Kyle Sliwak leads the fun as Wantagh advances to Nassau II semifinal
Wantagh's Kyle Sliwak runs a drill during practice on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015. Credit: Richard T. Slattery
Most of the time, Kyle Sliwak gets the tough inside yards. Four yards here, 5 yards there. It is well-earned real estate but it comes with a price: Sliwak gets pounded by multiple tacklers on every one of those short runs.
And then there are those few, magical plays that make Sliwak smile. The ones in which holes open up and the 5-10, 185-pound senior running back finds himself with room to roam. "That's when the hard work of grinding it out for three, four, five yards at a time pays off. The line pushes the defense back, I see an opening and it's nothing but open field. No more pain. No more hits."
Sliwak had pains and gains Saturday. He carried for 154 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries to lead host Wantagh to a 48-21 victory over Mepham in a Nassau II quarterfinal football game played before a crowd of more than 1,100 fans.
No. 4 Wantagh advanced to a rematch with No. 1 Garden City in a Nassau II semifinal on Friday at Hofstra, the time to be announced. No. 5 Mepham finished 5-3.
"He got a lot of tough yards," Wantagh coach Keith Sachs said of Sliwak, "but he popped a couple, too."
Sliwak popped one for a 49-yard touchdown early in the third quarter to gave the Warriors (7-2) a 28-14 lead. In the fourth quarter, on a toss right, he broke free for 54 yards, finally being horse-collared at the 3-yard line. After the penalty, Sliwak dove in from the 1 for a 41-21 lead.
There was plenty of other Warrior magic as the team amassed 437 yards from scrimmage. Bruno Surace gained 66 yards with two short TD runs on 15 carries. Robert Tucker had an efficient game at quarterback, completing 11 of 18 passes for 151 yards and three touchdowns. Dylan Beckwith caught touchdown passes of 53 and 36 yards.
Sliwak also was involved on a hook-and-ladder play that helped the Warriors break a 14-all tie with a touchdown drive in the final seconds of the first half.
On third-and-12 at midfield, Sachs reached into his coaching bag of tricks to keep the drive alive. Tucker rolled to his right, zipped a short pass to Jimmy Joyce who then flipped the ball to a trailing Sliwak for a 14-yard gain and a key first down.
"We work on those plays," Sliwak said. "Joyce caught it and just flicked it to me. Those kinds of plays are exciting and fun."
Beckwith, who said he is often a decoy because of his speed, either as a man in motion or as a downfield receiver, got in on the fun twice. He outleaped a defensive back to catch a deep ball by Tucker, then outraced the field to complete a 53-yard scoring play that tied it at 7 midway through the first quarter. His second long TD pass came on a well-executed slant in which he came open down the middle to score just before halftime.
"Coach can see the game and see what will work," Beckwith said of Sachs' offensive schemes. "If the safety came up, I was supposed to run the post."
It worked well, as has the Warriors diverse offense for most of this season. "There are too many athletic kids," Sliwak said. "I don't see how any team can stop them all."
