Czeczotka gets 5 total TDs in Glenn win
John Glenn's Anton Swain #82 congratulates quarterback Rich Czeczotka on his touchdown against Amityville in the Suffolk Division IV football final. (Nov. 17, 2011) Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Knights will joust for the ultimate crown for a second straight season.
Glenn, which last season went 12-0 en route to the first Long Island championship in school history and won the Rutgers Trophy as the outstanding team in Suffolk, used an explosive, big-play offense to defeat Amityville, 42-30, Thursday night in the Suffolk IV championship game at Stony Brook's LaValle Stadium.
The Knights, who avenged a loss to the Warriors, 42-28, in the regular season, improved to 10-1 and will face Nassau IV champion Roosevelt next Friday at noon at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium for the Long Island Class IV crown. Amityville is 9-2.
The victory was the 100th for Glenn coach Dave Shanahan, who is 100-52-2 in his 17 seasons at Glenn.
Versatile quarterback Rich Czeczotka accounted for five touchdowns -- three scoring passes and a pair of second-half TD runs.
None was bigger than his 61-yard gallop after a clever play fake midway through the fourth quarter, after Amityville had closed to within 35-22 on Damian Palmer's 6-yard run and Da'rell Hatcher's two-point conversion run.
Just before Czeczotka's game-breaking run, Amityville's Elijah Kelly had intercepted the Glenn QB and raced 40 yards for a touchdown. However, the score was wiped out by a block in the back. The Warriors retained possession on the pick but turned the ball over on downs when Sean Walters' pass to Willie White was knocked away by Jarvis Lameek on fourth-and-2. Linebacker Jon Mannix made a big hit on Walters for a 1-yard loss on third down.
Czeczotka also had a 5-yard TD run on the first play of the fourth quarter. He threw scoring passes of 23 and 52 to Nick Wagner and 63 yards to Tom Forsberg, all in the first half. Czeczotka, a busy body all night, was 13-for-19 passing for 262 yards with three touchdowns. He also carried 22 times for 134 with two touchdowns. Wagner caught six passes for 123 yards and had an interception. Forsberg caught four passes for 87 yards.
Hatcher caught a 6-yard TD pass from Walters and the quarterback ran in the 2-point conversion with 1:24 to play for Amityville.
The first half was filled with big plays, most of them produced by Glenn. The Knights went 49 yards in six plays on the opening possession, finishing the drive on Czeczotka's 23-yard scoring pass to Wagner.
It only took one play to make it 14-0. After forcing Amityville into a three-and-out, Czeczotka hit Wagner again, this time deep down the middle for 52 yards.
Amityville's Hatcher nailed Forsberg in the end zone for a safety to make it 14-2 early in the second quarter. After keeping possession on the free kick, the Warriors drove 69 yards in six plays and cut it to 14-8 on a 2-yard run by White.
Glenn answered in a big way. But it started with a little out route from Czeczotka to Forsberg covering about six yards . . . until Forsberg threw a little hip fake that shook the only tackler between him and the end zone. Forsberg outdistanced the field, completing a 63-yard catch-and-run. The PAT kick made it 21-8.
The Knights weren't done with their first-half barrage. On their next possession, Forsberg came in motion, took an inside handoff and burst through a huge hole for a 44-yard TD run and a 28-8 halftime advantage.
