Syosset Football Shut Out in Opener

They honored local war veterans during the coin flip and the entire coaching staff donned camouflage T-shirts in support of the non-profit Wounded Warrior Project.

put its best foot forward Saturday as the football team opened a new season. What the Braves couldn’t control was the howling wind nor relentless running game. 

The sixth-seeded Dalers took advantage of strong field position early to deliver a knockout punch to No. 10 Syosset, 44-0, in a Nassau Conference I game. Farmingdale ran the ball on 21 of 22 plays to open the game, culminating in a 21-0 lead.

A stiff 20 mph wind blowing from the south played havoc with the passing and kicking game. 

“That flag looks like it’s made out of wood. It’s a pretty stiff wind,” Farmingdale Coach Buddy Krumenacker said.

“The wind was such a factor," Syosset Coach Paul Rorke said.

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The Dalers kicked off with the wind at their back and held Syosset to just five yards on the opening possession. A short punt gave the Dalers the ball at the Syosset 49-yard-line. Kevin Petit-Frere scored on a 5-yard run nine plays later.

A Petit-Frere sack at defensive end stalled Syosset’s next drive. And when the ensuing punt got hung up in the wind, the Dalers were in business at the Braves’ 27. This time quarterback Joe Valente put Farmingdale up 14-0 to open the second quarter with a hard-fought 1-yard keeper on fourth down.

“We had short fields the whole first quarter and scored touchdowns our first three drives,” Valente said. “Our line got their blocks down and then I just had to hand the ball off to the running backs.”

Syosset, coming off a 1-7 season, lost its eighth straight game. The , to open 2011.  

Rorke played three quarterbacks, starting junior Hunter Gross before going Wildcat and moving senior running back Joe Morris into the role.

Sophomore Joe Majoy came on late and showed real promise with a live arm and good poise in the pocket. 

“We’re young,” said Rorke, who graduated . “It was one of those games where you have a roster with so many young guys, you’re rotating people in and out. You want to give an opportunity and see which guys make plays.”

     Nassau Conference I Football

F – Petit-Frere 5 run (Kolodny kick)

F – Valente 1 run (Kolodny kick)

F – Petit-Frere 8 run (Kolodny kick)

F – Jenkins 38 run (Kolodny kick)

F – Safety (ball snapped back of end zone)

F – Petit-Frere 1 run (Kolodny kick)

F – Outing 90 run (Kolodny kick)