Floyd's LI title worth the three-year wait
Floyd head coach Paul Longo lets out a rare burst of emotion after the clock runs out. (Nov. 27, 2011) Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
As he stood near the south end zone at Stony Brook's LaValle Stadium on Sunday night, helmet off, smile on, Devante Smith took in the celebratory bedlam surrounding him.
"We've waited for this for three years,'' the Floyd senior defensive back said after the Colonials' tense 54-47 victory over East Meadow in the Long Island Class I championship game. "It's the best feeling of my life. These guys . . . we're more than a team, we're a family.''
Smith played a key role in the finale, returning a kick 75 yards for a touchdown and intercepting two passes, including the one that closed out the Jets in the final minute.
"So many guys made big plays in the playoffs,'' said coach Paul Longo, the father figure in the Floyd family. "Devante, A.J. [Otranto], Vantrell [Nash]. And of course, Stacey.''
Of course, Stacey. Now there's an epic understatement. Stacey Bedell was in the middle of all that bedlam on an unseasonably warm November night, just as he was in the middle of nearly every big play made by the Colonials in their run to a fourth Long Island championship and first since 2007. "He never ceases to amaze me,'' Longo said.
Even on that rare occasion when Bedell was contained -- by Longwood in the Suffolk I semifinals Nov. 11 -- he still managed to come up with the game-winning play. Bedell broke through for a 48-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that produced a brutally tough 19-13 victory, a game in which he gained only 66 yards. This from an electrifying player who gained 2,532 yards and scored a school-record 39 TDs in 2011.
That victory set up a third consecutive Suffolk I championship game against Sachem North and a third straight Bedell-infused victory, this one 35-20. Bedell ran for 258 yards and three touchdowns, outdueling his friend Dalton Crossan (232 yards, three touchdowns), including the late clincher on one of his trademark cutback runs.
Bedell was even more spectacular in the LIC with a record-setting 412 yards rushing and touchdown runs of 80, 51, 59 and 80 yards. "I'm in the Stacey Bedell fan club,'' East Meadow coach Vinny Mascia said. "He was so good, it was almost unfair to fake it to him.''
Mascia was referring to a play fake by Otranto to Bedell that allowed the quarterback to roll right and find Corey Banks in the end zone for the winning 18-yard connection. Otranto and Nash clicked for an early touchdown in the LIC and hooked up twice for long TD passes in the Suffolk I final.
But mostly, the Colonials' winning formula was Bedell left, Bedell right or Bedell up the middle -- sometimes on the same play -- especially in his final game wearing green and white.
"Every one of Stacey's runs was huge,'' an emotionally drained Longo said after the East Meadow shootout. "We needed every yard. He was superhuman. He's been great in every county championship and LIC game. He's one of the greatest players to ever play football on Long Island.''
Considering the regal nature of the Floyd football family in the Longo Era, that's high praise.
