Brian Falk's big day sends Seaford to Nassau IV football final
Seaford’s Brian Falk is tackled by Locust Valley's Jackson Hoban in the first quarter in a Nassau IV semifinal in Shuart Stadium at Hofstra in Uniondale, Friday, Nov. 10, 2023. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Seaford is going back to The Big Game. Brian Falk is the big reason.
Falk was singularly sensational in Friday’s Nassau IV semifinal against Locust Valley. The sophomore running back and linebacker rushed for 179 yards and three touchdowns when the Vikings had the ball and made 13 tackles when they didn’t as Seaford earned a 27-7 victory at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium.
Like most avid followers of Seaford football, Falk knows there is a rich history but that the Vikings hadn’t been to a county championship game since 2019.
“We all wanted to get Seaford over the hump,” Falk said. “The guys who blocked for me were great. They kept giving me the ball and I kept doing what I do.”
The top-seeded Vikings (9-1) will meet the winner of Saturday’s semifinal between No. 2 Malverne and No. 3 Cold Spring Harbor in the county final on Nov. 18 at Hofstra. Seaford will be playing in its 16th Nassau title game and is seeking its 11th county crown. That 2019 championship game was the last of six straight trips.
“I thought we were going to be good this year at the end of last season and they just attacked the weight room,” Seaford coach Mike Corcoran said. “What I didn’t expect was what we got out of Falk. I knew he was a good player, but I didn’t know he was this good.”
Falk suffered a broken leg last fall and didn’t play the junior varsity season. He has rushed for 1,138 yards and 13 touchdowns this season.
“It’s been great watching him emerge,” Corcoran said.
The pivotal stretch in the game came late in the first quarter and early in the second. Fifth-seeded Locust Valley (6-4) took the game’s opening possession and held it for more than nine minutes on a 17-play drive to the Vikings’ 11. On a fourth-and-3, Falk and senior lineman Anthony Janes halted the Falcons’ Charlie Pisciotta a yard short of the first down.
Seaford took the ensuing possession 91 yards, capped by an 8-yard touchdown run by Aidan Calvacca.
“It was a tone-setter,” Falk said. “As soon as we scored, I knew we had it.”
Falk had a 5-yard touchdown run just before halftime for a 13-0 lead and added TD runs of 18 yards in the third quarter and 6 yards in the fourth. Calvacca added 72 rushing yards as Seaford attempted only one pass.
Michael DiLorenzo had 51 rushing yards and Jackson Hoban had a 1-yard TD run for Locust Valley.
“Our team was unified with one idea today,” Falk said. “We had to get back to the championship game.”
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.
