Luke Meyer, Jackson Gade lift shorthanded Port Washington past Westbury in OT
Port Washington's Luke Meyer looks for some running room during a Nassau Conference I football game against host Westbury on Friday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Absent their starting quarterback and trailing in overtime following a frenetic scrambling touchdown pass across the field, the Port Washington football team was in search of one final answer Friday night.
They found it when it mattered most.
Luke Meyer tied the score with a 3-yard rushing touchdown in overtime and Jackson Gade kicked the winning extra point as Port Washington rallied for a 15-14 victory at Westbury in Nassau Conference I.
“I’m just so excited for our team,” Meyer said. “We were down a couple of players but we just had to come back and fight. You can’t come out here and be relaxed. You just have to come out fighting from the beginning.”
Thomas Fletcher’s interception on Westbury’s side of the field with 14 seconds left in regulation forced overtime as Port Washington was driving for the go-ahead score.
Westbury (1-1) took a 14-8 lead on the first possession of overtime when Fletcher, who replaced starting quarterback Rubens Destimoble following an injury late in the fourth quarter, scrambled from right to left and threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Grant Boylan. Port Washington denied the ensuing two-point conversion attempt.
Once Meyer found the end zone from 3 yards out on third-and-goal on the next possession, Gade was prepared for a moment he had never experienced.
“I had never had a winning kick on varsity,” Gade said. “I knew that my team would put me in this spot and they get the credit. It felt good to see that we were able to do this.”
Port Washington starting quarterback John McCarthy was unable to play due to an unspecified injury after leading the Vikings to a dramatic 40-36 win over Freeport in the opener, in which he passed for 238 yards and two scores and ran for 117 yards and two TDs.
Port Washington (2-0) relied heavily on the combination of Meyer and Harrison Behan out of the backfield on Friday.
“I know what my team is capable of and my teammates do, too,” Behan said. “And when we come together, it’s magical.”
Destimoble threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to running back Kenson Gervais to open the scoring with 3:54 left in the first half. Destimoble ran in the two-point conversion to give Westbury an 8-0 advantage entering halftime.
With 6:33 left in regulation, Meyer scored on a 1-yard TD run and ran in the two-point conversion for Port Washington to tie the score at 8.
“The kids didn’t quit,” Port Washington coach Kevin Cloghessy said. “They stayed together and they needed to, to battle back. I give Westbury a lot of credit. They made big plays . . . It was a good moment to see our kids answer back.”
