Dominant First Half Pushes MacArthur Past Plainview JFK

In their first Friday Night Lights game of the year, the Generals did not disappoint the fan-filled bleachers as they defeated the Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK Hawks by an impressive 26-8 scoreline.

Heroes: MacArthur junior quarterback Gerard Cunningham attempted five passes on the night, completing three for 69 yards. The three passes he completed all went for touchdowns; one to senior Will Cheshire for 20 yards and two to senior Tyler Eppich for a total of 49 yards. Senior running back Brett Ellers had 10 carries for 150 yards and a touchdown.

Turning Point: It's sort of a game-wide turning point, but the MacArthur defense didn't allow the Hawks to do very much on offense. Ellers led the team with 11 tackles, while teammate Steven Fing added 10 tackles. Cheshire and junior Joey Tangredi contributed 6 tackles each for the Generals.

Senior Anthony Giametta had 2 sacks and caused a forced fumble that teammate Ryan Walsh recovered. Seniors Eric Schiffman and Joe Cataldo each had a sack of Plainview quarterback Alec Abromovitz.

Quotable: The Levittown home crowd celebrated the anniversary of 50 years of Generals football. On hand was Frank DeNunzio, who played as a receiver and offensive lineman at MacArthur from 1977-81. DeNunzio, whose son Anthony is a lineman on this year's MacArthur team, held the team record for career receptions until it was broken by current Generals coach Bob Fehrenbach.

“Some of my best memories were made on this field," said DeNunzio. "There is nothing like hearing the crowd cheer you on as a player. As I look around I see so many families who decided to stay in this community. It’s great to see the next generation play on the beautiful new turf here.” 

After the game, first year Plainview Coach Ragler said he intended on getting his team to focus on sustaining drives.

"We have a very young team," he said. "MacArthur played an excellent game today.”

Upcoming: MacArthur is at Syosset next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. while Plainview JFK is at Uniondale at the same time.