Kyle Ellis stands tall at goal line to preserve Sachem East victory

Kyle Ellis was positioned firmly on the goal line. In his mind, nobody was getting past him.

So, when Connetquot ran a gadget play on a two-point conversion attempt while trailing by two points late in the fourth quarter, Ellis waited patiently on his side of the field.

He didn’t bite on the direct snap to the running back, nor did he follow once the receiver swept behind and was pitched the ball. He finally broke when quarterback Drew Guttieri caught the trick play just inside the 1-yard line, launching himself forward to make the tackle and preserve the upset victory.

Sixth-seeded Sachem East prevailed over third-seeded Connetquot, 14-12, on Friday night in a Suffolk Division I football quarterfinal at Connetquot, riding a ground-and-pound gameplan that ate away clock in the fourth quarter.

“I was just trying to stay home, make sure nothing came to my side,” Ellis said. “I knew that they were going to try something sneaky knowing that it was their last hope of winning the game.

“It was close. It was too close.”

Guttieri’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Lucas Quinlan with 1:57 remaining set up the attempt, but Connetquot still had hope with an onside kick. Sachem East recovered and ran the clock down to 56 seconds before getting stuffed on a fourth-and-inches run attempt.

Connetquot (6-3) took over on downs, but four straight incomplete passes sealed the win for Sachem East (4-5), which started the season 0-4.

“We kept the faith,” coach Phil Torregrosa said. “We were 0-4. We knew we were a better team. We had injuries; we had sicknesses. We just kept the faith. I’ve never seen a team more positive at 0-4 than they were.”

A dense fog enveloped the field most of the game, while a persistent rain made for slick conditions. Sachem East kept the ball on the ground with running backs Ryan Paolella and Adriel Robinson, a thunder-and-lightning combination for the Flaming Arrows.

“Me and Adriel, we feed off each other and we compete with each other, and that really makes us better,” Paolella said.

Robinson’s 15-yard scamper off left tackle with 6:10 left in the third quarter gave Sachem East a 14-6 lead. This came in response to a Connetquot drive in which Guttieri kept a quarterback-option for a 3-yard touchdown.

AJ Kiernan blocked the extra point, an inconsequential play at the time that paid dividends later.

“I knew no one was on me, so I just went full speed and got about two fingertips on it,” Kiernan said.

Sachem East surprised the Connetquot defense on its second play from scrimmage, as quarterback Nick Stelling’s play-action resulted in a 74-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown by Kieran for a fast 7-0 lead.

It was just what they needed to set the stage for an upset.