Blocked kicks and broken dreams

Well, that was a loud introduction.

Welcome to this season of high school football, where two middling Conference I teams show their mettle in a tense overtime contest and where over 1,000 spectators are there to see it.

After a bad snap put Syosset at 3rd and 13, Alex Contino's 23-yard touchdown pass to James Cohen won the game for the Braves, 20-14. And in case that doesn't fully drive the point home, it was a tight one, y'all. Seconds earlier, Uniondale had tried to pull ahead with a 33 yard field goal attempt that was blocked by Tommy Anderson to give Syosset the ball.

It was quite a show for those two teams — the Braves, who are trying desperately to crack the upper-echelon of Conference I, and Uniondale, looking to redefine themselves after a difficult 2009 campaign.

In fact, U-dale came tanalizingly close in the previous drive. On 2nd and 2 on the 22, Khaliq Murray broke through to snag the first down, but the flag immediately came down to call the illegal shift, placing the Knights at 3rd and 7 on the 17. The Knights went for long pass for the touchdown, but Brandon Duncan overshot his receiver to set up the kick.

After the game, Uniondale coach Greg Didio talked about the decision to chuck the ball rather than dance with the one that brought them — that explosive running game and their big, bad offensive line. "We thought maybe they were thinking, 'run, run, run," Didio said simply.

Incidentally, it was Didio's first game back after a four year absence. The coach, who's been at this gig for 20 years, said he's encouraged by this group of guys. "They're going to turn it around," he said. "I think we're together. Even three weeks ago." As for this game in particular, "we'll see when we watch the film tomorrow."

Full stats, play by play and all that other good stuff tomorrow's Newsday, courtesy of Chris Mascaro. Happy trails!