Lindsay DiMenna leads undefeated Sayville flag football team to Suffolk Class B final
Sayville WR Lindsay DiMenna takes the ball to the Kings Park two-yard line in a Suffolk Class B flag football semifinal Monday at Sayville. Credit: George A Faella
Lindsay DiMenna took over the game in a flash.
After punching in a 3-yard rushing touchdown, the Sayville senior intercepted a pass at Kings Park’s 35-yard line and caught a 13-yard TD pass on the Golden Flashes’ ensuing possession.
DiMenna added a 4-yard touchdown reception and did all of her damage in the first half of top-seeded and host Sayville’s 38-20 win over No. 4 Kings Park in the Suffolk Class B flag football semifinals Monday night.
“I haven’t played defense in a while, so catching that interception and hearing the cheers from the sideline was great, and I felt like that brought everyone’s energy up,” DiMenna said. “It made me really excited to catch that next touchdown.”
“Every game, it seems like somebody different has a great game,” Sayville coach Reade Sands said. “Today was Lindsay’s game. She was great.”
Sayville (11-0) will face No. 2 Hauppauge in the final at 4 p.m. on Friday at Sachem North.
Olivia Moynihan peppered DiMenna with perfect passes. The junior quarterback completed 13 of 16 for 131 yards and four touchdowns.
Sayville faced a fourth-and-goal situation on its opening drive, but Moynihan stayed calm. She found Ava Vadyak open in the middle of the end zone for a 14-yard score.
“We’ve struggled on third- and fourth-down conversions a little bit this year, so I just wanted to make sure I read the corner correct and found Ava,” Moynihan said. “The goal was to look off the safety and find Ava in the middle.”
Moynihan later launched a 35-yard completion to Vadyak before capping a three-play, 46-yard drive with a 2-yard TD pass to Ella Trama to give Sayville a 25-0 lead.
Moynihan commands a Sayville offense that outscored its opponents 316-89 during the regular season. The defense is led by Ava Rueb, who paced Sayville with 53 flag pulls in the regular season. Trinity Ricevuto intercepted a pass late in the first half to preserve Sayville’s 32-0 halftime lead.
“Going into every game, our goal is to get everyone in the game,” Moynihan said. “In order to do that, we need to get out to a big lead. So everyone on the field and on the sideline needs to work super-hard and focus on every play.”
Gianna Zawol rushed for touchdowns of 7 and 61 yards for Kings Park (5-5).
After being shut out in last year’s quarterfinal, Sayville plans to continue its dominance in Friday’s county final and beyond.
“Our goal is to go all the way and win states,” Moynihan said. “We know we have the talent to do it, we just have to execute.”