Sean Dillon's field goal on final play sends Syosset football to Nassau I final
Placekicker Sean Dillon puts up the winning field goal with three seconds on the clock to give Syosset the victory over Farmingdale in a Nassau Conference I semifinal at Hofstra on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Sean Dillon’s aim was true.
The Syosset senior stood a few steps off the Farmingdale 10-yard line with three seconds left in a tie game and with a spot in the Nassau I championship game in the offing. The circumstances had palpable weight, but not more than Dillon’s 6-foot and 250-pound frame could handle.
The senior two-way lineman and placekicker split the uprights on a 20-yard field goal attempt as time expired on Thursday night to give Syosset a 30-27 victory over the defending Long Island Class I champion Dalers in the late Nassau I semifinal at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium.
Jake Cohen made a perfect snap and Adam Marvin a perfect hold.
Asked how the kick felt off his foot, Dillon replied, “It felt like victory.”
Syosset (7-3) will be going for its fifth Nassau crown and first since 2014 in next Friday’s 4 p.m. championship game against top-seeded Massapequa at Hofstra. Fifth-seeded Syosset, which is 4-0 in county title games, lost 34-12 to Massapequa in the teams’ final regular-season game.
The setup to the ending was as dramatic as the final play itself. Farmingdale had a fourth-and-goal on the Syosset 1-yard line with 5:49 to play but quarterback Dennis Finkel was stopped cold on a sneak. Then Syosset senior quarterback Mustafa Mozawalla orchestrated a drive down the field that devoured all of the clock and 95 yards to set up Dillon’s game-winner.
“I just knew we were going to win,” said Mozawalla, who rushed for three touchdowns and threw for one. “If Sean doesn’t make that kick, I knew we’d win it in overtime. And if he did make it — and I thought he would — we’d be getting a huge Newsday headline!”
Mozawalla rushed for 162 yards on 23 carries. His third TD run was with 7:29 to play and tied the score at 27. He threw for 235 yards with a 29-yard TD to Jack Monaco, who had six catches for 110 yards plus an interception.
Finkel threw for 167 yards and three touchdowns and Sal Posillico rushed for 176 yards and a TD for second-seeded Farmingdale (7-2). James Collins caught five passes for 92 yards and a pair of scores.
“What you saw tonight speaks to the character of this team and the heart of [Mozawalla],” Syosset coach Paul Rorke said. “Farmingdale is a great team. Our guys just made the plays.”
Dillon might pose an odd figure at lineman size for a placekicker, but he has plenty of foot. As Rorke explained, “he got soccer in his background — he’s a natural.”
Farmingdale went 60 yards on five Posillico carries to reach the Syosset 10 and on third-and-goal from the 6, Finkel him right before the goal line where he was stopped. That’s where the Syosset drive began after the fourth-down stop.
“We had to get a stop,” Dillon said. “We had to beat them physically on one play and we got lower than them and made the play.”
Added Mozawalla, “This win is about every player doing their one-eleventh of the job. But it’s also more than that. What it took to win was everything the coaches did, everything the players did and everything our parents did to get us here. . . . At Syosset everyone pulls together and that’s how we win.”
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.
