Garden City Falls in LI Championship Game

There wasn’t a high school football fan that didn’t think that the matchup of undefeated Lindenhurst, the Suffolk County Champion, and perennial winner Garden City, the Nassau County Champion, wouldn’t be a match up for the ages. And the two teams didn’t let the more than 2,500 fans down as they stood toe to toe for 48 minutes at Hofstra on Saturday evening.

The game was a rematch from last seasons championship game which Garden City won 19-0 to capture their third Long Island Championship in a row. They were looking to make LI history with a fourth in a row, but Lindenhurst had another ending in mind.

Taking the opening kickoff and marching down the field on a 21 play, almost 12 minute drive, the Bulldogs set the tone with a powerful running game complimented by key passing. However the GC defense stood tall at the 3 yard line and forced a 20 yard field goal attempt that faded left and the game remained scoreless heading into the second quarter.

Midway through the second quarter the Trojans took the ball away on a Pierce Archer interception and rode the momentum to a 1 yard touchdown run by Ford Carney on a fourth down play. With less than 5 minutes left in the half Garden City had the 7-0 lead.

With the opening kickoff Garden City kept the momentum on their side as they put together their best drive of the game. A key play in the drive was a 45 yard screen pass from Luke Schmitt to Carney on third down. Archer then capped the 75 yard drive with a terrific 25 yard run through the heart of the Lindenhurst defense. The extra point by Chase Gardi was blocked and left GC with a 13-0 lead.

In a tight defensive battle, and down by 13 points with a little over 20 minutes remaining in the game, Lindenhurst could have tried to change their game plan. But they stayed with what got them to the championship game. The Bulldogs pounded out a 16 play, 8 and a half minute drive that ended with a 5 yard touchdown run to cut into the Trojan lead.

Garden City responded to the touchdown the way they always do, mount a drive of their own. After moving the ball to the Lindenhurst 35 yard line, the Bulldogs came up with a big stop to set up the games most critical play. Breaking through the line the Bulldogs blocked the fourth down punt and put themselves in good field position with a little over 7 minutes remaining in the game.

Taking advantage of the great defensive stop, Lindenhurst only needed three plays because running back Jaden Barber burst around left end for a 55 yard touchdown run. With a successful extra point Lindenhurst had their first lead of the game and their fans could sense the outcome.

The Trojans got the ball back two more times but could not come up with a repeat game winner like they had last week against MacArthur.

Lindenhurst captured the Long Island Championship with the 14-13 hard fought victory.

As history has shown, Garden City will be back next year. And although this loss hurts, the young team will be focused on using the experience to push them to the top once again. Congratulations to the team, Coach Ettinger and his hard working staff.