Carey beats Long Beach for 22nd straight victory
Carey's Conor Colasurdo gets congratulated by teammates Paul Koprowski and Kevin Meaney after taking a fake punt on fourth down and racing downfield for a 42-yard touchdown in the second quarter of a Nassau II semifinal at Hofstra on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014. Credit: James Escher
When your team has won 22 straight games -- the longest current streak on Long Island -- a mere seven-point lead at the half of a county semifinal playoff game can cause some concern.
No. 1 Carey, which turned the ball over four times in the game, "took a deep breath at halftime," according to coach Mike Stanley, and came out strong in the second half to defeat No. 6 Long Beach, 35-14, Saturday at Hofstra.
"We needed to settle down and we didn't take care of the football in the first half," Stanley said. "We started settling down defensively in the second quarter and we played great defense in the second half."
Conor Colasurdo, who ran for 75 yards on five carries, scored a touchdown in the second quarter to put the Seahawks (10-0) up 14-7 at the half. He extended the lead with an 11-yard score in the third.
Mike De Leo added 77 yards rushing and quarterback Mike Catanese had 111 rushing yards and 91 passing yards.
"Today was good for us because even though we made some mistakes, we were able to survive it," Stanley said. "We got a real test from a tough Long Beach team and we were forced to play well in the second half."
Carey will try to earn its second straight Nassau title against No. 2 Garden City at Hofstra on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
