First-year head coach Matt Castaneda has taken East Meadow’s offense back to the future with the Triple Option/Wing-T, but the Jets showed Saturday at Uniondale it’s not the only way they can put points on the board.
Sure, they ran for 269 yards and five touchdowns to grind past the Knights, 47-21, in a Nassau Conference I football matchup. But senior quarterback Mike Petitto threw for a pair of scores as well as East Meadow rebounded from a loss to Oceanside and won for the second time in three weeks.
“The kids have really bought in to the attitude that I bring with the old-school, ground-and-pound mentality,” said Castaneda, the program’s defensive coordinator for the past four years and a wide receiver on the Jets’ 2011 county title-winning team. “We’ve shown how tough and physical we can be, but at the same time we’re also doing positive things in the passing game. We’re pretty versatile.”
Seniors Josh Perez and Nick Schwabe both had receiving touchdowns and combined for three scores on the ground, with Perez getting two. Bulldozing senior fullback Alex Lengu rumbled for 166 yards on just 15 carries, including a 66-yard touchdown run that put East Meadow ahead for good, 18-13, midway through the second quarter.
“It was a breakout day and feels great,” said Perez, who had a 21-yard receiving touchdown and rushing scores covering 24 and 12 yards. “Our plan is to pound the ball at the defense and then throw it over the top,” he added.
Uniondale’s offense looked sharp at times for a second week in a row despite key injuries to standout junior Aiden Lee and senior wideout Jowell Facey. Both left the game in the first half and didn’t return. Lee had 40 yards rushing, including a 4-yard touchdown run to cap the opening drive. Lee and Facey both scored in the Knights’ 41-26 loss to Hempstead a week ago.
“We made huge improvement from Week 1 to Week 2 and did some good things today,” Uniondale head coach Adrian Berry said. “The effort is always there. It’s stringing a full game together. When you see the improvement week to week, it’s hard to say we’re not going to win some games this year.”
After missing the first two games, senior Jaden Garland made an immediate impact for the Knights with two touchdown catches off perfect throws from senior quarterback Abelardo Peralta. Garland’s first scoring grab gave hosts a 13-12 lead in the second quarter. He then hauled in a 41-yard touchdown just before halftime.
“It’s huge to have Jaden back,” Berry said. “He’s a game-changer. So is 22 [Lee], so we have to hope he’s not going to miss any time.”
East Meadow led 33-21 at halftime and outscored Uniondale 14-0 in the second half. Lengu’s eight tackles and sophomore Jake Meslin’s interception led another stellar effort for a defense that’s allowed only 39 points in three games.
“They have a nice offense going, but we made some adjustments and slowed them down in the second half,” Castaneda said.