Big Red Fleeces Rams at Homecoming

The Glen Cove Big Red varsity football team defeated the Rams of West Hempstead 42 - 12 at the Saturday, Sept. 27 Homecoming game, shining right on through the threat of stormy weather.

Glen Cove scored early and often in recording the team's second consecutive win. The major story of the game was the resurgence of the Big Red defense. The D forced West Hempstead into turnovers or punts, giving the Big Red offense short fields on which to operate. Brown, Maccarone and Beatty took advantage of the dominant play of the Big Red offensive line, scoring on touchdown runs in the first half.

At the start of the third quarter, Brown had a possible third touchdown run called back by a penalty. The Big Red quickly answered the miscue on the next play with a handsome 33-yard touchdown pass from Eric Tripp to Joe Fiorino. Daven Plummer finished out the scoring using wedge blocks from Mike DiLeo, Phil Voegtlan, Chris Haran, Brendan Huggins and David Petulla to score his first touchdown of the year. Exciting runs by Syris Barnes, Shamik Newsome and Hector Paez kept the Homecoming crowd entertained the whole game through.

Dan Belfiore, Lewis Linares, Jesse Martino, David Petulla, Marvin Flores and Kenny Catanzano seemed unblockable up front. Doug Tripp, Kevin Gardrvits, Daven Plummer and Andres Fuenzilida contained the West Hempstead speed while Voegtlan, Brown, Cook, Moglia and company kept the Rams' offense in check.

Special teams were once again extra special. Ryan Zupa and Pete Cappiello excelled at long snapping. Chris Haran missed his first extra-point try, but then settled in, hitting three of four on the day, making it eight of nine on the season. As usual, the punt return team provided lots of running room for Kaliym Beatty, return man extraordinaire.

The Big Red has a big game at home on Saturday against Wantagh High School. In the last game of the 2007 regular season, Glen Cove lost to the undefeated (7-0) Warriors in double overtime. The following week Wantagh again beat the Big Red in the first round of the playoffs. Glen Cove is looking to right those wrongs with the start of the 2008 season.

Game time is 3 p.m. due to SATs. Cheering on your football team is a great way to decompress after those exams. Those students and all fans are encouraged to come to the Glen Cove High School field and cheer on the Big Red.

The Glen Cove JV football team had another outstanding performance last Saturday. The team played against the West Hempstead Rams and posted a shutout for a second week in a row. The defense was stellar while the offense took a while to warm up. Leading the scoring was sophomore John Bellock with two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving. Also adding were Pietro Lafortezza and freshman Nick McAdams. Stepping up in a big way was sophomore Ronnie Rant, who filled in as guard and defensive end. This week the team visits the Warriors of Wantagh. This will be one to watch.

The Glen Cove boys soccer team defeated Lawrence High School on Sept. 19 by a score of 1-0. Zach Rubin scored the lone goal on an assist from Marcello Zuccaro. Outstanding defensive work by Antonio Saviano, Mike Mienko and Mike Monaco helped Rafael Montes record the shutout.

The team then played Clarke High School on Sept. 23 and was victorious with a 3-0 win. Zach Rubin scored all three goals for Glen Cove with assists from Manny Rodriguez, Vinny Dipaola and Albert Grella. Raf Montes made four saves for the shutout.

Unfortunately, on Sept. 25, after a slow first half, the team lost to Plainedge High School by a score of 3-1. Alvin Reyes scored the lone goal for Glen Cove. The team is now 3-3 in league play.