Monday Morning Quarterback: North Coach's Impression of Game

Following Sachem North's 41-21 win on the road over the Lindenhurst Bulldogs, Sachem Patch spoke with Coach David Falco about his impressions of the game. Sachem North got off to a hot start, putting up the game's first 28 points: three offensively, and one defensively on a pick-six by sophomore Kevin Bragaglia.

But Lindenhurst fought back with some power running and by capitalizing on a Sachem North muffed punt Lindy was able to convert into a TD. At one point, Lindenhurst was poised to cut the lead to 28-17, after stopping Sachem on a fourth down attempt deep in their own end, but Lindy missed a field goal wide right by just a few feet. After that, North responded with more offense and sealed the game on a 43-yard rushing touchdown from Malik Pierre. 

Here are some of Coach Falco's key takeaways:

Overall impression: "There's was a lot of positives that I took from the game. There was a time there when momentum swung the other way; we dropped a punt on the 5 yard-line and they went in and scored, and then we went for it on fourth and didn't get it."

"So a little adversity created by us, but I really liked our reaction to it. We hung in, the offensive line picked us up, the defense forced them to kick a field goal that they missed. We obviously didn't have adversity in the first half. I wasn't always thrilled with the little bit of a let-up. We allowed them to get back in the game there. They came out in the third quarter and really stuck it to us on offense. So some things a young team has to work on but overall I'm very happy. We came out healthy. It's a great group of young kids; I'm excited to be coaching them."

On the play of Trent Crossan, back from surgery: "Listen, he's not a 100 percent, but he's definitely working towards that. It's probably more the hamstring than it is the ACL. With the ACL it's more mental. The hamstring he tweaked over the summer, so it's a little bit sore. But he made a couple big plays there. He threw the 70-yard bomb that was over the line, that got called back, and we threw the ball a little bit tonight. So I think Trent's gonna be fine."

"We took him out there at the end of the second half and we had a couple of coverage issues and we didn't get in the front when they scored, so not having him in there calling the plays for us...our young guys have to step up."

On Tyler Andreassi, who needed assistance off the field at halftime: "He's fine. A little tweak, but no issues."

On what needs improvement for Friday against Bay Shore: "The blocking up front. Teams are gonna move the front, blitz guys; we have to stay with our rules. This offense has a lot of rules, you know, don't worry about what they're doing; it's always about what we're doing. We didn't have our offensive line coach [Nick Codispoti] for the week. He was out with a health issue that he was dealing with, so we're looking forward to getting him back. And I think what we missed most from him was the sideline adjustments. Those offensive linemen look to him to make adjustments during the game and we didn't have him. The coaches that picked up that slack did a great job, but we're looking forward to having him back."

"Defensively we're solid when everybody's doing the same thing. A couple times we didn't communicate well enough. So a little more communication so we're on the same page, but that's..it's a high school football game in week one."

On the play of Kevin Bragaglia: "Bergaglia had a great preseason. He's a two-way starter for us. He's also a kick returner, so he did a great job and we're expecting good things from him."

Sachem North hosts the Bay Shore Marauders on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.