Mack Driver's four TDs help Floyd crush Sachem East
Mack Driver #1 of William Floyd breaks through the line and charges down field for his first touchdown run of the day during the Division I semifinal playoff game against Sachem East at Nathaniel Woodhull Elementary School in Shirley on Nov 10, 2018. Credit: Daniel De Mato
Practice makes perfect for the Floyd football team.
That’s because game reps have been hard to come by for the starters as the Colonials had won every game entering Saturday’s Suffolk I semifinal against No. 6 Sachem East by at least 29 points.
It was more of the same Saturday as host Floyd cruised to a 34-7 win after jumping out to a 34-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Quarterback Mack Driver ran for 89 yards and four touchdowns on five carries and had a sack and forced fumble all in the first quarter.
“It’s tough because we’re not used to playing a full game,” Driver said. “But in practice we work and run and condition so we can stay in shape for the big games.”
Driver opened the scoring with a 47-yard dash up the middle on Floyd’s first drive. On Sachem East’s next drive Driver came off the edge for a sack and forced a fumble that was recovered by Greg Trent. Driver took the next Floyd (10-0) play around the left end for a 13-yard score.
Driver capped Floyd’s third drive with a 19-yard run around the left end and stiff-armed a defender to the ground before running for a 7-yard touchdown to put Floyd ahead 27-0 on the last possession the starters played late in the first quarter.
“There’s a balance,” Floyd coach Paul Longo said. “You get a big lead early and you have to take out the starters but you want them to be ready to play full games and it is a concern."
Tyshawn Lopez busted a 73-yard score down the left sideline for Floyd’s final score on the first play of the second quarter.
The Colonials have a date with Ward Melville, a team they beat 42-14 earlier this year, in the Suffolk I final noon Saturday at Stony Brook. That comes before a potential showdown with Freeport, who has dominated its competition much the same way Floyd has.
“It’s hard to not look forward,” running back and linebacker Nick Silva said. “I think about it every day. But I try to look at every game the same because either team could lose and go home.”
Silva ripped off runs of 7 and 21-yards in the first quarter before retiring to the sidelines and rooting on his team with the rest of the starters.
“We see that when these teams come in they’re really fired up,” Driver said. “They talk on social media too and say they’re ready for us but we’re ready too. We have that savage in us that comes out.”
Gene Morris joined Newsday's sports department in September 2012 and covers high school sports. He earned a journalism degree from Stony Brook University in 2010.
