Shoreham-Wading River's Isreal Squires again shows how dangerous he is
Shoreham's Israel Squires (5) intercepts a pass intended for Roosevelt's Rashawn Vailes (12) in the second half of the Class IV Long Island Championship on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014 at Stony Brook University. Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
It looked as though the Roosevelt defense had Isreal Squires cornered.
The Shoreham-Wading River senior took a toss to the left side and two defenders quickly advanced on him. But with a stutter step to the right followed by a burst to the left, Squires found the sideline and had only daylight in front of him. By the time he reached the end zone with a 17-yard touchdown run, he was nearly 10 yards in front of the closest defender.
"I try to [score every time I touch the ball]. That's the goal," Squires said after Shoreham-Wading River beat Roosevelt, 47-13, Sunday night in the Long Island Class IV championship game. "You try your hardest to break a lot of tackles and just keep your eyes on the end zone and get there."
The wide receiver's next score might have been more even more impressive. He got open deep down the right sideline and stopped to catch an underthrown pass before cutting back across the field and outrunning the defense down the left sideline for an 80-yard touchdown.
"I underthrew that ball. He got it, maybe made four or five guys miss and he was gone," said senior quarterback Danny Hughes, who scored three touchdowns and passed for one against Roosevelt. "He's got the potential to score a touchdown on any play."
There indeed has been a pretty good chance of seeing him score any time he's touched the ball this season. He entered Sunday with 25 offensive touches and 10 touchdowns -- six receiving and four rushing. He also had three defensive touchdowns -- two on fumble returns, one on a 65-yard interception return -- and an 85-yard kickoff return for a TD.
The 6-1, 175-pounder added four more offensive touches against Roosevelt, converting two into touchdowns. He also had his third interception of the year, a 26-yard punt return and five total tackles.
"He really does it all. Defensively, he saves our butts a bunch of times. They break big plays and he doesn't let them get in the end zone," Shoreham-Wading River coach Matt Millheiser said.
Squires also is a track star -- he participates in both the winter and spring seasons -- and credits his work there with helping him break big plays during football season.
"It helps with the sprinting. Much better acceleration because of it," Squires said. "It works out different muscles than football season does."
On Sunday, it all worked out.
"He's a tremendous talent. Tremendous player," Millheiser said. "I'm just glad that on the biggest stage, people got to see that."
