On Sunday Nov. 7, the 12-year-old Hicksville Crusaders beat the Hempstead Tigers 23-0. The playoff victory advances the Crusaders to the Nassau County Youth Football League Super Bowl. The team is comprised of 12 year olds from Hicksville, Levittown and East Meadow. The Crusaders sent their captains to mid-field for the coin toss, which the Crusaders won and elected to receive. And why wouldn't they elect to receive, after all they had not been stopped on their first possession in the last six games scoring on each and every first possession.

Well, not today. It was obvious from the first set of downs that the Hempstead Tigers were not going away easily. The Crusaders went three and out on their first possession and were forced to punt. Hempstead was a fired up team, especially after coming off their win against Massapequa last Sunday. The Crusaders usual stifling defense immediately took control getting the ball back for our offense to go to work. The offensive line, which has been 20 tremendous all year long, once again went to work creating holes for our running backs and great pass protection for our quarterback Thomas Shreiber. Ryan Braithwaite, Steven Bromber, Joey Leonard, Chris Olsen, Ben Aloi, Thomas Maggio, center Zack Hoehing and tight ends Anthony Ciaramitaro and Richie Roberts man the offensive line.

The Crusaders were not to be denied a score on their second possession, which was set up by two big pass plays and a big running play. The first pass went to tight end Richie Roberts for 12 yards and a first down. Thomas Shreiber, looking downfield for a receiver on the next play, decided to scramble breaking out a big 27 yard run. The next pass went to our other tight end Anthony Ciaramitaro for 15 yards down to the 2-yard line. From there James Lang finished the drive with a two-yard touchdown run. With Bryan Verbitsky doing the holding, Thomas Schreiber kicked the 2-point conversion giving Hicksville an 8-0 lead.

The first half would end with Hicksville leading 8-0, thanks in part to the

Crusaders swarming defense. The team has been told all year long that the game is won in the trenches and this defensive unit is led by it. The defensive line is manned by Ryan Braithwaite, Zack Hoehing, Richie Roberts, Kevin McShane, Micheal McShane, Edward Milacek, Steven Pou, left end Ben Aloi and right end Danny Ingham. The linebackers are Bryan Verbitsky, Joey Leonard, Anthony Ciaramitaro and Thomas Shreiber. In the safety position are James Lang, Terence Pfeifer, Brendan Kennedy and Danny Knack.

The third quarter would once again be a defensive battle ending with Hicksville clinging to their 8-0 lead. The Crusaders finally broke the game open in the fourth quarter. The Crusaders got timely blocking to produce a couple of big runs. First Bryan Verbitsky broke of a nice 12-yard run for a first down. Then Thomas Schreiber bootlegged one to the outside for a 27-yard run. Hicksville continued to drive down the field where they punched it in with a 4-yard touchdown run by Bryan Verbitsky. Thomas Schreiber added another 2-point kick giving Hicksville a 16-0 lead.

With about four minutes to play, Hicksville sealed the win when Bryan Verbitsky intercepted a third down pass and ran it back 17-yards for his second touchdown of the day. James Lang then ran in the extra point giving Hicksville a commanding 23-0 lead.

Offensively, Thomas Schreiber finished the day with 70-yards rushing and three pass completions. One to Richie Roberts for 12-yards and two to Anthony Ciaramitaro for 15-yards and 8-yards. Brendan Kennedy provided some great blocks coming out of the backfield.

Defensively, the tackles/assist tackles were led by Anthony Ciaramitaro with nine (one pass block), Zack Hoehing with eight, Bryan Verbitsky (one interception) with seven, Chris Roberts with six, Ben Aloi with five, Terence Pfeifer, Joey Leonard, Thomas Schreiber, James Lang (one interception, one pass block) and Ryan Braithwaite with four, Brendan Kennedy with three, Danny Knack and Danny Ingham (one fumble recovery) with two. Chris Olsen, Edward Milacek, Kevin, Michael McShane and Steven Brumber each contributed one.

As you can see, defensively, this was an entire team effort with virtually everyone on the team contributing. The Crusaders will be facing the Baldwin Bombers (who topped the Farmingdale Hawks 8-0) in the 2004 Super Bowl, which will be played on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 3 p.m. at Inwood Park. Let's make a great fan showing at the game in support of this team of 12-year old boys who have worked extremely hard all season to get to this point. For directions visit the Nassau County Youth Football League website at www.NCYFL.org.

The Hicksville Youth Football League is very excited about this 12-year-old team, as it is the first Hicksville team ever to make it to the Super Bowl. But, not to be forgotten is all the hard work that Mike Torrellas, Kim Torrellas and all the board members do to make this possible. Good Luck Crusaders. Bring home the trophy.