Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Outback Empire Challenge

We're here live for the 13th annual Outback Empire Challenge all-star football game. Only one local in the game with Lou Scala from Longwood. These games are always exciting should it be a good one. I'll provide some updates throughout for those of you who haven't made the trip to Hofstra. 

A nice crowd is filing in and we're just about ready for kickoff.

Long Island is set to receive.

The opening kickoff is a touchback. As always they have the old-fashioned canon that fires throughout the game. It's loud and always shakes me.

Long Island begins with Joe Sidaras of William Floyd at QB. Longwood fans know him all to well. Brock Jackolski is in the house as well starting at halfback, so a familiar duo leading the Long Island attack. Jackolski just picked up seven on his first run. So now it's 3rd and 3 for Long Island.

Jackolski picks up a first down for Long Island. First down.

Sidaras throws a nice pass over the middle to Trevor Perryman that picks up 27. Long Island is in New York City territory.

Sidaras on a keeper picks up another first down and Long Island looks like the typical Floyd attack.

1st and 10 on 32

Jackolski another run and picks up nine to the 23.

Sidaras completes a pass to Perryman for a touchdown, but a flag is down.
Flag is waved off, it's a touchdown, 19-yard pass with 9:53 left.
Extra point is good. 

7-0 Long Island.

Drive:
8 plays, 80 yards. 5 minutes, 7 seconds.

It has to be a strange feeling for most of the fans from Long Island to be rooting for the Sidaras/Jackolski combination. For the last three years they've completely dominated Long Island football. But that's in the past for one night at least.

New York is moving along. With two plays New York is already at the 35 of Long Island.

A sack by Luke Nawrocki and Reggie Robinson for a loss of three. It's fourth down for New York.
They'll go for it on fourth and six. But they'll pick up five on offside penalty on Long Island.
It's fourth and one.

Jeffrey Legree picks up the first down for New York with a QB sneak.

Legree keeps it on a run left and picks up a first down. It'll be first and goal for New York at the six. 5:40 left...

A fumbled snap on first down, New York recovers.

2nd and goal at the 7: A time-out first...

A loss of one for New York. Reggie Robinson delivers a crushing tackle.

3rd and goal at the 8.

A pass to the right corner to Khalif Staten is caught out of bounds just passed the corner.

It's fourth down at the 8. New York will go for it.

Legree scrambles and finds Shaahiyn Alston open for a New York touchdown with 3:23 left.

Extra point is good and we're tied at 7-7.

12 plays, 64 yards, 6:30.

So we're off to an exciting start here with both teams delivering touchdowns on their first drives. This was a high-scoring game last year with New York winning 35-27. We're on a similar path this year.

Steven Probst from Farmingdale is in the game now. He and Sidaras are both headed to Hofstra in a month, so it's fun to see how these guys perform in a warm-up before their college careers begin.

Probst completes his first pass to Jonathan Morgan. Long Island is at the New York 42.

We're at the end of the first quarter. 7-7.

When we start the second it'll be 3rd and 8 for Long Island at the New York 44.

A pass down the right sideline to Brett Tom is incomplete, so it's fourth down for Long Island.

And we have our first punt!!

A nice return by Dominick LeGrande who eluded a number of tacklers but didn't pick up a ton of yardage. He returns to the 30. A holding penalty will bring it back to the 20, however.

1st and 10 New York at the Long Island 20.

Scala is in on defense with the second unit.

New York picks up a first down at the 30.

Flag is down. It's going to be offside on Long Island, so it's a five-yard gain.

1st and 5 at the 35.

Scala makes his first tackle along with Ray Marcano on a run to the left side. A 3-yard pickup.

A QB keeper for no gain on second down.

3rd and 3. Pass is incomplete to right side.

It was close to a lateral pass on the screen, and if it was, it could have been a touchdown by Scala. He picked up the pass that drilled the receiver but the play was ruled dead.

There's 10:27 left and we have a time-out on the field.

Another screen pass tried on fourth down and it bounces to the receiver so Long Island will take over at the New York 37.


Sidaras is back in for Long Island at QB. He'll keep it on first down and pick up three.

A lateral right to P.J. Preziosa who throws down the right sideline to Jack Kensil to complete a 33-yard gain. 1st down Long Island at the 3.

Sidaras on a keeper but can't get in the end zone.

Sidaras on a play action finds Conrad Steward open in the end zone for a touchdown with 7:57 left. A 2-yard touchdown pass.

14-7 Long Island.

4 plays, 37 yards, 2:27

So normally in a football game New York wouldn't have gone for it on the fourth down it had. But in an all-star game it did and we've seen why that's not wise. Long Island quickly put it in the end zone to regain a seven-point lead.

Two plays in here for New York and it's third and eight at their own 34.

Legree looks to pass, can't find anyone and takes up the left sideline himself. He's out of bounds short of a first down so it's fourth an 2.

A QB sneak gives New York a first down at its own 44.

Willis Dendy takes the handoff up the middle and into Long Island territory.

It's 2nd and 1.

A loss of one and now it's 3rd and 2 for New York.

Legree picks up the first down with a four-yard run.

1st and 10 at 44 of Long Island.

LeGrande with a nice run left to the 33. New York is marching along now.

LeGrande again with a tough run left. He's a quick, agile QB who is hard to bring down.

On first and goal Legree charges up the middle on a QB keeper and he's just outside the end zone.
2nd and goal at the 1.

Touchdown on a QB keeper by Legree.

We are tied at 14 with :50 left.

14 plays, 67 yards, 7:07

A big kickoff return couple with a New York penalty gives Long Island the ball at the 40 of New York with :43 left.

The first pass by Probst down the left sideline goes out of bounds.

It's second and 10 with :37 left.

Probst is sacked for a five-yard loss. Long Island calls time-out with :28 left.

It's 3rd and 15 at the 45.

A draw to Jackolski and he gets to the 33. It'll be 4th and 3 with :19 left.

Probst on a keeper gets to the 25. Long Island calls time-out with :12 left.

It's a first down.

A long pass to the left sideline goes out of bounds. One last chance for Long Island.
They'll actually try a field goal here. This is 40 yards.

Jonathan Korn nails the 40 yard field goal as the half expires. It's 17-14 Long Island after one half.


After a monumental halftime, we're back in action here at Hofstra.

It'll new New York ball and after the return it's first and 10 at the 39.

It's fourth down for New York.
4th and 3 at the 46

New York picks up the first down into Long Island territory.

Scala with a nice tackle behind the line for a 3-yard loss.
Shaahiyn Alston was the runner.

New York completes a pass on second down to the left side although it's short of a first down.

Alston picks up the first down at the 35.

Almost intercepted by J.B. Andreassi but he got knocked into by a teammate.
It's 2nd and 10 at the 35.

Pass left by LeGrande falls incomplete.
It's fourth down and 5 at the 30.

LeGrande scrambles right and doesn't get the first down.
Long Island takes over on downs at its own 28.

Sidaras is back in at QB for Long Island and he completes his first pass. 
It's first and 10 at the 41.

Tashawn Arthur carries the ball up the middle to the 50.

Alex Rivas carries up the middle to the 42.
It's 2nd and 2.

With a blitz closing in Sidaras finds Perryman in the middle who picks up 22 yards to the 20.

Arthur carries for two yards as Long Island keeps punching away.

Incomplete pass to Perryman. 3rd down and 8 with 5:23 left in the third.

Sidaras keeps it and picks up two. It's fourth down.

A 33-yard field goal by Korn is good and it's good and it's 20-14 Long Island.

8 plays, 56 yards, 4:41

Travis Kennedy nearly intercepts New York's first pass.
It's 2nd and 10 at the 32 of New York.

Incomplete pass and now New York is looking at 3rd down.

Pass over the middle to an open Terrance Garner is dropped. 
It's fourth down with 3:25 to go.

New York is in punt formation.

New York punts but a flag is down. Long Island is flagged for illegally rushing (all-star game rule). It's a five-yard penalty and automatic first down for New York.

New York gets the ball at its own 37.

New York promptly picks up nine and moves up to the 46.

Darryl Whiting rushes up the middle for a first down across Long Island territory.

Whiting tries again and loses a yard.

It's second and 11. Handoff up the middle to Alston gains 10.

It's third and 1. Legree keeps it and picks up one. 

END of 3rd Qt. 20-14 Long Island.

It's first and 10 at the Long Island 38 for New York.

LeGrande on a keeper gets to the 30 for a gain of 8.

LeGrande scrambles right, cuts back left, eludes several defenders and picks up 7 for a first down.

LeGrande once again, looking to pass but scrambles up the right sideline to get another first down.
It's 1st and 10 at the 12.

Pitch right to Ricky Kruger goes nowhere. A loss of two.
Second down pass is incomplete.

It's 3rd and 12 at the 14 with 12:27 left.
Legree pass to Brandon Jones is complete and Scala makes the tackle.

It's fourth and four at the 6.

LeGrande is dragged down and just heaves a pass that is caught but short of a first down. The play goes as a sack.

Long Island takes over at the 15.

A pass by Probst is incomplete and it's third down for Long Island.

Probst is sacked by Jeremy Rosado. A real hard hit for a loss of two.

Long Island punts and there is no return. New York will begin down six with 9:01 left in the fourth with great field position. 
New York will start at the Long Island 45.

First two plays for New York back them up two yards. It's 3rd and 12 at the 47.
Third down pass to Khalif Staten is incomplete.

Fourth and 12 at the 47.

New York punts and it is fair caught by Long Island at its own 23.

First two plays go nowhere and it's 3rd and 10 at the 23. Sidaras gains eight to the 30.

It's 4th and 2 and we have a time-out Long Island with 6:06 left.

Long Island picks up the first down with a run by Jackolski. He gets 5. A huge first down by Long Island. Now they can run a few more minutes off the clock. We're under 5:30.

Rivas carries on first down and gets nowhere. 

It's 2nd and 10 at the 35.

Pass to Alec Blieberg goes for six on 2nd down. We're under 4 minutes....

Draw by Sidaras is stopped by Irving Williams. Long Island will punt with under 3 minutes to go.

New York takes over with 2:57 to go.

It'll be 1st and 10 at New York's own 22.

First pass right to Staten is caught and he picks up 8.
Legree on second down gets to the 33 for a first down.

On 1st and 10 we have movement before the snap. It'll be a false start so New York backs up five yards.

1st and 2nd down passes are incomplete.

It's 3rd and 15 at the 28.

Draw to Alston is stuffed by Billy O'Connor. The game comes down to this.

It's fourth down.
A 4th and 20 for New York with 1:00 left from the 23.

Legree scrambles and finds Alston, who somehow gets down the right sideline for a huge gain. There's 40 seconds left and New York will have the ball at the 21. It was a 57 yard gain.
Flag is down for delay of game, so it'll back New York up to the 24.

1st and 10 at 24.

Legree pass left is caught and out of bounds with :35 left.

2nd and 4: Pass caught by Stephan Benjamin.
Time-out with :29 left.

1st and 8. A leaping catch by Stephan Benjamin in left corner of the end zone has tied the game with :23 left. A fantastic catch.

20-20

Extra point: Michael Horowitz nails the extra point and New York somehow snags the lead, 21-20.

Twenty-three seconds remain for Long Island.

Malcom Brown takes the kickoff but can't get anywhere. He picks up 14 to get to the 29. Only 18 seconds remain.

Probst carries it and it appears the game is over. But six seconds will be put back on the clock.


FINAL SCORE: New York 21, Long Island 20

Jeffrey Legree (Fort Hamilton) is the MVP.
Joe Sidaras (Floyd) is the Player of the Game.

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