Hempstead's DeAndre Leonard puts on a show in Nassau I win over Westbury 

It gave the impression of a scene out of a movie nearly 50 years in the making for the Hempstead football team.

Hempstead hosted Westbury on its new turf field for just its second varsity football game — and first night game in school history — on Thursday. At the 6 p.m. kickoff time, you could see the lights in the distance, but there wasn’t much glimmer in them yet. But the players knew they’d be on in the second half. And when they were, they wanted to put on a show.

DeAndre Leonard played a starring role.

With the sun still out, the senior opened the game by sprinting down the right sideline and recovering the opening kickoff, despite Hempstead kicking off to Westbury. He later recovered another kickoff, which set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Dwayne Meadors. Following that score, Leonard fielded a punt on a bounce at the 50-yard line, spun out of a defender’s arms and sprinted down the left sideline with the lights glaring down on him and his teammates for the game’s final touchdown as Hempstead defeated Westbury, 33-0, in Nassau Conference I on Thursday night.

“It’s an honor, first time on this field at night, it was special,” said Leonard, who added seven tackles. “This is history. I’ve never really felt a moment like that before, I’m not going to lie. It was just different. There was this atmosphere and it just felt pretty different.”

“DeAndre’s an electric player,” coach Matt Ali said. “It’s clear when you watch the film. He just seems to be a magnet for the football and when he gets it in his hands, good things happen.”

Hempstead (2-0) dominated from the very first play. Even when their offense started slow, their defense and special teams made key plays, including a blocked punt recovered by Chris Lake to set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Meadors to take a 6-0 lead with 1:28 left in the first quarter. 

“Our defense has just gotten really, really strong,” said Ryan Greene, who had four tackles, including two for a loss, and a fumble recovery. “We wanted to set the tone, it’s a new field and we made history tonight. My adrenaline was rushing the entire time.”

Brandon Davis had a 12-yard rushing touchdown with 12 seconds left in the first quarter following a fumble recovered by Nasir Motley to give Hempstead a 12-0 lead.

Meadors, who rushed for 163 yards on 17 carries and had an interception, broke a 61-yard touchdown run on the second play of the third quarter to take an 18-0 lead. After Leonard recovered the kickoff at the 1-yard line, Meadors scored on the following play.

“It was a must-win, being our first night game,” Meadors said. “We couldn’t wait for this game all week, honestly, so it feels great to win this.”

“Our kids have been excited for a long time for this first night game in the program’s history,” Ali said. “They had this one circled on the calendar and when the lights came on, they showed up and it was exciting to watch.”