Division Football Moves to 2-0 With Shutout of Glen Cove

Last year, Division Avenue's football program took a 12-point lead into halftime over Glen Cove, only to see the Big Red come back and win. This fact was not lost on Division's head coach Ray Weidlein when the Blue Dragons took a 21-0 lead into the locker room on Saturday.

"That was mentioned at halftime," Weidlein said. "They were well aware of that."

There was no repeat of last year's performance on Saturday, as Division ended their homecoming weekend with a 28-0 victory to move them to 2-0.

Heroes: For the second week in a row, the Blue Dragons won the battle up front on both sides of the ball. The Division offensive line created holes for the team's backs to plow through, while their defensive line closed gaps. As a result, Division's run game was able to move down the field, while Glen Cove's frequently stalled.

Coach Weidlein attributed his team's success to an off-season weight training program started by assistant coach Kevin Spellman. "Up front, we’re just stronger than we were last year," he said. "We only have one returning lineman from last year. They committed to it and they’re doing a pretty good job."

One of the players who benefitted most from the holes on offense was running back Joe Vanasco, who had touchdown runs of 41 and 6 yards in the first half and added a 28-yard run in the second half.

"Vanasco has a world of talent," said coach Weidlein. "He’s one of the guys that got a little stronger. He’s got a little juke in him. We haven’t had that here in a while."

Turning Point: When Division needed to run a pass-first offense late in the first half, they turned to senior QB Dylan Cardno. Cardno went 3-for-4 on the late first-half drive. He capped it by connecting with senior Jon Maldonado on an 18-yard score to give Division a 21-0 lead with 48 seconds left in the half.

"He’s handled it great," Weidlein said. "He’s a thrower. We thought it would be better to run the ball, but he’s handled the situation well. He comes in and gets big plays for us every week."

Quotable: Division won the game, but they also lost one of their best linemen in Steven Pou due to an apparent knee injury. He had to be carted back to the locker room after the game.

"You can’t replace a Steven Pou," Weidlein said. "We’re going to cross our fingers and see what’s up."

Key Stat: Division ran for over 200 yards for the second straight week.

Upcoming: Division's next game is , the defending Long Island champion, on September 24 at 1:30 p.m.. Glen Cove will at the same time.