Bulldogs Football Crushes North Shore, 32-6

After a tough loss in last week's season opener, the Island Trees varsity football team bounced back in a dominant fashion Friday night, topping North Shore 32-6 under the lights in their home opener.

The Bulldogs were at an advantage from the beginning with four North Shore starters confined to the bench. As Island Trees picked up an early lead, they saw the Vikings struggle to reach the endzone.

"From the opening kickoff, I thought we were going to have them," said Island Trees head coach Mike Bonsignore. "I thought it wasn't going to be much of a game, but they hung in tough."

"We came out real hard but we had a couple of penalties that didn't go our way," said Dan Agovino, head coach at North Shore. "It cost us a touchdown and things started to domino from there."

Bulldogs senior running back Mike Jeannetti scored three total touchdowns on the day, including returning the game's opening kickoff for a touchdown.

North Shore answered back, but a blocking penalty erased what would have been a rushing touchdown from running back Ken Daley.

With less than a minute remaining in the first quarter, Bulldogs running back Chris Pascalli charged 80 yards to bump Island Trees to a 12-0 lead. The senior captain finished the matchup with six attempts for 88 yards. "He was the guts of the team," said assistant coach Joe Manna.

"He played both sides of the ball," Bonsignore added. "He was in there on every block, making tackles. He was a big time player tonight."

The Vikings were left in the dark until the third quarter when James Lennon broke out a 15-yard touchdown pass from Mike Divincenzo. At that point, though, their score only cut the lead to 26-6.

With AJ Barletta (nine tackles) and Tom Sinclair (five tackles, two sacks) leading a staunch defensive attack, North Shore was unable to turn things around. Matt Anzalone scored one last time for the Bulldogs on a 6-yard run, sealing the 32-6 victory with five minutes to spare.

Though the Bulldogs blew through Friday night's competition, Bonsignore felt the team was a bit sloppy as a whole and slipped up in simple plays.

"We're back in the win column, but it was sloppy," he said. "We need to get back to our focus and intensity. It was unbelievable against East Rockaway but we weren't our best against these guys."