Garden City Thunder White 10's Finish Season

Last minute instructions from Coach Halaby

The campaign began 103 days ago on a sweltering first day of August and continued through days and nights of heat, cold, wind, rain, mud, dust, bugs, thunder, bumps, bruises and even a break. Yet the boys, like spirits in the night, continued to show up with enthusiasm and zeal for the love of football. The coaches certainly didn't know what to expect from a mixed roster composed of players returning to the team, players new to the team and players experiencing real football for the first time. No one would have predicted that this team, playing an unbelievably tough schedule, would go 6 and 2 in the regular season and make the playoffs. When the season ended with a loss to the undefeated Farmingdale Hawks, this writer could only reflect on the great season and great performances turned in by all of the players. 103 days of practice with Coach Jim Halaby cajoling and encouraging each boy to work hard and do their best. 103 days of Coaches Dan Dolan, Jim Byrnes, Brian Connors and Bill Miller overseeing practice, drills, and games. 103 days of the boys bringing that youthful exuberance and optimism to both the practice field and to game day.

"Old School Football" - We stick together!

The nitty gritty details and the final score of this game are unimportant. There were many terrific plays and performances over the course of the season and in this game. Joey Burdi intercepted yet another pass at the goal line and brought it back to the 15. Kevin Mullin, Danny Miller and Jack Connors once again ran hard all night long. Timmy Halaby dazzled the crowd and defense with his moves and tallied another Thunder TD. Danny Dolan hooked up with Kieran Byrnes with a 35 yard pass. Brian Tully was on the receiving end of a 9 yard pass. Liam Fitzgerald had a nice kickoff return. Zach Stamoulis, Louie Pagonis, Jack Reina and Ryan Giacini continued with their relentless blocking. Mike Cassano emerged as a force from both sides of the ball. Conor Byrnes butted heads with bigger players and more times than not came out on top. James Dutton improved every week and outquicked his opponents. Michael Holland played various positions on defense with spirit and who could forget his awesome sack earlier in the season. Anthony Kritis excelled at outside linebacker and turned in the play of the year week 1 in Uniondale. Connor Riedel and Tommy Reina both played every position on defense and played them well. Brian Hughes threw his body around sideline to sideline. Anthony Velez may have been one of the smaller players on the field but his heart was as big or bigger than anyone he came up against. Luke LeCoche contributed early in a season that was abbreviated for him by a non-football related injury. The Mullin family made a tremendous sacrifice by canceling weekend plans to allow Kevin to make the last game.

On this particular night, the Thunder White 10's were outgunned by a bigger and faster team. The final result is unimportant. All of the boys played hard right up to the final gun. That is what makes them all champions. So, the last line to this chapter has been written but the story will continue next year. GO THUNDER!