West Hempstead Football Rolls Over Clarke in Quarterfinals

The West Hempstead High School varsity football team stuck with what has made them successful all season in Saturday's Conference IV playoff game against the Clarke Rams on their home turf.

The West Hempstead Rams ran the ball down the throat of the Clarke Rams' defense, compiling 479 total rushing yards en route to a dominating 41-7 victory. It was West Hempstead's first playoff win since 1986.

"We didn't get a lot of practice time the last few weeks with everything that's been going on, so we tried to keep it basic out there on the field," said Head Coach Dominic Carre. "We just tried to run the ball as much as we could and I thought our team did an excellent job today all around."

Running back Tayvon Hall, who has been a dominant force for West Hempstead all season, ran for 167 yards on 12 carries and had two touchdowns in the game. But he was not the only factor in West Hempstead's ground game. Junior Enrique McFarlane ran for 150 yards on eight carries and also had two touchdowns of his own.

Junior Bruce Gibbs, who has become a rising star on West Hempstead's offense, ran the ball for 81 yards on five carries and had the longest touchdown run of the game, a 51-yarder in the second quarter.

"Tayvon is obviously our go-to guy," Carre said, "but we have been getting some solid contributions from other guys on offense to get us where we are today."

The West Hempstead Rams are now in unchartered territory, heading to Hofstra University on Saturday to face conference foe Roosevelt in a playoff semifinal game.

The Rams have already beaten the Roughriders once this season in a back and forth game that featured some spectacular plays including Enrique McFarlane's fumble recovery to give West Hempstead a 29-26 victory.

They hope to do it again when the teams meet at 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 17 at Shuart Stadium.