Anthony Vino throws 4 TD passes as Sachem North beats Longwood in Suffolk Division I
Sachem North's Anthony Vino runs the ball and gets over Longwood's Edmond Anderson in the first quarter during a Suffolk Division I football game on Wednesday at Sachem North. Credit: Bob Sorensen
It’s only Week Two of the football season and if Sachem North looked any more polished, it would come with a warning for opponents to don protective eyewear.
North seemed to be looking at a considerable hurdle on Wednesday night. Across the field stood a solid Longwood squad. On its own sideline was featured back Lucas Singleton, out with an ankle injury.
And yet they cleared that hurdle with ease.
Senior quarterback Anthony Vino looked astonishingly smooth as he passed for four touchdowns and helped North make a difficult task look effortless in a 38-20 Suffolk I victory at its Fusaro Stadium.
“That was a hard game, even if it didn’t look that way,” Vino said. “When our team plays the way it can — up to our potential — that’s what happens. This is a special group.”
Vino completed 9 of 13 passes for 176 yards and the four scores and also rushed for 30 yards that were bigger than they seemed.
Three TD passes went to senior twin brothers Shane and Logan Reilly. Vino hit Shane Reilly on first-half scores that went 17 and 11 yards and connected with Logan Reilly on a 44-yarder on the first possession of the second half to give North a 35-7 lead. His other touchdown pass went 10 yards to Brayden Tappin.
“He throws a great ball: never underthrown and always puts it on your hands,” Logan Reilly said.
The passing stood out, but his coach and teammates were talking afterward about his rushing on the first possession where he ran over would-be tacklers to get a couple extra yards.
“We put a lot of the game plan in Anthony’s hands,” Sachem North coach David Caputo said. “He can run the ball. He could throw the ball. He makes the right reads.
“He was our leader, setting the tone early in the game, by lowering his shoulder [at the end of a run] and carrying two or three guys. When your quarterback is willing to give himself up like that, it does something for everyone else.”
Perhaps more remarkable then about how North (2-0) bested the Lions (1-1) was the way the contributions came from all directions.
Vino had as much time as he needed behind linemen Anthony DiMenna, Ryan Friel, Michael Howard, Jack McCarty and Angelo Portillo. And the Sachem North defense was very impressive behind the leadership of Christopher Lombardo and Jack Pitman.
Lombardo had three tackles for a loss, Pitman had two and an interception and Shane Reilly also had an interception.
“The way we play on all sides shows how much we love our program,” Lombardo said.
Nnamdi Nwantanwu had a 50-yard touchdown run, Angel Chestnut had a 32-yard TD run and Caleb Corbett threw a 19-yard TD pass to Mike Warren for Longwood.
Caputo was an assistant coach the last time Sachem North was great, when it won the 2013 Long Island Class I title. He's now at the helm for a team with the potential for big things.
“We came back a bigger, stronger faster football team with a lot of experience from last year’s semifinal (run),” he said. “This is only Week Two, but they’ve shown they play hard.”
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.
