QB Nick Bottoni keys big win for Whitman over Floyd
Whitman QB Nicholas Bottoni gets the pass off under pressure from Floyd DL Brian Benson in a Suffolk Division I football game on Oct. 2 at Floyd. Credit: George A Faella
The spring football season brought about hope and a vision that the fall season could bring a championship. The Whitman players believed a hearty spring would harvest a plentiful fall.
Senior quarterback Nick Bottoni threw for three touchdowns and ran for another as Whitman went on the road and shut out Floyd, 27-0, before 1,400 fans in a Suffolk Division I game.
He completed 13 of 23 passes for 214 yards as the win improved Whitman to 4-0 and dropped Floyd to 3-1.
Bottoni needed only 32 seconds on the Wildcats' opening drive to go 61 yards in four plays to open the scoring. He found Tyriek Mays-McKoy with an 18-yard touchdown strike, and Adam Arevalo added the extra-point for the 7-0 lead with 11:21 left in the first quarter.
"The spring ended in disappointment when we lost in the title game but that only fueled our team for the fall season," Bottoni said. "We have so much talent and we’re out to prove we can win a title."
It was a little more than six months ago that wide receiver Rasahn Thompson and his teammates suffered that heartbreaking home loss to Floyd for the spring Division I title. Thompson could barely muster the right words after the 28-21 overtime defeat. He struggled through an impassioned promise to his coaches and teammates that they’d be back this fall to give Floyd a run for a shot at a Long Island championship. He kept that vow.
"I remember it well, it was a tough day for us," Thompson said with a big smile. "We were starving for this opportunity. We couldn’t wait to get another shot at the defending champions. This was a must-win for our program."
Whitman was playing in its first title game since 1984, some 37 years ago. The sting of that stunning overtime loss still resonates within the Whitman program.
"They have worked their tails off to be ready," Whitman coach Robin Rosa said. "This is a confidence builder but only a regular season game. I’m sure we’ll see them again in the playoffs. Defending champions are not dethroned in the regular season. We need to beat them when it counts in the playoffs."
Whitman made it a two-score game when they went 53 yards in nine plays, capped by a Bottoni 10-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Brandon Ivy. The third down and goal strike gave them the 14-0 lead with 3:50 left in the first quarter. Ivy took a huge hit at the goal line but managed to make his way into the end zone and walked of under his own power.
"I got hit really hard and fought to get into the end zone," said Ivy, who finished with seven catches for 151 yards and two scores.
Whitman took advantage of a tipped second quarter punt for the next score. Sophomore JD Harrison got his fingers on a punt that only traveled two yards and was seemingly rolling out of bounds. As all the players slowed to watch the ball, a heads-up Liam Villante scooped the ball and returned it 21 yards inside the Floyd one yard line.
"I saw the ball spiraling out of bounds and it was a live ball, so I picked it up and took off," Villante said. "I dove at the pylon, but the official said I didn’t get there." Villante said.
Said Ivy, "I was yelling to Liam to pick it up and go."
The heady play set up a Bottoni 1-yard touchdown run for the 20-0 lead with 6:28 left in the half.
Villanti and junior linebacker Jacob Somer would record sacks on the next Floyd drive to take the 20-point lead into the half.
Floyd went on a nine play, 58-yard third quarter drive but quarterback Nick Taiani was intercepted by Ivy at the Whitman 2. He returned the theft 21 yards to the 23.
Two plays later, Bottoni hit Ivy in stride for a 74-yard touchdown strike and the 27-0 lead.
"Perfect throw, really big win," Ivy said.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
