Buckley's 199 yards, 3 TDs lead Seaford football
After getting by Island Tree's Nick Mouzakes (40, on the ground), Louis Hernandez (82, right rear), Seaford's RB Justin Buckley (32, center), tries to get past Island Trees's Harry Sopp (19, left rear), during their game. (Sept. 10, 2010) Credit: Richard Slattery
Justin Buckley must've gotten tired of being treated like a high school bus driver.
After taking Island Trees defenders on a ride up and down the field the entire first half of host Seaford's 40-14 win at home in its football opener on Friday night, Buckley took most of the second half off.
The only place it mattered was on the stat sheet, as Buckley finished 1 yard shy of 200 with three touchdowns on 20 carries. All three of the touchdowns and 187 of the yards came in the first half.
"You get a little tired," Buckley said about carrying the bulk of the offensive load. "But I only play one side of the ball, so you fight through it. It feels great to tell you the truth."
The Vikings, who have won 33 straight games against Nassau opponents and 13 overall, did most of their offensive damage on the ground, carving out 374 yards. They didn't attempt a pass in the first half.
Quarterback Joe Kirincic completed both of his second-half throws, including a 48-yard strike over the middle to Daniel Arena, for what was Seaford's only points of the second half of the Nassau Conference IV game.
Seaford got on the board before even taking an offensive snap, as Arena intercepted a pass on the second play of the game and returned it 53 yards for a touchdown less than 30 seconds in.
The Vikings fared just as well on their first offensive series. Kirincic took a sweep right 16 yards to the Island Trees 34-yard line, and Buckley culminated the drive with a 30-yard scamper off-tackle right to make it 14-0 just 2:56 into the game.
On their third offensive drive, Buckley carried the ball six times for 75 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown, to make it 21-0.
Quarterback Kyle Nigro kept Island Trees in the game as best he could. He rushed for a 7-yard touchdown and threw a 10-yard strike to Tyler Byrne with 19.5 seconds left in the half to make it 34-14. The 14 points were the most allowed for a regular-season Seaford opponent since Week 2 of last season.
Nigro finished the game 11 of 22 passing for 113 yards, but did throw three interceptions. The last, by Louis Marzo, came on a deep ball from the Seaford 32 on second-and-13.
By then, Buckley's day was long over.
Said Island Trees coach Mike Bonsignore of the hurting Buckley put on his squad: "He's a solid runner who stays low to the ground. He doesn't fool anyone, you know he's coming right at you.
"He's no joke."
