Garden City football earn its ninth straight Nassau crown, runs LI-record winning streak to 53 games

The game couldn't have started better for a dynasty program riding a Long Island-record 52 game winning streak. And it couldn't have started worse for the team hoping to end that staggering streak.

First snap of the game: Manhasset fumbled the ball away at its own 6. Garden City turned it into seven points 20 seconds into the game.

Fourth snap of the next possession: Manhasset fumbled the ball away at its own 31. Garden City turned it into a 14-point lead with just 3:55 gone.

Michael Berkery ran the ball in for both those touchdowns. The senior left during last year’s Nassau II title game in an ambulance. This was a better day for him and another championship day for the Trojans, only this time in Nassau III.

He was on his way to a 15-carry, 207-yard, six-TD afternoon and top-seeded, undefeated Garden City was off and running toward a 49-14 victory over No. 3 Manhasset Saturday at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium.

“It means everything,” Berkery said. “This is what we want. We want to be county champions, dominate in our Nassau County. And that’s what we did this year.”

So make it 53 straight wins and a wondrous 108-3 under coach Dave Ettinger’s rule. And make it nine straight county crowns. Garden City came off an Island-record eight straight conference titles as a Nassau II team.

“They just come to work every day,” Ettinger said of this edition. “Their preparation has been outstanding.”

They also seem to handle any pressure to keep the winning and championship streaks alive without a problem.

“I think it’s something that we’re used to,” junior guard/defensive tackle Zach Olson said. “The whole team is really dialed in. We’re really ready to keep this going, and I think we’re going to win next weekend.”

It will be 11-0 Garden City against 11-0 Suffolk champ Sayville for Long Island’s Class III championship, tentatively scheduled for noon next Saturday at Stony Brook.

“Obviously, an unbelievable program, a lot of success,” Ettinger said of Sayville. “We haven’t seen much of them in the past, not playing in their conference. But when you think of Long Island football and you think of Suffolk County football, Sayville is one of the first programs that comes to mind.”

Ettinger said it came to his mind during the week that Berkery got hurt in the championship game here against Carey a year ago. He didn’t make it through the third quarter after fracturing his right ankle on a run. He underwent surgery and could only watch the Trojans claim a third straight Long Island title.

“I got a little nervous [against Manhasset] because my leg was caught up in a tackle, so I thought it was going to repeat,” Berkery said. “But thank God I was healthy and thank God I’m going to the LIC.”

Manhasset quarterback Kyle Melkonian and running back Atif Heathington couldn’t connect cleanly on a pitch on the first play from scrimmage of the day. Berkery recovered, and It took him one play to go those six yards.

“It wasn’t the way we wanted to start the game,” Manhasset coach Jay Iaquinta said. “You’ve got to play your ‘A’ game and we just didn’t do that today.”

After Olson recovered a Melkonian fumble on the next possession, Berkery ultimately ran it in from the 2.

“I think it’s really important in games to set the tone and we really did that in the first quarter, and that really led to a big blowout, I think,” Olson said.

Manhasset did manage the slice the margin in half. Melkonian, who went 8-for-11 for 150 yards and one touchdown and also ran for a TD, found Heathington for a 14-yard score on the third play of the second quarter.

It took Garden City 22 seconds to respond. Berkery showed off his elusiveness, running 64 yards for a TD, and it was 21-7.

Two plays after a Manhasset turnover on the ensuing kickoff, Berkery bounced out to his right and took the ball for a 21-yard scoring run.

Late in the half, Berkery scored on a 3-yard run for his fifth TD. Christopher Desiderio drilled his fifth of seven PATs, and it was 35-7.

On the second snap of the third quarter, Berkery went 61 yards for a score. The spread reached 35 at 42-7, triggering a running clock.

Berkery passed along praise to tackles Daniel Morizio and Luke Lesueur, guards Olson and Conor Fortney, and center Jake Schlipf.

“I’ve got to give credit to my O-line for making those holes so big,” Berkery said.

So Manhasset finished at 9-2.

“This senior class on JV was 3-5 and the junior class was 1-7,” Iaquinta said. “So for them to do what they’ve done this year shows how hard they worked in the offseason.”