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2007 Suffolk County Championship WinnersFrom Newsday.com Amityville digs one out against Babylon
This was it. There were 34 seconds left in one team's season. There was the howl of the crowd and a stiff wind in his face. Gardner never flinched. He spread his offensive set and called signals as the Babylon defense shifted. "I told my guys to believe in me and relax, we were going to win," Gardner said. "I told Coach that I was going with the play and looking over my options." Gardner took the shotgun snap and looked into the end zone. All four receivers were well covered. As nose tackle Sean Melow pressured up the middle, Gardner broke to the right and raced toward the goal line. He dived into the end zone untouched and his teammates mobbed him. Gardner's 9-yard touchdown run and the two-point conversion by halfback Tyler Heller gave Amityville a 20-14 win in the Suffolk Division IV championship game Thursday night before a crowd of 1,200 at Stony Brook University. Can you say Vince Young? "When I saw him break for the goal line, that's exactly what I thought," Amityville coach Chris Taylor said. "I thought Vince Young over USC. It was incredible." Gardner's touchdown capped a 12-play, 79-yard drive that used 4:38 of the final 5:04. The Warriors converted two fourth-down plays, including a fourth-and-1 from their 43. Gardner's scramble for 11 yards got the first down. "He's Superman out there," said Amityville center Reggie Robinson, who had 14 tackles at his linebacker position. "He willed us down the field. He wasn't going to let us lose this one." Amityville (8-2) will meet Seaford (10-0), the Nassau Conference IV champion, for the Long Island Class IV title next Friday at Hofstra. It was the second straight year that Babylon was beaten on the last drive of the game. This time the Panthers erased a 12-0 deficit to take a 14-12 lead with 11:46 left in the game before Amityville mounted the comeback. Last year, Babylon lost a 29-28 heartbreaker to Mount Sinai. "That's two years in a row that we gave up two first downs on fourth down and lost a close game," Babylon coach Rick Punzone said. "We knew they would keep it in his hands. It's like déjà vu." Melow said the Babylon coaches instructed the defense to prevent the scramble and contain. "We saw it coming and we couldn't stop it," Melow said. "He just took off. He's a great athlete." On a fourth-and-goal from the 6 in the first half, Amityville ran a screen left to perfection. Gardner hit tight end Steven Medard in the flat and he scored untouched to make it 6-0 on the final play of the first quarter. The drive went 67 yards in 11 plays. The Warriors increased the lead to 12-0 when Gardner went on an option right for a 14-yard touchdown run with 8:04 left in the half. Babylon responded with a 13-play, 82-yard scoring drive. Quarterback Greg Griffo dazzled the crowd with an escape artist-type touchdown run of 27 yards. Kerry Carlock added the kick to make it 12-7 with 2:13 left in the half. In the fourth quarter, the Panthers drove 77 yards in 18 plays in 9:15, capped by Beau Bachety's 9-yard touchdown catch from Griffo with 11:46 remaining. Carlock's kick made it 14-12. "I wondered how Vince Young did it to USC," Taylor said. "Now I know." Additional Photos:
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Marcus Gardner asked his teammates to trust him as he broke the huddle. An entire season was going to ride on his shoulders. Trailing by two points, Amityville faced a fourth-and-goal from the Babylon 9-yard line.
