Wildcats lose in first round of football playoffs
After an up-and-down season, the Shoreham-Wading River football team’s championship hopes came to an end on Friday night in the first round of the Suffolk County Division IV playoffs with a 36-12 loss to No. 3 Miller Place. Playing under the lights at Miller Place High School with temperatures trending downward, amid gusting winds, the Wildcats just didn’t have an answer to the Miller Place offense.
Boasting one of the most electric offenses in the division all season, Miller Place (7-2) scored on its opening possession as D.J. Williamson corralled a 27-yard pass from QB Shane Kiernan who set a school record this year by throwing for 523 yards and six touchdowns in a 57-48 loss to Babylon. Though the Wildcats were able to cause three turnovers, including an interception by senior cornerback Michael Casey, Shoreham-Wading River (4-5) was unable to get anything going on offense and went into halftime trailing 22-0.
“That’s a team full of seniors over there,” SWR head coach Alden Smith said. “That’s what it comes down to. They’ve gone through all their lumps and this is their year to shine. But even with being as young as we are, I’m proud of the way they battled.”
One of Shoreham-Wading River’s nine seniors, Michael Iberger led the momentum shift as he came down with an interception in the third quarter. The next possession, the Wildcats’ freshman phenom quarterback, Noah Gregorek, led a drive down the field and scored SWR’s first touchdown of the game, passing to fellow freshman Gavin Cleary on a 22-yard strike.
“We’ve got some young bulls on the roster and the future is bright,” Smith said. “That connection is going to only get stronger in the years to come. Excited for those two to connect on a touchdown in the playoffs.”
The heart and soul of this year’s team was running back and free safety Sean Casey. Even with the game seemingly out of reach, the senior still bullied his way forward on the final possession of the game. He cracked runs of 32 and 19 yards to set up the final touchdown drive when Gregorek punched it into the end zone with just one minute left in the game to make it, 36-12.
“I was just thinking about my whole career here,” said Casey, who gained 88 yards rushing on the day. “I wanted to keep fighting for our boys, no matter what the score was. I was going to leave it all on the line until the final whistle blew.”
Brothers Sean and Michael Casey were both electric players for the program for years and ending their high school careers in the first round of the playoffs is bittersweet.
“I thought we had the firepower to get a little further this season,” Sean Casey said. “I knew we were young but we definitely had the talent. I know they’re going to be really good in the future.”
Both Casey brothers plan on playing football in college though they haven’t decided exactly where they want to go.
“They’re both program kids,” Smith said. “They came in weighing 130 pounds and they turned into strong seniors weighing 180 and going to play college football. When I see players from a small school like ours go to play college football, it really shows the strength of our program. They’re not the first ones and they won’t be the last.”
The nucleus is strong going into next year with Gregorek and Cleary returning. Hard-hitting linebackers Lucas Diamond and George Greene also return. The varsity team had four freshmen and five sophomores this season. Though the Casey brothers graduate, the future is still bright.
