Trojans Beat Wantagh For County Crown; Face North Babylon For L.I. Title

Nassau County Conference ll Champions. See this photo at www.Newsphoto.com Garden City High’s football team reigns as Nassau County Conference II Champions following a 14-0 victory over Wantagh before a crowd of 3,500 at Hofstra’s James M. Shuart Stadium last Friday night. But their work isn’t done. One more hurdle remains for the Trojans and that is North Babylon, the Suffolk Division II kings. The two undefeated, highly-ranked squads meet for the Long Island Class II Championship at Hofstra this Friday, November 27 at 4:30 p.m.

North Babylon defeated East Islip, 17-10, to take the Suffolk title. The Bulldogs (11-0) , who are coached by Terry Manning, are not difficult to analyze. They play what they like to call “smash mouth football,” which features a tight formation and a powerful running game. Speedy backs follow a very big offensive line that has had its way with Suffolk opponents. On defense, they play aggressively and generally put pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Against Garden City (11-0), they will have to face an outstanding line and two of Nassau’s best running backs, Brian Fischer and Steve Jahelka. The Trojans can throw as well. Matt Montgomery has 12 TD passes and he has three experienced receivers in Kevin Dachille, Joe Tursi and Jared Mitchell.

Garden City’s Matt Confort intercepts a Kyle Ambury pass to end the first half. See this photo at www.Newsphoto.com The two teams have met three times before. In 2000, the Trojans beat the Bulldogs, 20-13, behind a terrific defensive effort and the brilliant play of quarterback Dave Kang. Kang ran wild and threw touchdown passes to Bill Hannan and Tom Garvey. North Babylon won the other two games behind three of the best running backs in Long Island history, Barry Baker and Omar Palmer in 1998 and Jason Gwaltney in 2004.

Chris Stapleford with the interception that put an abrupt end to a promising Wantagh drive. See this photo at www.Newsphoto.com The Conference II title game against Wantagh started with a very frustrating first half. Four Garden City scoring opportunities were wasted by a fumble, an interception in the end zone, a dropped pass and a penalty which nullified Mark Ellis’s spectacular 69-yard punt return. The teams went to the locker room with no score and Wantagh grateful for that. “I was hoping we hadn’t squandered our chances,” said GC coach Tom Flatley.

Whatever was said behind closed doors, it had an immediate effect upon the Trojans. On the first play from scrimmage, Billy Sweeney sacked Warrior quarterback Kyle Ambury for a nine yard loss. Wantagh was forced to punt and Jared Mitchell returned it 16 yards to the 30. On first down, Brian Fischer broke loose for a touchdown that finally put the Trojans on top.

Brian Fischer breaks through the Wantagh defensive line. See this photo at www.Newsphoto.com With a notable increase in its energy level, Garden City repeated the process, stuffing Wantagh, forcing a punt and taking possession on the Warriors’ 23 after Ellis’s 15 yard return. This time they used four plays to score with Steve Jahelka going in from the two. Topher DiBona’s second extra point put the Trojans on top,14-0, and that is the way it stayed with the defense giving up some completions to Ambury, but no scores, and the offense grinding out yards as the clock ticked away.

For the fourth straight game, Brian Fischer topped the 100 yard rushing mark with 108 yards on 15 carries. The junior halfback, who is quickly establishing himself as one of Nassau’s best, now has 1,007 yards on 113 carries for the season. His running mate, Steve Jahelka, had 90 yards on 15 carries and was all over the field on defense. The middle linebacker will be a strong contender for the Piner Award which goes to Nassau’s top linebacker.

Mark Ellis (#23) makes a dramatic, nearly upside down, tackle on Wantagh’s Joe Stottler. See this photo at www.Newsphoto.com EXTRA POINTS: Brian Fischer is the sixth GC running back to top 1,000 rushing yards in a season. The others are Pete Case (twice), Steve McLaughlin, Terence Hartigan, Ken Egan and Laurence Galli.... Defensive back Chris Stapleford and center Joseph Gentile were named MVP’s of the championship game....A disturbing trend: the Trojans have fumbled three times in the last two games after having only three all year. Their total of six is still the second lowest in 44 years....Garden City set a new school record and tied the county mark with the 9th shutout of the season....MSG Varsity will televise all of the L.I. Championship games on tape delay....The Class IV title game matching undefeated Seaford with Amityville will precede the GC game at noon.

Wantagh’s Joe Stottler (#24) found out that it takes alot to stop Stephen Jahelka (#42). See this photo at www.Newsphoto.com
James Wright tackles Wantagh’s Mike Scully. See this photo at www.Newsphoto.com
Jared Mitchell forces Wantagh’s John Reicherter to fumble. See this photo at www.Newsphoto.com
Billy Sweeney sacks Wantagh QB Kyle Ambury. See this photo at www.Newsphoto.com