Never Say Die Chiefs Win Again

The Mineola Chiefs 7/8-year-olds never gave up and came from behind to beat an extremely powerful Elmont team 19 to 18 on the last play of the game. This capped off a four game winning streak and a winning season for the Chiefs (5-4). Defensively the Chiefs were led by their fine defensive line of Edward Lo Presti, Thomas Gessner, Christopher Gioia, Bobby Bernardez, Steven Marino, Anthony Mastroiami, Ian Stanisic and JP Lambertson. Linebackers Patrick Delventhal, Ryan Pratt, John Carnavale, John Small and Billy O'Neill were active all day. The defensive backfield of Matthew Loosen, Brandon Peyor, Carl Nunziata and Matthew Morrisey made several key tackles.

Once again the Chiefs offensive line of Peter Clark, Mike Brady, JP Lambertson, Dane Murtaugh, Thomas Gessner, Trevor Landry and the versatile Ian Stanisic (who moved up to the line his usual halfback position) led the way. Matthew Loosen had another outstanding day scoring two touchdowns and an extra point. His second touchdown was a 40 yard burst that was helped out by devastating point of attack blocks from Bill O'Neill and fullback Christopher Gioia. The game came down to the final play with quarterback Brandon Peyor, who had an outstanding game, scoring the winning touchdown on a clutch three yard run. On the play Bobby Bernardez provided a key point of attack block while Christopher Gioia made a critical block on the blind side pursuit. The Chiefs were able to come from behind and overcome a strong Elmont team because of a strong team effort and the fact that they never gave up.