Danny Miller prepares to clear the ball; Sean Callahan remains downfield in support. The football campaign that began in the sweltering August heat with 20 boys ended on a warm sunny Sunday on the plains of Hempstead with 20 men who had become a TEAM. With 12 new players on the roster, several of whom had never played football, expectations among the coaches were not exactly high. No one could have predicted that this group of kids would go on to compete in every game this season and come within a whisker of making the playoffs with a 5-2-1 record.

The pre-game coin toss was called by veteran co-captains Jack Connors, Danny Miller, Kieran Byrnes, Timmy Halaby and Danny Dolan. Hempstead started the game with a bang when they ran the ball in from the GC 38 for a score. The Thunder Road - Born to Run offense quickly answered back when Danny Miller, behind the crisp blocking of Brian Tully, Mike Cassano, Liam Byrnes, Kieran Byrnes, Danny Dolan, Joey Burdi, Cullen Minion, Timmy Halaby, Conor Byrnes and Jack Connors, carried the ball for 13 yards and 22 yards on consecutive plays. The drive culminated with a four yard scoring run by Danny Miller to knot the contest at 6-6.

Yohei Yamauchi traps a ball near the GC goal prior to passing it upfield. The “No Surrender” defense of Jack Reina, Thomas Reina, Thomas Leggett, Albert Soussis, David Gage, Anthony Velez, Conor Byrnes, Liam Byrnes and Michael Cassano, although outsized, never gave in. Jack Reina made several key tackles along with Mike Cassano, who also batted down a pass. Defensive ends Jack Connors and Timmy Halaby were extremely active sealing off sweeps. Joey Burdi once again ran down ball carriers who had broken into the secondary. The linebackers, Kieran Byrnes, Anthony Kritis, Danny Miller, Danny Dolan and Connor Riedel also swarmed to the ball with a really big hit on a mano-a-mano tackle by Anthony Kritis. Kieran Byrnes stepped up and snuffed an extra point attempt with a fine tackle.

Their were several offensive highlights with Rob Wotczak making a tough sliding catch for a nice gain, Timmy Halaby and Jack Connors breaking off some big runs and Cullen Minion sprinting in from 13 yards out for a score. The game ended with Hempstead up 19-12.

The coaching staff of Dan Dolan, Jim Halaby, Jim Byrnes, Brian Connors and Bill Miller kept the team focused through the heat, cold, wet, dry and long nights of practice. Every player made a commitment to be the best player they could be and they all showed improvement through the course of the season. Every player can look back on this campaign with pride at their individual and collective contributions to this team’s success. Congratulations to the players and coaches for a GREAT season.

go thunder!