Nassau I football: Farmingdale feels they earned No. 1 seed
Farmingdale running back Kevin Eversley, left, takes a handoff from quarterback Anthony Burriesci during the Nassau I final against Oceanside at Hofstra University on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015. Credit: James Escher
The way Jordan McLune sees it, Nassau I coaches would have been equally disrespectful and wrong to award any team other than Farmingdale the conference’s top seed.
“We deserved it,” he said. “We earned it with the Nassau title, going undefeated [in the county]. It’s not like they just gave it to us. They gave it to us for a reason.”
Farmingdale returns a bevy of talent from its 2015 team that was 11-0 before losing to Longwood in the Long Island championship.
McLune, a 5-9, 190-pound running back, leads the group. He ran 223 times for 1,985 yards and 35 touchdowns last year. Kevin Eversley (78 carries, 511 yards, 7 TDs) and Plainedge transfer Corey Hill, whose blocking helped Davien Kuinlan set several rushing records last year, bolster the backfield.
Both quarterbacks — Tommy Donovan, who suffered a torn ACL in Week 7, and Anthony Burriesci, who filled in admirably thereafter — are back as well.
“I raised my hand for the one seed because three of the last four years we’ve been the champion,” said Buddy Krumenacker, entering his 23rd year as coach, “and we think we can do that again with who we’ve got back here.”
No. 2 East Meadow poses the biggest threat, with TE/LB Paul Imperiale, QB/DB Anthony LaRosa and FB/LB Joe Matchekosky leading an offense, and a senior class that went undefeated on JV in 2014.
Oceanside, the third seed, has a handful of young talent. If WR/SS Dylan Judd and a deep junior class can adjust to a varsity slate, the Sailors could make another run to the county final.
No. 4 Freeport has the conference’s most dynamic quarterback, Rashad Tucker, and an experienced senior class that runs the spread offense very well.
