Floyd's biggest play goes away from Bedell
Floyd's Corey Banks (14) hauls in the pass that would hold up as the winning score as East Meadow's James D'Elia defends in the second half. (Nov. 27, 2011) Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
Tie score with a little more than three minutes left in the Long Island Class I championship game, and Floyd facing a third-and-9 at the 18. Let's put on our imaginary headsets and play coach. Hmm . . .
Handoff to Stacey Bedell? Screen pass to Stacey Bedell? An option play with a pitch back to Stacey Bedell?
Floyd's electrifying tailback had carved up East Meadow's defense for 412 yards and four touchdowns, so c'mon, it has to go to Bedell, right?
If you thought that, you wouldn't have been alone. Wrong, but not alone.
"Even on third-and-9 I figured they'd be looking for Stacey," said Colonials coach Paul Longo, who juked conventional thinking in the pivotal moment of Floyd's 54-47 win last night.
The play called was "Red-eye Bootleg," a designed rollout for quarterback A.J. Otranto with three receiving options. Otranto play-faked to Bedell -- drawing in a few defenders -- then rolled right and found his third read, Corey Banks, for the winning 18-yard TD with 3:16 left.
"We hadn't run that play in a game in a few weeks," said Otranto, who hit Banks on a corner-post with a back-shoulder throw over the defender. "We practiced it, though, so we were confident."
That was only Banks' second reception of the season. His other was a 40-yard touchdown on Oct. 1 against Brentwood.
"All year our receivers coach [Brian Babst] kept telling me, 'You're probably gonna make a big catch in a championship game,' " the junior said. "For me to do that in this game, I can't even describe it."
Otranto was 3-for-5 passing for 94 yards. His other two completions were also touchdowns, to Vantrell Nash (43 yards) and Keith Scanlon (33 yards). But in the biggest moment of his career, the junior signal-caller stepped into the spotlight, emerging from the shadow Bedell's exploits have cast.
"He's such a humble guy," Bedell said. "He doesn't care about his numbers, just getting a 'W.' " How about both?
"This feels amazing," Otranto said. "I can't even find the words."
Well, a check-down to his receiver: "People don't realize how good [Otranto] is," Nash said. "He's got the potential to be one of the best . . . Stacey isn't our only great player, and we showed that we can all be relied on."
