Mepham Football Falls to Carey in Conference II Semis

It was a perfect November day for playoff football, but for the Mepham Pirates, Saturday's Conference II semifinal game at Hofstra University was all but perfect as the Carey Seahawks rolled by a score of 45-7.

It is the second time in four weeks that the Seahawks have gotten the best of the Pirates after beating them 35-0 back on Oct. 23.

Mepham's defense, which was a major part of last week's win over No. 4 Elmont, was absent early on in the game and allowed Carey to take a 31-0 halftime lead.

Carey quarterback Kyle Zahradka threw for 238 yards and three touchdowns to the lead the Seahawks.

Seahawks wide receiver Steve Marino had four receptions for an impressive 133 yards and caught all three of Zahradka's touchdown passes. He also nailed a 27-yard field goal late in the second quarter.

"You have to tip your cap to Carey, they did a great job," said Mepham head coach Anthony Cracco after the loss. "They're an outstanding team.

"The team definitely played Carey football," Zahradka said after the win. "The defense was phenomenal every play. We did pretty good on offense and we're just going to have to do it again next week."

Score: Carey 45, Mepham 7

Records: Carey 10-0; Mepham 7-3

Hero: Zahradka and Marino tormented the normally stellar Mepham defense throughout the game. They struck early on a 23-yard touchdown and their 55-yard touchdown connection at the very end of the first quarter took just about all of the wind out of the Pirates' sails. The dynamic duo put the game on ice for the Seahawks just 1:23 into the second half on a 45-yard score which gave Carey a 38-0 lead.

"Steve just beat his man every time," Zahradka said. "We got it done. He made plays, I made plays, and we just put it in."

Turning Point: After going three-and-out on the opening drive of the game, the Mepham defense quickly got the ball back on a Carey fumble. However, the very next play Mepham running back Kevin Tauriello fumbled and gave possession right back to the Seahawks. Four plays later Zahradka found Marino in the end zone for the game's first score, which gave Carey a ton of momentum.

Quotable: "They have a lot of weapons and they spread the ball around," said Cracco of Carey's offense. "It's not a one-man show. They've got a lot different guys that you've got to account for and we just didn't get the job done today."

Bottom Line: The Pirates defense could not establish itself like it did in last week's win. Carey's big, early lead forced Mepham to throw the ball and keep it out of the hands of Tauriello who had 120 yards rushing on 27 carries last week. He finished with just five carries for 13 yards against Carey.

While the game certainly did not turn out the way most had hoped for, it doesn't change how well the Pirates played all season and how far they've come as a program.

"It was a great season," Cracco said. "… We worked hard and the kids did a great job this year. We took another step forward for the program. We'll keep it going next year and have a great offseason and try to get back [to Hofstra]."

Key Stat: Mepham allowed 21 points in the first quarter.

Conference II Semifinal

45

Scoring