Nassau Conference I Football Championship

Hempstead, Long Island- - Chants of “uno mas” filled Shuart Stadium as the Freeport Red Devils advanced to the Class I Long Island Championship with a victory over the Massapequa Chiefs.

The Red Devils defeated the Massapequa 34-21, last night at Hofstra University, in the Nassau Conference I Football Championship.

The Red Devils’ (10-1) pass rush proved to be too strong for Chiefs’ (7-4) offensive line to handle. Chiefs’ QB Rob VonBargen, who was sacked on five occasions and threw three picks, only completed seven passes on 19 attempts for 145 yards.

The most devastating interception thrown by VonBargen came with 36 seconds remaining in the half to Red Devils’ junior DB Michael Groover. Groover ran the pick back for a 45-yard touchdown to give Freeport a 20-6 lead.

“I read the play right, saw the ball come out and just prayed to God not to drop it” said Groover. “It gave us a major boost, we kept the momentum from that point on”

That was the first interception ran back for a touchdown by the Red Devils all season.
Freeports’ ground-and-pound offense was also too much for the Chiefs to handle. RB Jules Harvey rushed for 138 yards and QB Erick Lapice added another 60 on the ground.
“We gotta give credit to the line tonight” said Lapice.

Lapice, a first-year quarterback, opened up the scoring with a one-yard run for a touchdown midway through the second quarter. Lapice added another rushing touchdown for one yard in the third quarter.

“ He’s [Lapice] the general that makes everything click” said Freeport head coach Russ Cellan. “He’s really a great high school player; he keeps this whole thing going.”

The Week 4 matchup between Freeport and Massapequa also ended with a Red Devils’ victory, when they defeated the Chiefs 27-26 in overtime.

Cellan told his players not to get distracted by the hype that the Class I LIC game will bring or they will “fall one rung short.”

Freeport will play the winner of Friday night’s Lindenhurst (8-2) vs. Connetquot (8-2) game at Hofstra University, Nov. 28th.

“The LIC has been our goal all year, there’s no stopping until we get there” said Lapice. “We still have one more week of practice, and one more game to play.”

Texeira a Yankee!

Kanekoa Texeira. What? Were you expecting someone else?
The Yanks acquired Kanekoa yesterday as part of the deal that brought Nick Swisher to the Bronx. The Yankees, in return, traded Mr. Utility, Wilson Betemit and two prospects to Chicago.

Now that the Yankees traded for Swisher, it pretty much ends the Mark Texeira to the Bombers thought/hope.

Swisher, who was traded from Oakland to the White Sox last winter, hit .219 with 24 homers and 69 RBI last season.So essentially, the man who is slated to play first base for the Yanks is a home-run hitter, who has a sub-par average with a scruffy beard and long hair from Oakland...I could have sworn the Yankees didn't pick up Jason Giambi's option...

According to ESPN.com, the Yankees also offered CC Sabathia a deal that would be larger than the one the Mets inked Johan Santana to last winter. It is reported the deal is for six years, and worth more than $137.5 million. Other pitchers on the market are A.J. Burnett (formerly with the Blue Jays) and Derek Lowe (of the Dodgers).

Sabathia, is a lock. Any team that wouldn't want to sign him is out of their minds. I don't want to hear that he only pitched like that because it was the National League either because his record (106-71) in the A.L. is outstanding. Any money the Yankees throw at him is worth it.

Burnett on the other hand. I'm not too sure about. Outside of pitching against the Yankees (3-1, 1.64 ERA) and BoSox (2-0, 2.60 ERA), he really didn't pitch that amazing. I'd be careful of throwing huge dollars at him. And as far as Lowe goes, he needs to stay in the N.L.

Now play nice boys

The NFL might as well start putting it's quarterbacks in the same bubble Jake Gyllenhaal used in Bubble Boy.

It's gotten to the point where it is almost sickening how much players are being protected in the NFL. Forget about No Fun League -- it should be No Force League.

Just ask Giants defensive end Justin Tuck. He is the latest victim of a bogus fine dished out by the NFL. Tuck was slapped with a $7,500 fine after a hit -- which NFL director of football operations Gene Washington, deemed too forceful -- on Dallas Cowboys QB Brooks Bollinger.

"We can't hit them in the head, we can't hit them in the knees, and now we can't hit them hard?" Tuck said in an interview with ESPN.

This is just a string of fines dropped by the NFL. What's the point. If you can't hit your opposition hard -- something that's embedded in your brain since pee-wees -- what's the point of even playing?

I have a solution. Maybe for now on, all quarterbacks should just wear flags around their waste. That solves everything right NFL? No more gray area. If the NFL keeps this up they're going to turn into the No Fans League.