NORTH SHORE BATTLES FLORAL PARK IN OFFENSIVE SHOOTOUT
By Tristan Vitale, Northwordnews
October 5, 2014 -- Typically, a high school football game will be a largely defensive display, featuring mostly low scores and little offensive excitement. Not this one. The game was between the 1-2 Vikings and the 1-2 Knights from Floral Park. From the very start, it was clear that it would be an offensive-minded game. After winning the opening coin toss, the Vikings wasted no time exploiting the Floral Park secondary as their first offensive play was a 50 yard pass completion from QB Michael Floccari to WR Frank Castiglione. The same combination would soon cap off the drive with a 10 yard touchdown completion. This would be just a glimpse of what was to come as Castiglione would go on to catch 3 more touchdown passes in the game, totaling 4 TDs in a monstrous performance. Not just Castiglione, but seemingly every Viking receiver would get in the mix as receivers Michael Frahlich would catch two touchdowns and Jack Goettelmann would catch one in a game where Michael Floccari, now Nassau County's leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns, would post Peyton Manning-like numbers with 403 yards passing and 7 touchdown passes, tying the Long Island record for passing touchdowns in a single game. The North Shore offense was prolific to say the least, displaying an up-tempo style resembling those of the Philadelphia Eagles and Oregon Ducks that the Floral Park defense simply did not have an answer for. However, for every Vikings score, the Floral park offense and its powerful running game seemed to have a response. Scoring would continue back and forth, almost as if defenses weren't on the field at times, but North Shore managed to take a 34-28 lead into halftime. The third quarter experienced much of the same offensive performances, but after a few defensive stops by North Shore in addition to the offense, it seemed like the Vikings were beginning to pull away. The quarter ended with a 54-35 lead for North Shore. The fourth quarter, however, was an entirely different story. As North Shore tried to slow down their offense to kill time, Floral Park slowly began to build up momentum. Mental mistakes and turnovers began to hurt the Vikings, and Floral Park seemed to capitalize on each one. Several defensive stops and two more scores on offense for the Knights cut the North Shore lead to just 5 points. Then, after the Vikings failed to convert on a fourth down on their next possession, Floral Park took the ball back again with about 5 minutes left to play. After a series of strong runs, the Knights would then score a touchdown and 2-point conversion with 1:46 left on the clock in what would be the last points of the game. The final score was 57-54 in yet another heartbreaking loss for the Vikings. It was a game packed full with energy, emotion, and excitement. Sadly, it did not end in North Shore's favor, but still there were many positives to be taken from this game, a game which very well may be the game of the year for Nassau County football. Top Performers: Michael Floccari: 403 Pass Yds, 7 Pass TD, 73 Rush Yds Frank Castiglione: 122 Rec Yds, 4 Rec TD, 23 Rush Yds Michael Frahlich: 162 Rec Yds, 2 Rec TD Jack Goettelmann: 76 Rec Yds, Rec TD Tristan Vitale: 31 Rush Yds, Rush TD, 2-PT Luke Salditt: 39 Rec Yds, 54 Rush Yds |
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