Vengeance - William Floyd Avenges Last Season’s Playoff Loss to Ward Melville in 31-21 Victory

After an undefeated regular season last fall, William Floyd looked like they were well onto their way to winning the County Championship once again with no issue. That was until they lost a heartbreaker to a very solid Ward Melville Patriots squad last postseason who thwarted their hopes at a perfect season. Wednesday night at William Floyd was about vengeance and it appeared that the Colonials football team was ready for war this time around as they would make a statement to the rest of the league that they are for real as they knocked off the Patriots in a thrilling 31-21 victory.

“I mean, obviously it feels good to beat the guys that knocked you off (last season),” said William Floyd Football Coach Paul Longo. “They (Ward Melville) are a very good team, but we have to concentrate on this year, not last year. They are going to be a tough opponent right through the regular season and probably into the playoffs again.” After being down 7-0 in the first half, William Floyd’s superstar Safety Caden Lesiewicz came through with a huge interception from his safety spot to swing momentum in their favor. The offense kept the momentum going with a game-tying touchdown quarterback Jack Molini fired a 22- yard strike to wide receiver Geo Alvarez in the endzone late in the first half. The score would remain tied at seven through the first half, but the tied score wouldn’t stand for long. Star Running Back Jaden Montalvo came out from halftime and made it his mission to put his team on top as he broke off a 63-yard-touchdown run on the first play of the second half to give the Colonials a 14-7 lead.

“Jaden (Montalvo) is a special back,” said Coach Longo. “He runs a 4.50 40-yard-dash. He is also explosive and powerful as a runner. He had two big, huge, long runs for touchdowns including the first offensive play from scrimmage in the second half. A touchdown right off the bat is as big as it gets when it comes to a momentum swing. We knew that wasn't the end of the game by any stretch of the imagination because they (Ward Melville) are a very good team. They did come back on the next drive and score a touchdown. But we did block the extra point, which I thought could have been a big factor in the game. We hung in there and we played tough and we won, but that was certainly a momentum changer. We scored very late in the first half, Jack Malini did a great job bringing us down the field on a nice long drive after the Lesiewicz interception and we scored right before the half and then the first play in the second half from scrimmage goes for a touchdown. That's a 14-point swing in just a few minutes of game time. That was definitely a momentum changer.”

Ward Melville would respond with a touchdown of their own, but they failed to capitalize on the extra point attempt and still trailed 14-13 after their score. Later in the fourth quarter, the score would be all tied up at 21 all and the Colonials ground game took over. The rushing attack, led by Jaden Montalvo – who ran for 195 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns – led the offense deep into Ward Melville territory. That was when Coach Longo called upon none other than Caden Lesiewicz on a fourth down to kick a 36-yard field goal to take the lead. The senior Lesiewicz – who is committed to play football at Cornell as a Kicker – lined up for the field goal and drilled the kick to make it a 24-21 game. On the ensuing Ward Melville drive, Lesiewicz made his presence felt once more as the ball hawking safety made a crucial interception that would give his offense the opportunity to kill some time off the clock.

Instead of just running the clock out, Jaden Montalvo continued his monster day on the ground as he broke off a 67-yard-touchdown run to put the dagger in Ward Melville and help secure a 31-21 victory for the Colonials. “Well, it proves that we can beat a quality opponent and we’re gonna face more quality opponents,” said Coach Longo. “It certainly helps to pull it out in the end. I think it gives us confidence that we can do that against some other very good opponents. We're gonna face a whole bunch as we're the first seed, so we don't get any kind of a break. We don't get to play anybody that's necessarily a weak team. We play all the good teams in the division and it's gonna be tough every week. This victory means a lot for the standings and power points and all that kind of stuff too.”

The William Floyd Colonials now improve to 2-0 after this week and will be back in action on September 23rd as they travel to Sachem East to take on the Flaming Arrows at 6 pm.