East Meadow quarterback Trevor Smith is healthy, and that’s bad news for the rest of Nassau Conference II football.
Smith, who missed last season due to a blood clot and suffered a broken thumb in 2023, is “the best athlete in the school,” head coach Keith Lizzi said, and is one of the biggest reasons the Jets are off to a flying 4-1 start.
Smith’s two passing touchdowns and one rushing score steered East Meadow to a 35-16 victory at Baldwin Saturday. Also a two-time All-County baseball shortstop, he went 6-for-7 passing for 117 yards.
“Everybody’s healthy and we feel great about where we’re at,” said Smith, whose main partner in crime is senior running back James Galiano, who had a pair of long touchdown runs and was on the receiving end of a momentum-changing score with less than 10 seconds remaining in the opening half. “We’re a close-knit team.”
The Bruins (3-2) got passing and rushing touchdowns from Smith’s counterpart, senior quarterback Michael Jordan, and led twice but couldn’t limit the big plays.
“I know we’re always going to battle, but that’s been a problem lately,” Baldwin head coach Mike Robinson said. “We’re giving up chunks of yardage and have to do a better job tackling.”
A fake punt on the game’s opening drive allowed the Bruins to take a 3-0 lead on junior Gavin McGinley’s 22-yard field goal. Sophomore Mekhai Samuels had a 24-yard catch to keep the chains moving early and then on fourth-and-8 from their own 46, senior Aiden Johnson, who later suffered an ankle injury putting his status for next Saturday’s game at Roosevelt in question, raced 28 yards off the punt snap.
The Jets responded on their first drive and took a 7-3 lead on an explosive 48-yard touchdown run by Smith and junior Lizzy Serra’s extra point. Baldwin regained the lead midway through the second quarter on senior Kymani Heaven’s 16-yard touchdown catch, but it was all East Meadow thereafter.
“Baldwin’s big and physical and this is a nice win for us,” Lizzi said. “We’re primarily a ground-and-pound team but we can also mix it up and hit a big pass which we showed again today.”
Behind an impressive offensive line consisting of Antonio Ribiero, Yiannis Kakavar, Eddie Brown, Vincent Garner and Alexander Lengu, Galiano had second-quarter touchdowns covering 43, 31 and 34 yards. “James has excellent feet and vision,” Lizzi said. “He carries the offensive load and is a tough, bruising runner.”
The Jets scored twice in the final 1:44 of the second quarter to take a 28-10 halftime lead. Junior Josh Perez’s interception set up Galiano’s second touchdown run, then the special teams thwarted a second fake punt attempt by the Bruins with 30 seconds left just outside the red zone.
Smith and Galiano then hooked up for a back-breaking score, a 34-yard touchdown through the air on fourth-and-forever. “That was big,” said Smith, who has the offense averaging 37 points in four victories.
Baldwin sophomore Patrick Feeney recovered a muffed punt midway through the third quarter to set up Jordan’s 1-yard touchdown that cut the margin to 28-16, but Smith struck again on the ensuing possession with a 31-yard touchdown toss to junior Nick Schwabe, who topped 100 yards receiving in wins over Kennedy and New Hyde Park.
Next up for East Meadow is a visit from Long Beach next Saturday at 2 p.m.