The Sewanhaka Indians continue to let their presence be felt in Nassau Conference II.
The Indians played their second game as members of the conference on Saturday, Sept. 21, against the Long Beach Marines, topping the south shore squad 51-30.
On the opening drive, the Indians relied on running back Brenton Mighty’s legs to get them into the red zone. On first and goal from the 15-yard line, quarterback Elijah Tracey hit Michael Parasconda on a screen pass for the first score.
The Indians defense prevented the Marines from getting any momentum, forcing a three and out on the ensuing drive.
On their second drive, Tracey once again found his senior wide receiver in the red zone, as Parasconda got behind the secondary and had everyone beat for his second score of the day.
After the Sewanhaka defense stifled the Marines again, with the ball on the 17-yard line, Tracey stepped back, letting Parasconda once again get behind the secondary, where he fired a strike across the middle for the score.
The Indians jumped to a 19-0 lead behind Parasconda’s three touchdowns.
On defense the Indians were shutting out the Marines, thanks in large part to their senior defensive lineman, Justin Alexandre.
The 6-foot-5 inch Alenandre skies over the Marines offensive live, and constantly put pressure on the quarterback, Sam Brown. Alenandre made life very difficult for the Marines’ running backs. Alexandre, along with Ezana Gebremedhin and Vladdimir Cange on the D-line, continued to put pressure on the Marines and helped the Indians keep the shutout in tact for most of the first half.
“[Alenandre] is an exceptional athlete and is rough to handle,” said head coach George Kasimatis. “He put in a lot of hard work this offseason and it’s showing.”
The Marines found the end zone just before halftime, but only after Nikolas Rullo hit Yvans Oscar for an Indians touchdown. Sewanhaka took a 26-6 lead into the half.
Brenton Mighty continued to set up the Indians offense, and ended up finding pay dirt on the Indians first drive of the second half, jumping to a 32-6 lead.
Parasconda capped off his huge game with a 35-yard touchdown, once again beating his man deep across the middle, for his fourth score of the game.
“Today was a good game,” said Parasconda. “The running game help set up the passing game and we executed well.”
The Marines fought hard, as Brown found Thomas Rutherig and Joshua Keitz for scores, and Matthew Varian was able to connect with Tarik Elfaiz.
It appeared to be too little too late for the Marines as both Mighty and Shaheim Taylor-White both broke out long runs for touchdowns.
“We played a much better game today,” said Kasimatis. “Our kids believe in each other and what we teach them and everything is coming together.”
“We can only get better,” Alenandre said. “We have to improve every week.”
“Today was big, but we are ready for week three,” Parasconda added.
