Schmitt Leads GC Football to Sixth Consecutive Nassau Title

The Trojans dominated the game early to set the tone for the championship game and came away with their record tying sixth consecutive County championship with a 48-7 victory over MacArthur. Garden City tied their own Nassau County record that was recorded in a stretch from 1990 - 1995.

Coach Dave Ettinger's team will face Bellport (10-1) for the Long Island Championship next Saturday at Stonybrook University looking to cap an undefeated season. Bellport comes into the game after a stellar defensive 13-0 win over Lindenhurst.

The undefeated Garden City Trojans came into the game after a 53-13 semi-final victory over Carey HS. The semifinal victory featured four touchdown passes from senior quarterback Luke Schmitt to lead the way, with three of them going to fellow senior Jackson Perisa. Despite the overwhelming victory in the Carey game, the Trojans came out with several key injuries that could impact their playoff run. Starting running back/linebacker Jack Cascadden suffered a bone bruise that kept him out of the MacArthur game, while back up running back Stevie Finnell suffered a broken collarbone.

With their backfield impacted by the injuries to Cascadden and Finnell, the Trojans would look to Schmitt and junior running back Robert Votruba to lead the offense. On the day, Schmitt threw for 124 yards and two touchdowns, while Votruba led the ground game with 81 yards supported by Aidan Considine running for 59 yards.

Schmitt didn't wait too long to take matters into his own hands, or more appropriately his own feet. On the second play from scrimmage he took off around left end, got a key block from Brendan Staub who sealed the corner, and Schmitt sprinted for the 44 yard touchdown. Michael Fargione nailed the point after and Garden City had a 7-0 lead just 35 seconds into the game.

The Garden City defense has been stellar all season and looked to be firing on all cylinders as they quickly forced a punt with a three and out as MacArthur quarterback Ryan Muller was pressured by Staub and the Trojan line.

The second Trojan drive featured some strong running from Aidan Considine to set up Garden City for their second score of the game, a one yard plunge for Schmitt's second touchdown. Garden City had a 14-0 lead not even five minutes into the game.

After a short kickoff, the defense once again proved to be too quick and aggressive for the Generals to handle and they were forced to punt after another three and out.

Garden City continued to pound the ball on the ground with Votruba carrying for good yardage and two first downs putting the ball at the 20 yard line. Then it was Considine taking the ball to the seven before Votruba cashed in a two yard run for a 21-0 first quarter lead.

After being totally dominated in the first quarter, MacArthur's defense tightened up and forced a Garden City to punt. On the offensive side of the ball, the Generals moved the ball a little better, with Muller leading the attack. Twice they moved into Trojan territory, but they were stopped both times with fourth down interceptions.

Garden City got the ball back with under two minutes remaining in the half and they didn't waste any time moving the ball into scoring position. Schmitt used his arm to move them down the field with a couple of quick sideline passes to Jackson Perisa. From the seven yard line Schmitt found Perisa open in the end zone to cap the scoring in the first half to give the Trojans a 28-0 lead.

After an entertaining halftime show from both the MacArthur and Garden City Cheerleaders and Kickline, all that remained was to see what the final margin of victory would be for Garden City.

In the third quarter, the Trojans took advantage of good field position to add to their scoring total. Grabbing his second touchdown catch of the game was senior wideout Perisa, who went up high over the MacArthur defender to secure the ball for the score. It was Schmitt's second touchdown pass of the game, this one went for 23 yards. Perisa has been a key factor for Garden City in the playoffs with this being his fifth touchdown in the last two games. He totaled 82 yards on the day.

The Generals finally got on the board early in the fourth quarter with a long scoring pass from Muller to Matt Papach that covered 34 yards for the touchdown. The Trojans came back with a scoring drive on their next possession to push the score to 35-7. the drive was capped by a five yard touchdown run by Francesco Ingrassia. The final points of the game came on a pick six interception by senior Ryan Maher.

Garden City celebrated their record tying sixth consecutive Nassau title, and their 38th overall, but to a man still know that their business isn't complete until the Long Island Championship game next Saturday.