The ending was a few hours in coming, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.
The Glen Cove football sideline was as quiet as a burglar’s footsteps as the seconds ticked off the clock Friday night, when their magical season came to a painful end.
Jadyn Johnson, the dual-threat quarterback who had powered the team to eight straight wins, hobbled around the sideline, his right ankle taped. Teammate Davin Young wrapped his left arm around his buddy and said a few encouraging words, then walked away before coming back for a hug.
Devon Gonzalez sat at the 45-yard line, several yards from the nearest teammate, his helmet still on, staring straight ahead. The season that put him on the college recruiting map as a bulldozing running back nearly impossible to bring down was over.
The Mepham Pirates scored 34 straight points at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium to send Glen Cove home for the winter in a 34-6 defeat.
After a terrific start to the game for Glen Cove, Johnson suffered a sprained right ankle late in the first quarter that essentially took him out of the game, and the Big Red’s powerful offense could do nothing without him.
“We hadn’t had any big injuries until the game where it mattered most,” head coach Steve Tripp said. “But you can’t drive a car with three wheels. It’s just a tough way to go out.”
The game started as well as the Big Red could’ve hoped. Glen Cove marched the opening drive down 65 yards, and from the Mepham 17 Gonzalez (25 carries, 146 yards) ripped through a hole over the right side and raced to the end zone.
Just 4:25 in, the Big Red were on the board, and after two three and outs from Mepham, things were looking good.
But then disaster struck. On a fourth down and 21, Johnson dropped back to punt. He bobbled the snap and,, instead of trying to kick, attempted to run for the first down. He nearly made it, scampering for 19 yards, but at the end of the run, he planted his foot while getting hit and sprained the ankle.
Johnson came back for two plays toward the end of the half, and played a little in the fourth quarter, but he had no burst and couldn’t put pressure on his right foot.
After Johnson went down, Glen Cove’s offense started making miscues. A fumble in Mepham’s territory early in the second quarter was recovered by the Pirates, and suddenly their offense had life.
Quarterback Owen Heller hit Nicholas Gampero for a 34-yard touchdown to tie the score.
The Big Red (8-1 coming in) were last in the county championship game in 2015, and were looking for their ninth straight victory after a season-opening loss to Carey.
Johnson is a force on offense (650 rushing yards, 10 TDs entering Friday) and defense for the Big Red, and without him Heller and the Pirates scored twice more in the second quarter to take a 20-6 lead into halftime.
Glen Cove’s tackling wasn’t up to its usual standard, as on two of the touchdown passes from Heller, Pirates receivers broke free from several tackles.
“We weren’t getting the pressure (on the QB) we needed,” Tripp said. “Mepham was a little faster than we anticipated, and they were able to get a couple screens off us. We were giving them short fields, too, which didn’t help.
With Johnson out, Mepham could key on Gonzalez, the Glen Cove star who rushed for 1,283 yards and 18 touchdowns entering Friday.
Mepham opened the third quarter with two long touchdown drives to put the game out of reach.
Still, it was a fantastic season for the Big Red, who had 21 seniors and who, Tripp said, were as dedicated as any.
“A lot of the core kids, linemen like Mason Connelly-Schmidt, Derrick Brown, Josiah Mingo-Cooper, they all wanted to play both ways this year, they wanted to help us any way they could,” Tripp said. “And Devon was such a warrior, would do anything to win. I’m glad these kids got the chance to play in this kind of environment.”
