The Mineola High School varsity football team rang-up its third straight win. The Mustangs played another thriller in a come-from-behind 16-14 win at East Rockaway. Trailing 14 - nothing after three quarters, the Mustangs scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to spoil East Rockaway's homecoming. Senior quarterback Rich Medlock finally got Mineola on the board when he hit his younger brother, Dan, with a 12-yard scoring toss with 7:21 left in the game. Mineola then made good on the two-point conversion when Dan Medlock found Jerelle Harrison with a 19-yard TD pass to tie the score. Dan Medlock again ran in the conversion with 3:05 left for the win. Medlock was 8 of 16 passing for 75 yards and two TD's. The Mustangs are now 3-and-0 in Nassau Conference IV. East Rockaway slipped to 1-and-1.

The Mineola junior varsity football team opened its season with a 6-6 tie at Roosevelt on Sept. 21. As Coach Mark Miller said, "Both defenses came to play." Mineola had 96 yards in total offense, while holding the Rough Riders to 79 yards. The Mineola touchdown came on a 3-yard pass from sophomore Richie Carter to freshman Michael Black. The Mustangs' defense was led by Mike Bencivenga, who had six tackles and two assists. Patrick Gafney added four tackles and three assists while Tiago Rodrigues had four tackles.

The Mustangs JV squad played its home opener on Sept. 28 but the home team ended up on the wrong side of a 14-12 decision to East Rockaway. Mineola fell behind when the visitors scored on their third play from scrimmage. Mineola stuffed the two-point conversion. So, East Rockaway led 6-0 at the half. Mineola scored its first touchdown in the third quarter. Greg Gabriel scored on a one-yard run to tie the score at six. The scoring opportunity was set-up when Richie Carter returned an interception some 90 yards to the East Rockaway 1-yard line. The visitors scored again in the third quarter and this time made good on the two-point conversion to take the 14-6 lead. But Mineola wasn't done. Late in the fourth quarter, the Mustangs had one more drive left in them, scoring right at the end of the game. Carter hit Nelson Lopes with a 10-yard TD pass, leaving Mineola a two-point conversion away from tying the contest. But, the attempt was stopped, leaving East Rockaway with the victory. Coach Miller said, "It was another tough-fought game that saw Mineola come from behind to nearly tie it at the end. We still haven't tasted the thrill of a win." Mike Bencivenga and Carter led the defensive effort. Bencivenga, a sophomore, had six solo tackles and one assist. Carter, also a sophomore, also had six solo tackles. Three more sophomores keyed the defense. Patrick Gaffney ended up with three tackles and two assists, while Gregg Gabriel had four tackles and one assist and Jason Vega made four tackles. The Mustangs JV team next faces the Syosset B-team looking for that first victory.

The Mineola Boys Varsity Soccer team ran its overall record to 10 wins and no losses with three more victories this past week. The Mustangs notched a 3-1 win at Clarke. Rui Ribeiro got Mineola on the board. Ramon Valente scored to make it 2-0, and then fabio Deoliveira scored on the through pass from Mario Lara to give the Mustangs a 3-0 first half lead. Goal tender Greg Weiss made four saves. Mineola then grabbed a rugged 1-0 win over Floral Park on Fabio De Oliveira's goal with 13 minutes remaining in the first half. Gregg Weiss again got the win in goal, only having to make three saves. The third win a throw-in from 20 yards to give the Mustangs a 2-0 first half lead. Fabio De Oliveira scored the first goal and Weiss made five saves in goal. The Mineola Varsity Girls Soccer team suffered a 4-0 shut-out at the hands of Mepham. Seventh grader Sade Ayinde scored twice and assisted on two other goals for Mepham. Senior goal tender Allyson Murphy made 14 saves in a losing effort. Wheatley Pinned a 5-1 defeat in the Lady Mustangs in the next outing. Caitlin Herrera scored Mineola's lone goal while Allyson Murphy came up with 16 saves. Jackie Carlos and Kathleen Flaherty each had two goals for Wheatley.

As we mentioned last week, anyone who watches the Mineola varsity volleyball team on a regular basis can tell that they've made marked improvement over the last season under second year Coach Janna Balsamo. But, the Lady Mustangs just can't get over the hump and snare a victory. Mineola dropped four matches in the last couple of weeks. Seaford handled Mineola pretty well 25-16, 25-19 and 25-11. But, Mineola gave Clarke all it could handle in a four-set match. Clarke outscored the Mustangs 25-23 in the first set before Mineola came back to take the second 25-21. But, the Sailors garnered narrow wins in the next two sets, 26-24 and 25-20 to take the match.

The next match for Mineola went four sets again before Lynbrook came away with a hard-fought win. The Mustangs took the opening set 29-25. but, the Owls took the next three 25-22, 25-16 and 25-22. Hewlett then defeated Mineola in three sets in the next outing. We can't wait to see this team get that first win.