball off to senior running back Brenton Mighty, who took it 70-yards to put the
Indians ahead 13-0, midway through the first.
Mighty was the focal point of the Indians offense, rushing for more than 100-yards and picking up crucial first downs.
“He ran the ball hard is going to be a special runner for us this year,” said Kasimatis.
The Indians forced the Colts to punt again and on their next drive, Tracey looked to his ground game again. He broke free, juked the safety down field, and took it for a 40-yard score, but it was called back, due to a flag for false start. This play seemed to have killed the Indians momentum, but Kasimatis likes the way his team responded.
Mighty converted on a big first down run to keep the drive alive. On fourth and goal, Tracey flipped a shovel pass to senior Peter Militano, who ran over two defenders for the score. The Indians went for the two-point conversion and Tracey found running back Xzavier Anderson for the score, to jump ahead 21-0.
The Colts put together their best drive of the half as time was expiring, but junior, Adly Slater Dacius picked off Colts quarterback Anthony Fitzsimmons in the end zone.
Halftime brought the rain, which seemed to be the only thing that could slow down the Indians offense. Neither team scored in the third quarter.
PJ Pinto deflected two long passes on Calhoun’s first drive in the fourth, looking to keep the shutout intact. However, the Colts were able to recover a fumble at midfield and eventually score on the legs of Fitzsimmons.
Militano would recover the onside kick attempt and Kevin Hockenjos was able to take a third down pass the distance, sealing the deal for the Indians.
“We showed conference two who we are today,” said captain, Peter LaTorre. “We are coming strong.”
His teammates agreed with him, as Militano said this was a “statement win.”
A big factor for the Indians was the play at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. On offense, the line was creating big holes for the backs to run through. On defense, the line was closing the gaps and swarming to the ball. Line backer, Vladdimir Cange and LaTorre, did a nice job swarming to the Colts Griffin Miller.
While there were a lot of positives to take from this game, Kasimatis still thinks the team has a lot to work on.
“We came out pretty strong, but there’s always room for improvement,” said Kasimatis. “We have to improve on consistency and keeping our head in the game.”
His players agree with him.
“We have to play four quarters,” said Tracey.
“We are not perfect,” said LaTorre. “We have a long way to go to the playoffs.”
