C.J. Reilly, Charles Tauckus carry Cold Spring Harbor past Seaford in Nassau IV semis
C.J. Reilly #4, Cold Spring Harbor quarterback, runs for a gain during the Nassau County Conference IV football semifinals against Seaford at Shuart Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021. Cold Spring Harbor won by a score of 28-26. Credit: James Escher
Cold Spring Harbor walked into a matchup against an undefeated Seaford team with a bad taste in their mouth. With an appearance in the county championship on the line, they rectified the mistakes of an early season loss.
Cold Spring Harbor (7-3) defeated Seaford (9-1) 28-26 in the Nassau IV semifinals at Hofstra. C.J. Reilly rushed for 118 yards and scored two touchdowns. Charles Tauckus added 113 yards and two rushing scores.
"I’m just reading my blockers, my teammates," Tauckus said. "They lead me to greatness."
Tauckus punched in a six-yard rushing score after a turnover on downs by Seaford late in the fourth. Kyle Stark connected on a 37-yard pass with John Raucci on fourth down on their final possession. Stark connected with Jack Murphy in the end zone with 15 seconds remaining to cut the CSH lead to two.
It was all on the line with the two-point conversion. CSH pressured Stark on the pass, he didn’t go down after the first hit and fired a desperation throw that fell to the turf, sealing Seaford’s fate.
"After that deep ball I was shocked, but you can’t keep that on your mind," Reilly said. Then our D-end thought he had the sack and he got out I just thought ‘oh, boy’."
The first half was back and forth with each team marching down the field and scoring on their first two drives. Reilly scored from 22 yards out on a rush for CSH. James McHugh responded with a six-yard rushing score for Seaford.
Bryce Kipnis then punched in a one-yard score for CSH and James McHugh once again responded, this time with a nine-yard rushing score. Seaford trailed 15-14 after the extra point.
Inclement weather put the game on pause long after the scheduled halftime intermission. The stoppage lasted 82 minutes.
The only regular season matchup between these teams resulted in a 19-0 victory for Seaford. The results from that early season matchup weren’t forgotten.
"That has been burning under us all season, we wanted another shot at those guys right here and we got it." Reilly said. "We’ve really grown a lot as team since then."
The Seahawks will face North Shore in the championship on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
"We got two more, the county championship and the Long Island, we’re going all the way." Tauckus said. "We’re the number one team and we know it."
