Dwayne Meadors, Hempstead open with impressive win on new turf field
Dwayne Meadors, Hempstead running back, rushes for a first down during the third quarter of a Nassau Conference I football game against Baldwin at Hempstead on Saturday. Credit: James Escher
The only thing missing was the “Grand Opening” banner hanging over the entrance.
The Hempstead football team christened the new turf field on Saturday with a victory celebration. The Tigers rode a pair of long and decisive special teams plays, taut defense and the grinding rushing of Dwayne Meadors past Baldwin for a 26-6 Nassau I victory in the opening game for both teams.
“The first [football] game on the new turf and we came out to make a statement: that this is our home field,” senior Christopher Lake said, holding out an open hand toward the fresh field. “We own this.”
Hempstead had to be reinvented after losing significant numbers to graduation from a team that reached the county quarterfinals with a squad that averaged 21 points and was headed by standouts Jakkai Stith and Shamar Pink. This season’s group is again a great collection of athletes and its route to success may lie in keeping opponents off the board.
“There’s been this commitment across the board of guys wanting to step up and make up for the guys we lost, Meadors, a senior, said. “We think that if everyone plays their role we can be even better.”
“The bottom line with our team is that we’re a bunch of guys that want to hit and make plays,” Tigers coach Matt Ali said. “That’s not something you coach. It’s something inside them.”
Meadors and the defense laid the early building blocks for the win.
Meadors had 100 of his 159 rushing yards including a 38-yard yard touchdown where he followed blocks on the left side by seniors Isaiha Stroud, Ryan Greene and Lake and then broke two tackles and went across the grain to the end zone. The Tiger defense gave up a total of only one rushing yard and Brandon Davis had an important interception as Hempstead led 6-0.
Lake took the second-half kickoff 85 yards down the right side for a touchdown and a 12-0 lead. The Bruins’ ensuing drive into Tigers territory stalled near midfield after Greene and junior Nasir Motley came up with a big sack on a third-and-18 and ended with a punt. Senior DeAndre Leonard took that punt, sliced through the oncoming defense and went a spectacular 96 yards for a touchdown.
“Those returns are the kind of plays that take the other team’s heart,” Leonard said.
Meadors’ two-point conversion made it 20-0. And he would salt the win away in the fourth quarter with six carries in a time-consuming nine-play drive for a 15-yard touchdown.
“I feel like I’m the best player on our team and I have to lead us to the win there,” Meadors said. “But this was a team effort with those exciting [returns] and great defense.”
Baldwin averted the shutout when Vaughdrea Johnson connected with Prosper Prowl for a 23-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Johnson was 6-for-20 passing for 156 yards and the touchdown and also made an interception on the defensive side for the Bruins.
Seeing his team rejoicing on their new deck, Ali thought back to the games played on grass last season and all that has transpired since.
“It’s so great that we have this and we’re so grateful to all the people who worked so hard to get it for us,” he said. “I hope this is the first of many, many victories on this field.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
