Sports

Dalton Crossan, Stacey Bedell Split Hansen Award

Crossan becomes fourth player in Sachem history to win honor.

From the moment Dalton Crossan ran back the opening kick off against Patchogue-Medford last season in Week 1 - the first time he touched a ball in a Sachem uniform - you knew he'd be a special to watch.

Twenty one games later Crossan fulfilled his legacy as one of the best football players in Sachem and Long Island history, capping his senior season with the Hansen Award, given annually to the top football player in Suffolk County. He split the honor with William Floyd rival Stacey Bedell Monday night at the annual Suffolk County Football Coaches Association dinner at the Hyatt Regency Long Island in Hauppauge, N.Y.

Crossan is just the fourth player in Sachem's 50-year football history to win the award, joining Brian Dehler (1977), Mark Wojciechowski (1985) and James O'Neal (1995). Sachem is tied with Bellport for the most Hansen winners in the county.

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"It’s a very exciting moment for the Sachem football program," said Sachem coach Dave Falco. "We’re excited for Dalton and his family. It’s a special honor. It’s not really about the yards and the touchdowns. It’s really about the leadership, the type of person he has become and the type of influence he’s had on our younger kids."

Bedell and Crossan have forged a friendly rivalry over the last two seasons, playing against each other four times, including the last two Suffolk County championship games in which Floyd won. They have traveled to recruiting camps and clinics and together made Suffolk County’s Division I one of the most powerful divisions of football on Long Island.

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As their seasons heated up, it became clear that a split would be the most logical way to honor both players. Considering it’s only been done once in the award’s 52-year history – 2009 with JeVahn Cruz and Malcolm Cater – it wasn’t something that came easy. The Suffolk County Football Coaches Association voted three times and both players split each time. The final decision of the split came down to Newsday, who sponsors the award.

“It was a good move,” said Sachem coach Dave Falco. “At that point it would have been about who didn’t get it. You couldn’t ask for two better kids.”

They each also split the Joe Cipp Jr. Award given to the top running back in the county and were nominees for the Tom Cassese Award given to the top defensive back.

Both players are the faces of their programs and will be remembered for creating some of the most exciting highlight reels in the history of Long Island football. Crossan rushed for a Sachem-record 2,186 yards and 35 touchdowns in 2011. Bedell finished with a Floyd-record 2,532 yards and 39 touchdowns.

“I think it would be unfair to give it to one of us,” Crossan said. “We both deserve it for all of our hard work.”

“We’re both great players in our division,” said Bedell. “We worked hard.”

Crossan came to Sachem in 2010 after two varsity seasons at Shoreham-Wading River. In four total seasons he rushed for 4,214 yards and scored 72 touchdowns, both which rank among the top numbers in Long Island history.

For Falco, his most memorable moment of Crossan’s career wasn’t on the football field. It was the day Crossan announced he would be playing for the Flaming Arrows.

“He came into the office and said, ‘hey coach, do you have a spot for me?’” Falco said. “I had to contain my enthusiasm.”

Crossan had the added pressure of playing quarterback after Week 4 when his brother Trent went down with a torn ACL. All of a sudden Sachem's weapon stock decreased and he took on double the work load. He didn't flinch.

Having not won a Suffolk County title, Crossan didn’t achieve all that he set out to during his senior year. In defeat, however, he has been extremely complimentary of his teammates. He did the same Monday night after receiving the highest individual honor of any player in the county.

“Our team was young this year,” he said, “and we had a great season. I’m proud of everybody involved. I couldn’t have asked for more from my team.”

Crossan said he doesn’t have any special plans for the Hansen trophy; no parading around, no crazy antics like the with the Stanely Cup in hockey. The actual trophy weighs a considerable amount and is the biggest spectacle in terms of hardware given out besides the Rutgers Trophy, which goes to the top team in the county (Sayville this year). His name, however, in the records books and in history is solidified.

“It’s a big honor,” he said. "Everybody who has won the award is a phenomenal player, so it’s an honor to be put in the same category as these guys."

More on Dalton Crossan:

  • Crossan set the career touchdown record with 50, passing James O'Neal's mark of 46.
  • He rushed seven times for 200 or more yards in his career (six in 2011). 
  • He never rushed for less then 145 yards in a game in 2011.
  • He tied the single-game rushing touchdown record with five for the second time this season. Besides Crossan, only O'Neal ran for five touchdowns in a game twice. Davon Lawrence did it once.
  • He set the single-season rushing touchdown record with 35.
  • He tied the single-game points scoring record, which is 32 set by O'Neal in 1995.
  • Crossan finished his career ranked No. 1 at Sachem all-time in single-season rushing yardage with 2,186 yards.
  • He has the overall Sachem touchdown record too with 58.
  • His 208 rushing attempts this year are the third most in a single-season in Sachem history. The record is 359 by James O'Neal in 1995.
  • His 10.43 yards per carry single-season average is fifth all-time in school history. He holds the record, 12.14, set in 2010. He also holds the career yards per carry record with a mark of 10.91.
  • Crossan had six 200-yard rushing games in 2011: (William Floyd 2X, Lindenhurst, Northport, Connetquot, Sachem East).
  • With his 218 yards in the county final, Crossan (35 TDs and 2,186 rushing yards in 2011 - tops on Long Island) has 3,170 career yards, good enough for No. 2 all-time in Sachem history. If you add in his numbers from two varsity seasons at Shoreham, he has 4,214 career yards as a high school football player. 
  • Crossan ranks No. 10 all-time in Suffolk County history in rushing yards and No. 11 in Long Island history. He ranks ninth all-time in county history for single-season yardage and eighth in county history. He ranks fifth all-time in points scored in Long Island history with 434. He ranks fifth all-time in Long Island history for points scored in a season with 230. He ranks fifth all-time on Long Island with 72 career touchdowns. He ranks fourth all-time in Long Island history with 38 touchdowns in a single season.


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