Newfield beats MacArthur, 41-33, in Long Island Class II championship game
The Newfield football team celebrate with their trophies after their victory over MacArthur High School in the Class II division of the Long Island Football Championships at Hofstra University on Friday, Nov. 27, 2015. Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
History made!
Elijah Riley fielded a line-drive onside kick on one hop at the Newfield 49-yard line, split two defenders and was gone. But 45 yards later, with no one from MacArthur within 15 yards of him, he stopped and knelt at the 6 with 53 seconds left.
Newfield's second Long Island Class II football championship in five years had been secured. Riley could have scored his fourth touchdown of the game, but there was no need.
"I knew the game was over when I recovered the onside kick," he said. "MacArthur had no timeouts left and it was the right thing to do against a great opponent."
The classy kneel-down set the stage for a wild celebration as Newfield ran out the clock in its electric 41-33 win over MacArthur before 4,500 fans at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium.
Newfield -- which rode a 27-point second quarter and withstood a 19-point third quarter by MacArthur that trimmed a 20-point deficit to one -- finished 12-0 for the first time in school history. The Wolverines won their first crown in 2011.
"I had tears in my eyes when he stopped running," Newfield's Jelani Greene said. "It was symbolic because I knew we'd finished the job. It was such a classy move. Elijah always does the right thing."
Riley led Newfield's big- strike offense with two fourth- quarter touchdowns on runs of 8 and 30 yards to help Newfield expand upon a 27-26 lead. He finished with 149 yards on 18 carries and three touchdowns.
"The offensive line was just amazing," Riley said. "They gave us time to throw and Ryan [Klemm] was phenomenal. He made the big throws all game."
MacArthur (9-3) went ahead 7-0 when halfback Vin Martino scored on a 9-yard run with 5:03 left in the first quarter. The lead lasted into the second quarter, when Newfield blitzed MacArthur with a barrage of four touchdowns in 7:53.
Riley scored on a 5-yard run to get the Wolverines within 7-6. Then Klemm lit up the secondary with three scoring passes to cap the 27-point quarter for a 27-7 halftime lead.
Klemm hit Greene with a 26-yard TD pass and added the two-point conversion pass to Justin Ottenwalder for a 14-7 lead. And after MacArthur turned the ball over on downs at the Newfield 36, Klemm led a three-play, 64-yard scoring march.
On third-and-8, Klemm stepped up into the pocket and found wide receiver Denzel Williams on a short crossing pattern -- and Williams did the rest in spectacular fashion. He spun out of one tackle for the first down, broke another tackle and flew down the visitors' sideline behind a crushing block from Riley at the 15 for a 62-yard touchdown. Jacob VanEssendelft's kick made it 21-7 with 2:04 left in the half. And the Wolverines weren't done.
Defensive end Steven Hoynacky corralled MacArthur quarterback Jimmy Kelleher for an 18-yard sack at midfield, and Greene returned the ensuing punt to the Newfield 37 with 1:03 left.
Klemm scrambled for a first down and then rifled a 33-yard completion to a streaking Joe Muller down the middle at the Generals' 20 with eight seconds left.
Muller called timeout and Newfield dialed up the perfect play. Klemm hit tight end Austin Gubelman down the middle on a 20-yard touchdown strike and a 27-7 lead as time expired in the half.
The last touchdown would have deflated most teams, but not the Generals. They came out for the second half with a vengeance, recovered two straight onside kickoffs and stormed back into the game. The Generals scored three third-quarter touchdowns to cut their deficit to 27-26.
"We're a second-half team and we played with a lot of heart," said Kelleher, who passed for two touchdowns. "We played a great team. And we left it all out there."
After Martino ran for his second and third touchdowns of the game, wideout Jared Wolfe (140 yards on 10 receptions) caught a 38-yard touchdown pass to get within 27-26. MacArthur's furious comeback had Newfield reeling.
"We steadied the ship after the momentum went the other way," said Newfield coach Joe Piccininni, who wore a T-shirt that read "Make History.'' "MacArthur was a mirror of our team in athleticism. What a great game."
Then Piccininni took a marker and drew a D over the K. History Made!
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
