Article from the Bellmore Herald
The third-seeded Pirates trailed No. 2 Glen Cove after the opening quarter of Friday night’s Conference II semifinal before scoring on five consecutive possessions en route to a convincing 34-6 victory at Hofstra.
Senior quarterback Owen Heller threw three touchdown passes — two to senior Nicholas Gampero — and ran for a score as Mepham (9-1) advanced to the title game for the second time in three seasons. Senior Tyler Rannacher had two of the defense’s four takeaways, junior James Quilty racked up 20 tackles and senior Matthew Biscardi 11 for the Pirates, who face top-seeded and unbeaten Carey next Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Hofstra.
“This was an awesome environment and a really big win against a good team,” said Heller, who went 9-for-11 passing for 160 yards and added 52 yards on the ground. “We didn’t start the way we wanted and need to come out stronger next week,” he added. “Everything started to click in the second quarter and we made big plays on both sides of the ball.”
Coached by Steve Tripp, Glen Cove, making its first semifinal appearance since 2015, was coming off a 36-21 playoff victory over Baldwin and riding an eight-game winning streak dating back to a season-opening loss to Carey.
Glen Cove played the majority of the last three quarters without senior quarterback Jadyn Johnson, who suffered an ankle injury. Johnson had 22 of its 65 yards on a game-opening touchdown drive capped by senior running back Devon Gonzalez’s 17-yard score.
Mepham trailed 6-0 in the second quarter and was on defense with the ball around midfield when senior Jake Classie forced a Glen Cove fumble and Rannacher recovered. Four plays later, Heller and Gampero connected for a 34-yard touchdown to tie it.
Rannacher’s interception set up the go-ahead score minutes later. Gampero did much of the work on a 42-yard touchdown through the air, accounting for the last 35 after a slick cutback move to split a pair of defensive backs.
“That’s my guy,” Heller said of Gampero. “When I get him the ball, good things are gonna happen. He made a sick move on that touchdown.”
The Pirates capped a 20-point second quarter with 34 seconds remaining before halftime when junior Michael Grizzard made a nifty catch in the end zone on a 15-yard strike from Heller.
“He’s the best quarterback nobody’s heard of,” Mepham head coach Tom Mazeika said of Heller. “Our defense has played lights-out all year, so not a lot of people notice our offense.”
Heller (6 yards) and junior tailback Lenny Achan (4) added touchdown runs in the third quarter to pad the lead. Classie and senior Jayden Perez added interceptions and senior Tim Igneri had a pair of sacks. Gonzalez rushed for 146 yards and senior Taha Waly added 83 for the Big Red.
