Gladiators Drop Heartbreaker in 2013 Homecoming

Going into the fourth quarter of Saturday's homecoming game against Manhasset, the Gladiators looked like they were about to suffer their second straight shutout loss in a row and go 0-3 for the season. Down by 20 points and with the home crowd growing restless, New Hyde Park mounted an epic comeback only to yet again fall short late in the game for the 20-14 final.

Starting quarterback Tom Kemmet, who was flat in the first half, came out firing in the fourth quarter, throwing a touchdown pass to senior Matt Dluglinski which capped off an eighty yard scoring drive. On the next series, sophomore running back Joe Gardella ran the ball in for a touchdown from five-yards out.

“It was a great second half comeback, we just ended up coming up a little bit short,” New Hyde Park head coach Kevin Dolan said. “The touchdown reception by Dluglinski put us on the board and energized our offense. We had a great offensive drive on the subsequent series but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to win the game.”

Manhasset’s 6’4” quarterback Tommy Duran had a nice game, throwing a 57-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver James Farrell, who also had two touchdown runs of 35 and 55 yards. The Indians took a 14-0 lead into halftime but the Gladiators were not out of reach of getting back into the game.

“In every game so far we were down early. This game we actually had a good chance of getting back into it,” Dolan said. “The kids showed heart in trying to fight back late in the game.”

The Gladiators are now 0-3 in conference play. They will face another 0-3 team, Valley Stream South in an away game on October 5 at 3 p.m. The two teams will be fighting to get their first conference win.

                              1      2      3      4      F

Manhasset            7      7       6      0     20

New Hyde Park    0      0      0      14    14

Scoring Summary

Team                   Scoring Play                   Extra Point         M-NHP

First Quarter

Manhasset           James Farrell 55-yard run   Hameran kick        7-0

Second Quarter

Manhasset           James Farrell 57-yard pass  Hameran kick       14-0

Third Quarter

Manhasset           James Farrell 35-yard run    kick failed             20-0

Fourth Quarter

New Hyde Park   Matt Dluglinski 15-yard pass   Ianiro kick          20-7

New Hyde Park   Joseph Gardella 5-yard run     Ianiro kick          20-14