Ciolino twins lead Massapequa over Oceanside in Nassau I final
Jake Ciolino #15 of Massapequa, right, and brother Luke Ciolino #20 react as their team closes in a 35-26 win over Oceanside in the Nassau County Conference I football final at Shuart Stadium on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. Credit: James Escher
The younger twin brother came into this football season a known quantity, a speedy receiver with some of the best hands on Long Island. The older twin brother was more of an unknown, his seasons shortened by injuries.
Now, after what the two seniors did on Friday night, no one in Massapequa will soon forget the Ciolinos.
Jake Ciolino, the younger twin (by three hours), had a tone-setting 73-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half and Luke Ciolino picked up two first downs in a fourth-quarter drive that devoured seven minutes as Massapequa outlasted Oceanside, 35-26, in the Nassau Conference I championship game at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium.
"Doing this along with him means everything," Luke Ciolino said. "He took it to the house. I made some big plays. Our parents can be proud of what we’ve done."
"Luke came back in Week 3 after having his appendix out and we really needed what he can do," Jake Ciolino said. "Having him by my side all the way to this has been great. We’ve got one more game and we’re going to do just like we did tonight."
Massapequa (10-1) is the Nassau I champion for the seventh time and second season in a row. Unlike the last championship, which came in the coronavirus-truncated spring season, Massapequa will get to play for the Long Island Class I championship. It will meet Suffolk I champ Whitman at noon on Friday at Hofstra.
"When we lost to Farmingdale [in the regular-season finale], we got a kick in the pants and it shook us out of the fantasy world we were in," Massapequa coach Kevin Shippos said. "A switch got flipped and we’ve been [playing] with a different type of intensity in the playoffs. That was something we needed to win this game."
Senior quarterback Ryan Heidrich rushed for one touchdown and passed for another for Massapequa. Ryan Fountain caught a touchdown pass and capped the long drive by scoring a 27-yard touchdown on a deceptive play that Massapequa has been holding back all season. Luke Ciolino rushed for 64 yards, caught six passes for 48 yards and had seven tackles.
Massapequa led 28-20 in the fourth quarter, but the Sailors had fourth-and-inches at the Massapequa 3. Oceanside hurt itself with a false-start penalty and then Charlie McKee was flushed from the pocket and threw incomplete in the end zone for Jake Perenchief.
Said Jake Ciolino, "You could just feel things turning for us right there."
Massapequa then went on a methodical 14-play drive to seal the deal. Fountain and Heidrich each ran for a first down and Luke Ciolino had a 4-yard catch and a 13-yard run for two more first downs. Facing a fourth-and-11 from the Sailors’ 27, Heidrich faked a handoff for a sweep to the left and then slipped it to Fountain for a sweep to the right. Moments later, he was in the end zone for a 35-20 lead with 1:51 left.
"We wanted Jake to get his hands on the ball more in the second half, and the kickoff took care of that," Shippos said. "And we have speed to the edges that’s hard to match and we ran a lot to the outside in that last drive. Luke, Jake and Ryan really came through at the end."
Said Oceanside coach Rob Blount: "Not scoring inside the 10 was a killer and then they wore our defense down on that long drive. It’s disappointing."
McKee then engineered a quick drive for a 6-yard touchdown pass to Ronnie Kraemer, who caught eight passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns for the Sailors (9-2), but when the extra-point kick failed, Oceanside was done.
The Massapequa win brought down the curtain on the illustrious four-year career of McKee, who exits as one of Nassau’s most decorated players and the county’s all-time leader in passing yards but without a championship in three trips to the title game.
"My biggest goal was to win a championship and I went four years without it," said McKee, who rushed for 141 yards and two touchdowns and also was 21-for-32 passing for 215 yards and two more scores. "It’s definitely devastating, and even though a lot happened for me, I just don’t feel like I’ve done so much. . . . But I am proud of my team and have loved playing with them."
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.
