Plainedge defense goes on muscle, shutting out Seaford and locking up top seed for playoffs
Quaterback Jaxson Torres of Plainedge evades the Seaford defense during a Nassau Conference IV football game on Friday at Wheatley. Credit: Kelvin Loarca
The Plainedge football team couldn’t have asked for a better way to enter the postseason.
The Red Devils hosted Seaford, the other undefeated team in Nassau Conference IV, with the top seed on the line.
Led by Bobby Wescott and Jayden Camp, the Red Devils’ defensive front held Seaford to 13 yards of total offense and just two first downs in a dominant 35-0 win Friday night.
Plainedge, the preseason No. 1 seed, improved to 8-0 and locked up the top seed in the Nassau IV playoffs. Seaford (7-1) entered Friday outscoring its opponents 268-67.
“It tells us that we’re in a good spot,” Wescott said. “This is the regular season. Our new season starts now. Once the playoffs come, everyone’s record is 0-0.”
Plainedge’s defensive line, comprised of Wescott, Camp, Dylan Fella, Ryan Heffernan, Lorenzo Roehn and P.J. Bruno, held star Seaford running back Brian Falk 26 yards on 13 carries. Falk, who has run for 1,050 yards this season, eclipsed 4,000 career rushing yards on Friday.
“I don’t think he ever got tackled one-on-one,” Plainedge coach Rob Shaver said. “We had four, five or six guys making the tackle every time.
“Jayden Camp had a heck of a game. The first drive, he chased (Falk) down from the back side, which was impressive. He’s really explosive.”
Camp had two tackles for loss and two sacks. Wescott added two sacks and Fella and Bruno each added a sack.
“We knew it would be hard to beat us if they don’t break a couple of big plays,” Wescott said. “If we maintained that short game, we knew we would be good.”
Plainedge didn’t break many big plays, either, but the Red Devils moved the ball consistently in the first half. Dominic Agovino caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Jaxson Torres to cap a 12-play, 62-yard opening drive.
Dimitris Vardamaskos ran for a 6-yard TD to end a 10-play, 82-yard drive with 2:14 left in the first half. Plainedge faked a kick for the PAT and Agovino rolled to his left and found Aidan Ryan in the end zone for the two-point conversion to give Plainedge a 22-0 lead.
Agovino caught three passes for 50 yards and added an interception on Seaford’s final drive of the first half.
Fella ran for 156 yards and two TDs on 23 carries. Plainedge picked up one first down on its first four drives of the second half. On the first play of the Red Devils’ fifth drive, Fella took a toss to the right, patiently waited for blocks to set up and burst down the sideline for an 87-yard TD to put Plainedge up 29-0 with 4:43 left. Torres was among several Red Devils throwing blocks downfield.
“Everyone on the team knows how to block and everyone knows how to run, whether you’re the quarterback or not,” Fella said. “I love to have him out there throwing a block for me.”
Looking for its first county title since 2022, Plainedge has all the momentum heading into the playoffs.
“I just like that we keep getting better and better,” Shaver said. “Our line has really gelled up nicely. Jaxson Torres is locked in. He can run and he throws it better than anybody, even in the wind tonight he was humming them in there. I’m just really proud of our guys.”
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
