Wantagh football rolls to Nassau Conference IV championship game with dominant win over Cold Spring Harbor
Dylan Martini of Wantagh carries the ball during the Nassau Conference IV semifinal game against Cold Spring Harbor on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024 at Hofstra. Credit: Dawn McCormick
It was the first night of November and Wantagh was clinging to a one-point edge at Cold Spring Harbor in the final minute before taking the regular-season finale by seven.
The rematch Thursday night? Well, it was over a whole lot earlier.
Third-seeded Wantagh built a 20-point lead after one quarter and a 41-point lead by halftime on the way to a 55-6 victory over the No. 2 Seahawks in a Nassau Conference IV semifinal at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium.
Dylan Martini posted 264 yards of total offense on 15 touches, with two rushing touchdowns and one TD reception, and Ryan Conigliaro threw for three scores and ran for two.
So Wantagh (9-1) will play top-seeded Plainedge for the championship at 4 p.m. on Nov. 22 at Shuart Stadium.
“I’ve always had all the confidence in my boys,” Martini said. “These guys are family. They’ve been working their tails off since we lost last year [in the Nassau III semis]. We haven’t forgotten that. We have something hanging up to remind us. We’ve been working our tails off to get back to this moment.”
Cold Spring Harbor coach Jon Mendreski said he was surprised at how different a game it was from Wantagh’s 20-13 win two weeks ago.
“I was surprised, too, especially offensively,” Wantagh coach Keith Sachs said. “I knew our defense was going to hold them down . . . We made a few adjustments.”
But why was it so different this time?
“That’s a great question. I don’t know, to be honest with you,” said Mendreski, whose Seahawks (8-2) failed to score until Alex Bauer’s 82-yard run cut it to 48-6 in the fourth quarter. “We seemed a little flat. We didn’t tackle. We couldn’t get anything going on offense, and they had everything going.”
Wantagh’s first possession lasted six plays and went 76 yards. Martini carried it in from the 1.
Early in the second quarter, with Wantagh leading 20-0, Conigliaro threw short on the left side to Martini. The senior turned it into a 74-yard TD reception.
Then Martini burst through the middle for a 55-yard score — 34-0.
By halftime,
the game was put on a running clock, where it would stay the rest of the way.
As Martini put it, “I think we played a full game today for the first time this year.”