Crossan's 248 yards, 5 TDs lead North
Sachem North's Dalton Crossan scores in the third quarter for his fifth touchdown against Sachem East in the Suffolk I semifinals. Sachem North won 57-6. (Nov. 11, 2011) Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
It was billed as a nor'easter. T-shirts promoting the playoff showdown between the Sachem North and Sachem East football teams were proudly displayed on both sidelines. The split in the community had fans rally around both teams in this Suffolk I semifinal.
North was hoping to get back to the final, where it had lost the previous two seasons. And the East faithful basked in the spotlight of the program's first playoff win from a week ago.
A glorious fall day gave way to a championship atmosphere and before a packed house, Sachem North's Dalton Crossan stole the show. Crossan rushed for 248 yards on 17 carries and five touchdowns in a little more than a half as North rolled to a 57-6 win over East on Friday before more than 4,000 fans in Lake Ronkonkoma.
This was the first playoff meeting of these two schools since the district split into two high schools in 2004. In three regular-season games, North held a 2-1 edge.
But this day belonged to Crossan and the North defense. Crossan opened the scoring with a 39-yard touchdown run and Brian Morris made it 7-0 with 10:39 left in the first quarter. He added a scintillating 20-yard scoring run where he took a quarterback keep and went around right end. He juked one tackler inside, stepped out of another tackle and used his lateral quickness to run away from the defense and down the sideline for the touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
"I just followed my line and found some room to run," Crossan said. "They're doing a great job."
He found so much more than ''some'' room to run. Crossan scored on runs of 37, 50 and 9 yards before he was finished.
"He's a real treat, a threat to score every time he touches the ball," North coach Dave Falco said. "It's like a 50-50 shot every time he touches the ball that he'll score."
Crossan's third touchdown, a 37-yarder, was set up by a Vin Provenzano interception and 32-yard return.
"Our defense made big plays," said Provenzano, who had three tackles for loss and 11 solo. "We're a very balanced team."Provenzano, junior linebacker Tyler Andreassi and sophomore defensive back Malik Pierre led a defense that held one of Suffolk's leading rushers in bruising Steven Casali to just 32 yards on 15 carries. Casali, who suffered a stinger in the first half according to coach Mark Wojciechowski, did not return for the second half.
