Mepham's shutout of MacArthur sends Nassau Conference II a message
Mepham quarterback Owen Heller ran for two touchdowns and threw for another in Mepham's season-opening victory against MacArthur on Saturday. Credit: James Escher
The scientific principle that nature abhors a vacuum is hard at work in Nassau Conference II football this season. Defending eight-time champion Garden City was moved to Conference III because of shifting enrollment, leaving a void at the very top. The question that defied prediction is which school would race in to fill it.
Mepham got a pretty nice jump on Saturday. Senior quarterback Owen Heller threw for 218 yards and a touchdown and rushed for two more scores and the Pirates’ defense was physically dominating as Mepham opened its season with a convincing 20-0 victory before a big homecoming crowd over visiting MacArthur.
The Pirates had a pair of key things to put wind in their sails for this season. Last fall they won only two games and lost four by one score. And there was the Nassau II preseason seeding, which placed Mepham at No. 5 and MacArthur at No. 2.
“We are flying way under the radar,” said junior linebacker James Quilty, whose six tackles and an interception made him one of many defensive standouts. “We’re way better than our seed.”
Added senior two-way lineman Stephen Soel, who had five tackles and 1.5 quarterback sacks, “this is an eye-opener for the rest of Nassau (II) – Mepham football is back.”
And while this is a victory to relish, Mepham football is not exactly “back” because, with the exception of last season, it’s been a regular in the last rounds of the county playoffs, playing in the 2022 county title game.
“There’s no doubt that this is huge win – the first game and homecoming and MacArthur – but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of parity in our (conference),” said Pirates coach Tom Mazeika, the long-time assistant now in his first season at the helm. “But I want our guys to see our program as top tier because that’s what we are. Last season we just didn’t get the results, but we’ve been good.”
Mepham began to reshape what started as a major defensive battle with one big play in the second quarter. Heller found senior wideout Jake Classie with a quick pass to the right sideline and he broke three tackles and went 60 yards to the Generals’ 2 before being run down by MacArthur senior Jesse Seder. The Pirates got on the board with 8:50 left in the first half when Heller found senior receiver Nicholas Gampero cutting across the back of the end zone for a full-extension touchdown pass and a 7-0 lead.
Seder, a running back and linebacker, is the Generals’ big weapon. The Pirates failed to contain him in last season’s 24-19 MacArthur win. But they zeroed in on him this time and held him to 45 rushing yards.
“We knew we’d be able to beat anyone this season because our defense is elite,” said Heller who was 14-for-21 passing and rushed 11 times for 61 yards and touchdowns of 2 and 5 yards. “Our offense is still figuring it out. . . . But it’s on me to get it out quickly because I’ve got playmakers in Classie, Gamero, (senior Rennacher) Tyler and (junior Michael) Grizzard.”
Gampero broke a big catch-and-run for 54 yards in third quarter to set up Heller’s 2-yard score. And the Heller threw two passes for 38 yards and rushed three times for 30 yards in a 69-yard drive that ended with his fourth-quarter TD run.
MacArthur managed just 95 yards of total offense against Mepham. The Pirates, however, still have work to do after committing nine penalties while on offense.
“We felt disrespected,” Heller said of the preseason seeding. “We’re a top three team if not the best in the division.”
The race to fill the void at the top is officially on.
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.
