Farmingdale's 7-year-old Hawks opened up the 2006 season on Sunday with an impressive 34-12 home win over the always tough Raiders from East Rockaway.

The Raiders opened the game on offense but were unable to penetrate the Hawk's rock-solid defense. Max Schall, Michael Lynch, Kyle Nusio, Anthony LaRosa, Tyler Frigerio and Jack Rosen stood tall forcing the Raiders into a three and out.

Farmingdale didn't take long to put points on the board as quarterback Matt Ragno led the offense down the field. Key blocks by linemen Antonio Smikle, Steven Beseler, Vincent Giachetti, Nicholas Cappellino and Conor Doran allowed running back Anthony Burriesci to score Farmingdale's first touchdown of the year. The Raiders answered back with a touchdown of their own, but were unable to convert the extra point.

On Farmingdale's next possession, the offensive line continued to dominate allowing the Hawks to extend their lead as Joseph Quinn ran 30 yards for their second touchdown with Darrin Simons scoring the extra point for a second time. Once again, the Raiders responded with a score of their own but were unable to convert the extra point allowing the Hawks to go into the half with a slim two point lead.

The Hawks opened the second half and never looked back. On the first play from scrimmage, a great fake from Jordan McLune and a good push to the right from Antonio Smikle, Jack Rosen, Steven Beseler, Michael Lynch, Vincent Giachetti, Kyle Nusio and Max Schall, allowed quarterback Ragno to keep the ball on a bootleg and left the Raiders defense in the dust as he took it the whole length of the field for the Hawks' third touchdown of the game.

The fired up defense, Michael Manetta, Shawn Keating, Jimmy Hickey, Nicholas Luc, and Spencer Alger stopped the Raiders in their tracks and continued to dominate. Key tackles in the game were made by Burriesci, Simons, Manetta and Keating.

The Hawks kept the chains moving down the field with the controlling offense of Jake Heuskin, Tommy Hamel, Alex Keats, Anthony Albero, E.J. Pluguez and Joseph Calderone allowing Jordan McLune to score the fourth touchdown. The powerful defense of Timothy Leighton, Erwin Li, Christopher Truncellito and Daniel Diaz shut down East Rockaway once again. The Hawks offense proved strong and came back with a fifth touchdown scored by Tommy Hamel.

The Hawks really came together for a terrific game and should be very proud of their team effort.

There was plenty of excitement in the air as Farmingdale's 8-year-old Hawks traveled to John Burns Park to take on the rival Massapequa Mustangs. With the support of family, friends and cheerleaders (thanks girls), the Hawks continued their strong start, improving to 2-0 with a 12-7 win in their second road game of the year.

Farmingdale's defense dominated the line of scrimmage early, forcing Massapequa to punt ending their first two possessions. On the Mustangs' third drive Vin Fisher, Vin Calderon, Devin Selitti and Kyle Mastrelli made key plays causing the Mustangs to turn the ball over on downs deep in Hawk territory. This stand seemed to calm the nerves of the Hawk offense, playing their arch rivals for the first time, as it took just one play, a 60-yard run by Devante Penn behind the blocking of lead back Dylan Fitzgerald and linemen Patrick Albert, Matt "Bulldog" Santangelo, Steven Dentato and Brandon Bustamante, to take a lead they would never surrender.

Massapequa was forced to punt on the next possession as defensive linemen Keyshawn Petit, Taj Penn and cornerback Matt Kleinhans made tackles to quickly get the ball back for the Hawk offense, which responded by increasing the lead to 12-0 on a Miles Mills touchdown scamper around left end, following the block of tackle Andre Gomez.

The Mustangs put together a drive trying to cut the Hawk lead to one score before halftime, but Charlie Tomasetti, Zach McGuire, Morgan Danzig and Chris Hauck led the defensive stand as time expired.

The Hawks opened the second half with quarterback TJ Greco engineering a drive deep into Pequa territory as Conor Nelson was one of seven different ball carriers to gain yards. Ryan Odabasi made a block to set the tone on the first play. The key run, however, was also the most entertaining, as Devante Penn started left before reversing field and running around right end for 20 yards, converting the third and 17 play. The drive eventually stalled, but the Hawk offense managed to run 14 minutes off the clock before Massapequa ever had the opportunity to cut into the lead.

Although Farmingdale did allow Massapequa a late touchdown, Chance Creamer, Michael Barrette, Dylan Charleston and Anthony Danetra contributed to the unit that wouldn't allow the big play that would have enabled the Mustangs to mount a serious charge.

The coaches are extremely proud of the boys for the hard work they've put in since Aug. 1. It's a great feeling to see their effort rewarded with road wins at Uniondale and Massapequa to start the season. The 8-year-old Hawks will attempt to improve their record to 3-0 on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m., when they host Bellmore at Allen Park for their home opener.