Call it a revenge game.
Back in Week 4, Wantagh blew an 18-point second-half lead to Clarke, ending its 10-game winning streak. Five weeks later, with the stakes much higher, the Warriors made sure history would not repeat itself.
Senior running back Joe Nicholson scored two second-half touchdowns to power Wantagh to a 38-14 win over Clarke on Friday, sending the Warriors to the county semifinals.
“We thought about that loss for a while, but we made the adjustments we needed to make,” Nicholson told Greater Long Island. “They almost came back again today, but I trust every single guy on this team.”
[Keep scrolling for photos from the game.]
Defense sets the tone
The Warriors’ defense delivered early. With the Rams driving in the first quarter, junior Joe Adamo intercepted a pass while falling to the ground, giving Wantagh the ball at its own 34-yard line.
A few plays later, quarterback Carter Loughman audibled at the line of scrimmage and kept it himself for a 1-yard touchdown to make it 7-0.
Clarke cut the deficit to 10-8 late in the second quarter, but with two minutes left in the half, Loughman struck again — this time through the air. He found Devin Paccione for a 16-yard touchdown and a 17-8 halftime lead.
“We knew we could drive on them,” Loughman said. “The offensive line played great today, our running backs are so good, so I knew we were gonna score. It’s just confidence in the whole team.”
Nicholson takes over
Nicholson opened the second half with a touchdown to push the lead to 16. Clarke answered with a touchdown of its own, but failed on a two-point conversion attempt that would have cut it to one score — a sequence Nicholson called pivotal.
“We knew the 2-point conversions were huge last time, that’s why they won the game,” he said. “We just had to buckle down that one play and get it done.”
From there, Wantagh’s ground game put it away.
Nicholson broke off a 52-yard touchdown run, and sophomore Luke Martini added a 27-yard score in the fourth quarter to make it 38-14.
“At halftime I was talking to our coach and told him that every time we ran to the sideline, the other team would overpursue the ball,” Martini said. “So we just used that to our advantage.”
Next up: County semifinal at Hofstra
Wantagh now turns its attention to a Class III county semifinal showdown with Carey on Sunday at Hofstra University.
Both teams are defending Long Island champions — Carey won in Class II last year, while Wantagh captured the title in Class IV. This year, they’re meeting in Class III with a trip to the county finals on the line.
Photos
Photos by Alice Moreno
