West Hempstead's varsity football team continues to dominate the competition, extending its winning streak to 5-0 Thursday with a decisive 42-7 victory over Malverne (2-3).
"There wasn't a star of the game," Rams Head Coach Dominic Carre told Patch, explaining that it was a true team effort on the field that evening. "They did everything really well. They played their type of football."
Carre was pleased to see some of the underclassmen step up in the game including sophomore running back Bruce Gibbs (#5) who "had some chances to run the ball," gaining 72 yards for the day and a touchdown. It was also a big day for junior running back Michael Petrizzo (#9) who had two touchdowns in the first half and an interception.
Leading the Rams with 82 yards on the ground was senior Justin Boatwright (#27) who also scored a defensive touchdown off an interception.
Still, the Mules never stopped driving toward the end zone. They scored a touchdown mid-way through the second quarter off of a long run, but their other offensive attempts were foiled by a solid Rams defense and a few unfortunate fumbles.
Rams seniors Daniel Sheeler (#2) and Dylan McCabe (#24) recovered two Malverne fumbles, junior Daniel Njoku (#56) had three sacks, senior Steffan Vieira (#72) had one and junior Nicholas Jackson (#4) had an interception.
Even though West Hempstead is standing tall with a 5-0 record, Carre makes sure his players don't get a big head.
"I knock them off their pedestal every week...I send them to back to Earth every Monday," he says. "There's no such thing as complacency."
With tough competitors like Mineola, Roosevelt and Locust Valley in the team's future, he doesn't intend to let up.
So what's his winning strategy?
"There's no secret," he says. "The kids play hard. I"m just the one that screams and yells."
