West Hempstead Wins Thriller Over Locust Valley

Senior running back Tayvon Hall had another spectacular day for the Rams, scoring three rushing touchdowns to help West Hempstead defeat Locust Valley, 32-27, in both teams final regular season games.

Quarterback Michael Petrizzo and fullback Enrique McFarlane also had touchdowns in the game.

West Hempstead jumped out to a 20-7 first half lead thanks to touchdown runs of 3 and 18 yards from Hall. The Locust Valley defense could not contain the speedy back, who ran for 170 yards in the game on 22 carries. It was par for the course for Hall who has run for more than 100 yards in every game he has played this season except for one.

"He is definitely one of our biggest weapons on the field," said West Hempstead Coach Dominic Carre of Hall. "Once he gets to that corner, there is no stopping him."

The Falcons got their own running game going in the third quarter as junior fullback Matt Vezza scored on runs of 21 and 40 yards to cut into the Rams' lead. But West Hempstead would strike back quickly as Petrizzo dashed for a 40-yard touchdown run to give West Hempstead a 26-20 lead to end the quarter.

Both teams would stall out their drives early in the fourth quarter before Tayvon made his presence felt one more time for the Rams. With a little over five minutes to go in the game, Hall cut past the Falcon defense for a 22-yard burst to the end zone. It gave the Rams a 32-20 lead and a lot more breathing room.

The Falcons would score one more time but it was a little too late. The Rams were able to run out the clock for the hard earned 32-27 victory.

"They took advantage of a couple of weaknesses in our formation to get back in the game," said Carre. "We made a few mistakes but were able to find a way to get a win against a good team."

The Rams are 7-1 to end the regular season and will find out this week who they will face in the quarterfinals of the Conference IV playoffs, which will take place at West Hempstead High School on Saturday.