MacArthur Football Storms Back to Beat Syosset, 24-21

Kevin Roach leaped in the air as he watched the football split the uprights. The MacArthur Generals kicker had just iced a 24-21 comeback victory over the Syosset Braves on Saturday at High School.

The field goal capped a 14-point fourth quarter comeback for MacArthur, sending them to 2-1 on the season and setting forth a wave of positivity for the program.

“Each week, you don’t know who's showing up, as far as your players are concerned,” MacArthur coach Bob Fehrenbach said. “They’re good players and they’ll be ready for the next contest. It should springboard us, but hopefully they don’t take this game and think they’re going to beat everybody. It’s one game at a time.”

Things looked bleak for the Generals as the fourth quarter began. A Manraj Singh touchdown run had just put Syosset (1-2) up 21-7. Tight goal line defense and timely scoring drives had been the dominant trend for the Braves all afternoon. It took one play for that storyline to change.

Generals quarterback Tom Kelleher found Will Cheshire for an 80-yard touchdown strike with 11:14 on the clock, changing the complexion of the game for good. A Gerard Cunningham touchdown pass to tight end Eric Schiffman tied the game with 2:02 left in the fourth.

Hero: Cunningham. His quarterback sneak with 34 seconds left in the first quarter tied the game at seven. Cunningham orchestrated the final drive late in the fourth quarter, culminating in Roach’s game-winning field goal.

Turning Point: The game appeared virtually over moments before Cunningham’s game tying touchdown pass. The Braves stopped MacArthur on a fourth down and six inside Syosset territory. But a holding penalty nullified the defensive stand and gave MacArthur a new set of downs. Moments later, the game was tied.

Quotable: “They didn’t quit,” Fehrenbach said. “They bounced right back. The defense stepped up when they had to and we made the plays on offense.”

“Early in the game we had a turnover [a MacArthur fumble recovery in the second quarter] and we had some costly penalties at critical times,” Syosset coach Paul Rorke said. “Those kinds of things usually determines the outcome of the game and today it did.”

Bottom Line: Penalties were the story of the game. Not only did the Braves have a holding penalty extend MacArthur’s final touchdown drive, but they also had a touchdown called back right before halftime. Although the Braves would have other chances to score, the fact remains that if one of those two individual plays had gone unblemished, the Braves very likely would have won.

Key Stat: Chris Park had two touchdowns for the Braves.

Who’s Next: Syosset @ Farmingdale, Saturday 6:30 p.m. Hempstead @ MacArthur, Saturday 3 p.m.

Nassau Conference I

Teams…….…1…..2…..3…..4…..F

MacArthur….0…..7….0…..17….24

Syosset………..7…0….7…..7….21

S: Park Run (Grossman kick)

M: Cunningham Run (Roach kick)

S: Park catch from Shangold (Grossman kick)

S: Singh Run (Grossman kick)

M: Cheshire catch from Cunningham (Roach kick)

M: Schiffman catch from Cunningham (Roach kick)

M: Roach field goal