Farmingdale teammates celebrate after their 34-23 win over Oceanside in...

Farmingdale teammates celebrate after their 34-23 win over Oceanside in the Nassau County varsity football Conference I final at Hofstra University on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015. Credit: James Escher

While the Long Island Championship remains elusive for Farmingdale, the Rutgers Cup does not.

The Dalers won their first 11 games this season before losing in the Long Island Class I final to Longwood, and that was good enough to capture the school’s eighth Rutgers Cup trophy awarded to the outstanding team in Nassau County.

The trophy presentation was made Wednesday night at the Nassau football awards dinner. The Dalers earned 29 first-place votes and 122 points. Plainedge was second (14 first-place votes, 86 points), MacArthur was third (three, 50) and Locust Valley fourth (three, 37).

“We’ve got a program where they come up thinking they have a chance to be a champion, and they work toward being a champion every year,” Krumenacker said after the LIC.

Farmingdale entered the season as the No. 4 seed in deep, balanced Nassau I and made an immediate statement with an opening-night 17-6 victory over No. 2 East Meadow. There were mostly one-sided victories thereafter, except for a tough 35-21 victory over neighborhood rival Massapequa in Week 7.

In the county playoffs, Farmingdale earned the No. 2 seed and rolled over Freeport and East Meadow before a season-defining showdown against No. 1-seeded Oceanside, which also entered the county final with a 10-0 record.

The Dalers defeated the Sailors, 34-23, behind quarterback Anthony Burriesci, who filled in admirably for injured starter Tommy Donovan, and Newsday first-team All-Long Island running back Jordan McLune, who rushed for three touchdowns and 118 yards. For the season, McLune ran for 1,985 yards and scored 35 touchdowns, second on Long Island in both categories.

Krumenacker was upbeat after his latest LIC defeat, emphasizing to his players that it is a significant achievement to win a county crown. “You thank them for what they’ve done and for all that they’ve put into this,” he said.

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