Garden City nips MacArthur for title

A month after snapping Garden City’s 42-game winning streak, MacArthur erased an early double-digit deficit in last Saturday’s Nassau Conference II football championship game but was unable to seal the deal.

Trailing by one with less than four minutes remaining, the Trojans marched 43 yards to set up senior kicker Chase Gardi’s decisive 28-yard field goal with 34 seconds left and No. 2 Garden City captured its fourth straight county title, 16-14, before a crowd of 2,500 at Hofstra.

“I was just praying on the sideline,” said senior running back Ford Carney, who had both Garden City touchdowns and kept the final drive alive with a fourth-down conversion run around midfield with less than two minutes to go. “I love Chase no matter what, but now I love him a little more,” he added.

The Trojans (10-1) will try for a fourth consecutive Long Island crown this Saturday when they face Lindenhurst at Hofstra at 4:30 p.m. Top-seeded MacArthur, which won 27-7 at Garden City on Oct. 26, suffered its only loss of the season after 10 wins in a row.

“We made some changes since the last time we played MacArthur and watched enough film this week to make our eyes bleed,” Garden City head coach Dave Ettinger said. “They’re a great team and beat us up the first time. [Hugh] Kelleher is an unbelievable player. I’m just proud of my guys and how they were able to execute.”

All four touchdowns came in the second quarter. The Trojans led 13-0 midway through the second thanks to 1- and 62-yard scoring runs by Carney. MacArthur answered with two quick touchdowns and held a 14-13 lead from the 4:00 mark of the second until the final minute.

The Generals scored 18 seconds after Carney’s long touchdown run, getting on the board with senior Dan Calderon’s 70-yard scoring reception on a short toss from senior quarterback Joe Manfredo. After MacArthur’s defense forced a three-and-out, Kelleher raced 65 yards for a touchdown on the next offensive snap and it was 14-13 following senior kicker Brian Carroll’s second successful PAT.

“Obviously the result wasn’t what we wanted, but that should not take away from everything the kids accomplished,” MacArthur head coach Bobby Fehrenbach said. “It’s the only team in program history to start a season 10-0. They should be extremely proud of themselves because they set the bar pretty high for years to come.”

Kelleher, widely considered a leading contender for the Thorp Award, given to the top player in the county, rushed for 143 yards on 18 carries and added 10.5 tackles on defense. Senior Ryan Isom and junior Andrew Calderon had six stops apiece.

MacArthur advanced to the finals on the strength of a 41-20 semifinal victory over upstart Valley Stream Central on Nov. 16. Kelleher had 328 yards on the ground and three touchdowns, while Manfredo added rushing and passing scores.