Steven Casali's a two-way star for Sachem East

Steven Casali put forth the kind of herculean effort late Friday night that they'll talk about for a long time. Casali brought me back to the days when it was a common that the great ones went both ways, starring on offense and defense.

The label throwback is often used to describe a player who can take over a game with the physicality that stands out and leaves the crowd in awe. This is Sachem East's Steven Casali.

He reminded us what the term workhorse means when he rushed for a career high 289 yards on 25 carries and three scores in a 25-17 win over Longwood in Suffolk's Division I. His mangled uniform and bruised forearms were testament to his physical play.

Casali swatted away defenders and delivered the hit every time he touched the ball. His three touchdown runs were a combination of power, breakaway speed and the will to let no one stand in his way. He made defenders pay by lowering his shoulder, squaring them up and running over them. He made them pay if they dared tackle him.

He essentially put his team on his back and refused to allow Longwood take the game away from the Flaming Arrows.

His 74-yard touchdown jaunt cut a 10-point deficit to 4 and ignited a dormant Sachem East offense and sent them to the halftime pep talk with some fire. On his first carry after halftime he rumbled for 50 yards and the lead.

And on defense he could be seen scraping behind the line and flying through gaps to make bone crushing hits on runners. He caused three fumbles, recovering one of them. He was in on 14 tackles and Longwood must have felt like there were three of him on defense. He was everywhere.

When the fight was over, Casali tipped his cap to Longwood and talked about how great the Lions played in defeat -- a humble postscript for a kid with great character and a heck of a stiff arm.

He was so good, I went home to watch him again on the TV replay.