The Mineola High School Varsity football teams continued its march toward what it hopes is a spot in the playoffs with a homecoming victory. The remnants of tropical storm Lily dumped on Long Island all weekend. But, the homecoming parade and all the festivities went on as scheduled, regardless of the showers. After the parade snaked its way to Hampton Stadium, the Mustangs sloshed their way to a 14-7 homecoming win over Island Trees. The victory leaves Mineola with a perfect 5-and-0 record and tied for the top in Conference IV with Seaford. Junior running back Dan Medlock delighted the drenched but spirited crowd with a first quarter 44-yard touchdown run to get the Mustangs on the scoreboard first. Place-kicker Matt Bispo's extra point gave Mineola a 7-0 lead. In the second quarter, senior Adam Minsky blocked an Island Trees punt. Senior Steve Ricciardi recovered the loose ball at the 4-yard line. Two plays later, junior Jim Holubowich bowled into the endzone for the Mustangs' second touchdown of the game. Bispso added the extra point again for a 14-nothing lead. The lone Island Trees touchdown came in the third quarter when Mike Rossi scored on a 36-yard run. Mineola took advantage of a couple of Island Trees turnovers in the fourth quarter to preserve the homecoming win. Senior safety Brian O'Neil recovered a fumble at the Mineola 25-yard line midway through the final quarter. Junior linebacker Ivan Anania fell on another fumble at the Island Trees 40-yard line with 2:25 left in the game. On a day such as that, it didn't matter whether the football was pretty, only that you get the win and Mineola did. In this space last week, we mentioned that Paul Bispo kicked the extra points for Mineola. Paul graduated a couple of years ago. It was senior Matt Bispo doing the kicking for the Mustangs. We apologize for the error.

Coach Mark Miller's Mineola Junior Varsity football team finally found the win column and liked it so much, they did it twice. After starting the season with a tie and a loss, Mineola notched its first victory on Oct. 5. The Mustangs traveled to Syosset and came home with a 32 to 6 win. Mineola dominated the game, getting five touchdowns by five different players. Greg Gabriel started the scoring parade with a 9-yard TD run in the first quarter. Kevin Franciotti's extra point made it 7-0 Mustangs. The second quarter brought two more touchdowns. Robert Wong scored on an 8-yard run and Patrick Gaffney plowed into the end zone from a yard. Franciotti was good on one of those points after and Mineola took a 20-0 lead into halftime. Quarterback Richie Carter scored from the one-yard line in the third quarter. Syosset got on the board in the fourth quarter before Mineola completed its scoring. The last touchdown came on a 32-yard pass from Mike Bencivenga to Jim Logan. Coach Miller said, "The team got great blocking from the offensive line ... ends Andrew Jakubek and Peter Diglio, tackles Danny Vezo and Andrew Breen, guards Leo Morales and Nick Laurino and center Marchin Gajdziszewski." On defense, the Mustangs were led by linebacker Gaffney, who had two solo tackles and four assists. Strong safety Carter added four solos. Defensive end Diglio had a tackle and three assists, while the other defensive end Laurino added four tackles and assisted on another. Defensive backs Mike Bencevenga and Nelson Lopes each had two tackles and an assist.

On Oct. 14, Mineola notched its second straight victory, rolling to a Columbus Day 25 to 7 win over visiting Malverne. Greg Gabriel again broke the ice by scoring the Mustangs' first touchdown. Gabriel banged into the end zone from a yard. In the second quarter, Robert Wong ran three straight plays, covering 41 yards, the last of which ended in the Mustangs' second touchdown. Kevin Franciotti's extra point gave Mineola a 13-0 lead. Mineola punched another one across before halftime. Richie Carter hit Gabriel on a 2-yard scoring toss to up the score to 19-0 at halftime. After a scoreless third quarter, Mineola got on the board again when Tiago Rodrigues scored on a 1-yard run. Rodrigues ended up being the Mustangs' leading rusher. He carried the ball seven times for 77 yards, which is an 11-yards per carry average. Malverne scored a touchdown late in the game for the final 25-7 margin. Patrick Gaffney had a big day on defense, making eight tackles and assisting on two others. Leo Morales added four tackles and four assists along with a sack, while Mike Bencivenga had three tackles and a pair of assists. Gabriel also chalked up three tackles and assisted on another while Andrew Breen had two tackles and a pair of assists. The Mineola J-V team now has two wins, one loss and one tie.

The Mineola High School Boys Varsity Team picked up two more wins in the past week and clinched the Conference B-IV title, the program's first Conference Championship since 1992. The Mustangs took a 3-2 road decision at Clarke. Helder Mendes scored in a breakaway off a George Barros feed with 16 minutes left in the game to snap a 2-2 tie. The Mendes goal completed a three-goal barrage in an eight-minute span in the second half. Barros scored the first goal while Matt Bispo scored the second. Gregg Weiss made five saves and got the win in net.

The Mustangs then defeated Floral Park 1-0 when Peter Marson took a header from Alex Tinoco and a one-time shot from 16 yards away just under the crossbar. The lone goal of the game came 1:35 into the second half. George Barros crossed an indirect kick to set up the scoring play. Greg Weiss had five saves for his seventh shutout of the season. The win clinched Conference Crown. Mineola has 13 wins and no losses overall. The Mustangs Conference mark is perfect in nine games.

The Mineola Girls Varsity Soccer Team saw its three-game winning streak come to an end. Hicksville handed the Lady Mustangs a 4-2 defeat. The Comets scored three first-half goals to take a lead they never surrendered. MaryAnne Georgeou scored both Mineola goals in the second half. Allyson Murphy had a busy day, making 16 saves.

Then, the Sewanhaka District team handed Mineola a 4-0 defeat. Sewanhaka upped its Conference VI record to 11-and-2, while Mineola fell to 4-and-10. Again, Murphy got plenty of action, making 15 saves.