Zach Kolodny kicks second winner of day for Farmingdale
Farmingdale's Zach Kolodny kicks off against MacArthur in a Nassau Conference I football game on Friday, Oct. 24, 2014. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
What's Zach Kolodny doing this weekend? Oh, just kicking it.
The Farmingdale senior can kick back and relax now after booting his teams -- yes, plural -- to victory Friday.
Kolodny nailed the winning 38-yard field goal with 16 seconds left as the Dalers rallied to beat MacArthur, 15-14, in Nassau I football.
"It got rough at times," Kolodny said, referring to punt and extra-point attempts blocked in the first half. "But as a kicker, it's my job to hang in there and bounce back. You hope for these opportunities."
Earlier yesterday, Kolodny assisted on the winning goal in the soccer team's playoff victory.
Trailing by 2 in the football game, Farmingdale drove 61 yards in 2:36 to the 21. Mike Scheuerer converted a fourth-and-1, turning the left corner for 11 yards on a quarterback keeper. And his 12-yard completion to Michael Outing pulled the Dalers (6-1) within Kolodny's range as time dwindled.
Holder Tom Donovan corralled a high snap and the kick sailed down the middle to the delight of a delirious crowd at Farmingdale's homecoming.
"Of course I'm nervous in that situation," running back Styvenson Hogarth said. "But you calm down because it's Zach."
After all, Kolodny has developed quite the late-game reputation. He hit the winning field goal as time expired in last year's county final. He also had the winner in overtime against Freeport a few weeks ago.
"I don't feel much pressure in these situations," he said, now able to grin.
It wasn't so earlier as Vin Martino's 5-yard TD run put the Generals (5-2) up 14-0 in the second quarter. Dan Joyce had blocked Kolodny's first-quarter punt, which Marc Arboleda returned 26 yards for a score. Outing (107 yards) put the Dalers on the board late in the second, but Kolodny's extra point was blocked by Mike Papach.
Hogarth (44 yards) burrowed in for a 1-yard TD with 29 seconds left in the third, but the two-point conversion run was stuffed.
"Things weren't going our way, but we stuck with it and the defense kept us in the game," Hogarth said.
Papach burned the Dalers deep for three catches of 40-plus yards, but Farmingdale countered that with three interceptions by Jude Pierre, Nick Campo and Christian Hernandez. Then the offense (and special teams) delivered, just in time.
"This is something we practice all the time, so we're used to these late drives," Hogarth said. "If we can get Zach in position, we know the results."
And most often, the Dalers get a kick out of it.
