Locust Valley dethrones North Shore

North Shore’s football team has participated in a lot of fiery celebrations during the prior two years that included a 2021 Long Island championship and two straight Nassau County titles. 

But on the Sea Cliff/Glen Head soil last Saturday, the Vikings watched Locust Valley celebrate vigorously after it beat North Shore, 21-7, in a Conference IV playoff battle. 

The neighboring Falcons celebrated on the field for about 30 minutes after the final whistle, hopping about and taking endless photos.

“I guess they haven’t been there in a while,’’ North Shore coach Dan Agovino said. 

Indeed, it’s been a storybook season for Locust Valley, which has now beaten North Shore twice. Locust Valley moved to 6-3 and faces Seaford this Friday at noon at Hofstra in its first county semifinal since 2019. 

For whatever reason, the winning coaching staff declined comment to discuss Locust Valley’s best season in years. Senior running back Michael DiLorenzo did all the talking in rushing for 201 yards as the Falcons rallied from a 7-0 deficit to score three straight touchdowns. 

DiLorenzo’s 44-yard touchdown run evened the score at 7.  DiLorenzo also broke off a 37-yard scamper on another scoring drive. 

On both big runs, North Shore had a chance to corral DiLorenzo in the backfield, but he slipped through their fingers. 

“He had a good day against us,’’ Agovino said. “He had some good runs where he was able to take advantage of our missed tackles.’’

It was a day of lost chances for The Maroon, which traveled into the red zone three times without scoring. It also had another drive end at the 26.

“We played good football,’’ Agovino said. “We followed the game plan pretty well. 

“We brought the ball into the red zone a few times. We couldn’t execute on third and fourth downs when we needed to. That was the difference. In the playoffs, you have to make the best of your opportunities.’’

Sea Cliff was the land of pigskin opportunity in the 2021 and 2022. The 2023 North Shore season ended sooner than expected at 4-5. They entered the campaign absorbing heavy graduation losses from their championship squads. 

“It’s disappointing because this year’s team had a tremendous work ethic,’’ Agovino said. “We were proud of these guys and felt they were capable of beating anybody. It’s disappointing because I felt they deserved more success than they got. 

“There was a special chemistry. I had a lot of optimism for this team. It didn’t end the way we thought it would. It’s a tough one for me.’’

North Shore quarterback Garret Gates had a good beginning engineering the first touchdown drive, scoring from the 1, but then fizzled. He finished with 55 rushing yards. 

The North Shore star of the day was defensive lineman Athanasios Alafogiannis. “AA’’ was tremendous on the defense line,’’ Agovino said. “They couldn’t block him. He was causing problems for them up front.’’ 

 While North Shore will lose Gates, they return next season the starting backfield of Gianlucca Sferrazza and Ryan Lau and a good share of the offensive line. 

The JV struggled to a 1-7 clip, but the middle school team went unbeaten.  .  

  "There's a foundation,'' Agovino said. "We’re going to have to fill in the pieces. North Shore football isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.''

 And the Falcons keep going.