Jack Cheshire leads Sayville to dominating win with four TD passes
Sayville's Jack Cheshire runs the ball and gets tackled by Kings Park's John Dowling in the first quarter during a Suffolk League VI football game on Friday at Sayville. Credit: Bob Sorensen
Despite not being able to play any games for over a year due to the pandemic, the Sayville football team showed no signs of rust in its Suffolk League VI season opener at Greeley Avenue Field against Kings Park on Friday night
Senior quarterback Jack Cheshire dominated in the first half, passing for 231 yards and four touchdowns while completing 19 of 25 passes. Cheshire tossed his first TD of the night on a 1-yard slant to Nick Buffardi to give the Golden Flashes the 7-0 lead with 6:24 to go in the first quarter.
Cheshire and the Sayville offense showed no signs of slowing down on their way to the 58-6 win in front of a smaller crowd than usual — due to COVID-19 protocols.
"We are so happy," Cheshire said. "We waited over a year for this. This fall, it was just so different. I have been raised on playing football every single fall and not having it this time was weird. Just being back out here is the greatest feeling in the world."
A 24-yard completion from Cheshire to CJ Messina set up the Golden Flashes at the 5-yard line, which allowed running back Alex Millwater to work his magic. After taking the direct snap, Millwater appeared as if he was going to be tackled, but he spun off several defenders and scored the touchdown. Michael Argenziano converted the PAT to give Sayville the 14-0 lead with 2:08 to go in the opening quarter.
"I was standing there and I thought they were going to blow the whistle," Cheshire said. "But then he just spun out of there. I was just shocked and it was pretty cool to experience that right in front of me.
On the ensuing kickoff, Argenziano pooched it and Sayville was able to recover at the 35-yard line. On fourth-and-10, Cheshire delivered to Messina for the score to put Sayville up 21-0 with 1:05 to go in the first quarter. Messina had six catches, 109 yards and two touchdowns.
Millwater added another rushing touchdown on a 3-yard run to open the second quarter. The senior finished with 39 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries.
Sayville sat its starters in the second half after leading 42-0 at the midway point. The Golden Flashes’ head coach Reade Sands said it gave them a good opportunity to see everyone play.
"I was telling the younger guys, they need to know the plays, understand what their roles are and concentrate in practice," Sands said. "It was great that we got them reps and that was the main goal tonight."
