Oceanside's Heuer throws school-record 6 TD passes
Oceanside Sailors quarterback Tyler Heuer (4) drops back to pass during the second quarter in the game against the East Meadow Jets at Oceanside High School. (Oct. 2, 2010) Credit: Christopher Pasatieri
Move over Jay Fiedler.
The former Miami Dolphins and New York Jets quarterback owned the Oceanside school record for most touchdown passes in a game for almost 22 years. That mark now belongs to Tyler Heuer.
In a remarkable performance of stunning accuracy and arm strength, Heuer, the Sailors' senior quarterback, completed 13 of 18 passes for 297 yards and six touchdown passes as Oceanside defeated East Meadow, 48-7, Saturday in a Nassau Conference I game before a homecoming crowd of more than 2,000 in Oceanside.
Heuer broke the school record when he hit Jim Keane with a 34-yard scoring strike with 7:13 left in the third quarter.
His sixth scoring pass enabled him to surpass Oceanside's most famous football alum, who threw for five touchdowns against Port Washington on Oct. 8, 1988.
"He put in a lot of time in the offseason and he's developing his reads much better," Oceanside coach Rob Blount said. "He checked down a few times and made the right read. And he's got impeccable timing with [Gene] Garay."
Oceanside (4-0) is off to its finest start since 1977, which is also the last time the Sailors won the Nassau county crown.
Heuer has thrown for 15 touchdowns and run for six others in four games.
"I like throwing deep and our guys get open," Heuer said. "I was surprised it was so easy today. They had six guys in the box and not enough in coverage and we ran excellent routes."
Heuer threw his 10th touchdown pass of the season, a sizzling 10-yard out, that Garay turned into a 44-yard romp for a score, with 8:47 left in the first quarter.
Heuer added three more scoring passes in the first half. as Oceanside built a 28-0 lead.
After Oceanside opened the scoring, East Meadow (3-1) responded with a methodical 12-play, 46-yard drive that consumed 8:27 of the first-quarter clock. But the slow march ended when quarterback Dylan Curry threw incomplete on fourth-and-8 at the Sailors' 32.
"We have a bend, but don't break attitude," said defensive back Joe Swanson, who had two interceptions and a big stop on a fourth-down running play. "The D-line is getting pressure and we're playing very well as a unit."
Oceanside went 68 yards in seven plays and punctuated the drive when Heuer hit Phil Ragona for an 8-yard score with 9:21 left in the half for a 14-0 lead.
Swanson's open-field tackle on a scrambling Curry short-circuited the Jets' next drive at the Oceanside 38.
Two plays later, Heuer hit Chris Hughes on a well-executed wide receiver screen that caught the Jets in a blitz and went for a 58-yard score.
"It was a great play call," Hughes said. "The ball was perfectly thrown on the cut and I was expecting to get hit - but there was no one there."
The East Meadow defense had no answer for the passing package that Oceanside put together. Wide receivers were running uncovered as Heuer picked apart the secondary.
"We throw the ball, that's what we do," Blount said. "they were stacking the box and blitzing."
Heuer's last scoring pass came with 7:13 left in the third quarter for a 41-0 lead.
"Teams have put it to us in the past," Swanson said. "Now we're playing really well."
Swanson made a spectacular one-handed interception at the East Meadow 35 and returned the ball to the 1 to set up a Nick Sherry short touchdown run for a 48-0 lead.
The postseason is shaping up quite differently this season in Conference I.
The Big Four playoff system was introduced to Nassau football in 1984. Only four schools have been unable to reach the semifinal round since the inception of that system.
You can count Oceanside among the four, but that should change this year. The Sailors are for real.
So is their quarterback.
