One year after having its season ended with a close first round home playoff loss to Valley Stream North, the Seaford football team suffered similar heartbreak to that same Spartan program Saturday evening on an even bigger stage.
The previously unbeaten Vikings were upset by the fourth-seeded Spartans, 21-17, in the Nassau County Conference IV semifinals at Hofstra University’s Shuart Stadium. A six-yard touchdown pass from Valley Stream North quarterback Anthony Martelli to James Capoziello with 38 seconds left proved to be the decisive score that left Seaford one win short of next weekend’s Nassau County Conference IV finals.
The dramatic win by Valley Stream North sends the program the program to its first Nassau County football title game since 1981. Last year after posting a 21-16 first round victory at Seaford, the Spartans fell to Roosevelt by a 27-21 score in the conference semifinals at Hofstra.
“We had faith in our team and we felt like it was our destiny to come back here and play [Seaford] and beat them here,” said Martelli, who also tossed a 60-yard touchdown toss to Capoziello late in the third quarter that knotted the score at 14-14. “We knew all the hard work would pay off.”
Prior to Valley Stream North’s winning score, Seaford kicker Matthew Murphy booted a 22-yard field goal with 1:59 left that broke a 14-14 tie. The Vikings led 14-0 at halftime on touchdown runs by Austin Quiroz and Nick Fischetti.
Seaford , on Oct. 14 for one of the Vikings’ nine straight victories to open 2012 including a dominant first round playoff win against Mineola on Nov. 10. Before last season, Seaford captured four straight Conference IV titles from 2007-2010 and ran up a 44-game winning county streak that ended last September.
