The Sewanhaka Indians varsity football team hosted Elmont Spartans on Saturday, Oct. 18 in its final home game of the regular season.
It certainly did not go as the Indians had hoped, falling 18-8, in a mistake filled game. Head coach George Kasimatis said the Indians had their chances, but kept digging themselves into a hole with mental mistakes on both sides of the ball.
Playing from behind, senior running back Brenton Mighty was able to break free for a long touchdown run, to put the Indians on the board.
Mighty was attempting to run his team to victory, breaking free for another 60-yard touchdown, but it was ultimately called back for holding.
“That was a big issue,” said Kasimatis. “He [Mighty] had a few long runs that would have changed the game called back.”
Kasimatis said the Indians also were getting over zealous on offense and jumping before the snap, causing them to have to start off 1st and 15 after the offside penalties.
“We put ourselves in the hole a lot yesterday,” he said.
On defense, Kasimatis said he was very impressed with his team’s ability to stop them at the goal line. Particularly, after a 70-yard run which gave Elmont first and goal from the five-yard line.
“Our offense was giving Elmont the ball with a short field and the defense was able to hold a lot of times,” he said.
However, he added that the defense made a lot of mistakes, particularly jumping offsides, as well.
Kasimatis said he does not want to take anything away from Elmont, saying they played a great game, but he believes a big factor in the game was his teams lack of concentration.
“I think the guys got caught up in the moment,” he said. “Having two district games back to back, there’s a bit of a rivalry, since the kids all know each other.”
He added that the Elmont defense is explosive and has a lot of stunts, with players moving around the field, and his players were anxious to get to their man, causing them to jump the gun.
The loss drops the Indians to 4-2 and fourth place in Conference II, with six 3-3 teams behind.
They Indians end their season on the road against Herricks (2-4) on Saturday, Oct. 25, before ending the season against Garden City (5-1).
Eight teams make the playoffs in Conference II.
“We win out and we are in the playoffs,” Kasimatis said. “If we do that it is possible we can get home field advantage.”
Kasimatis said the Indians will be working hard this week to correct their mistakes, and push hard towards the playoffs.
We have the talent to go on a run,” he said. “We are constantly getting better, we just need to play clean football.”
