Jesse Scanna Scores Three Touchdowns, Sachem Trounces Lindenhurst, 34-15

There's always that game in Sachem's schedule where a team can unexpectedly present a precarious situation for the Flaming Arrows defense.

Sachem defensive coordinator Dave Caputo expressed his concern with having to defend against quarterback Stephen Skon, who is arguably the best passer on Long Island, and Sachem head coach Dave Falco was leery about his team functioning on a short week of practice.

Even with Thursday's rain out, the extra day may have rested their bodies, but didn't afford Sachem the opportunity to scheme against the pass. It didn't matter, Sachem's aggressive ground attack proved more deadly than Skon's arm in a 34-15 win over Lindenhurst Friday afternoon at Fred Fusaro Alumni Stadium in Suffolk County Division I action.

Jesse Scanna had one of his best games in four years on the varsity. His 86 yards on 11 carries were bolstered by three touchdowns and one 19-yard reception.

RELATED: Check out Sachem Patch's live in-game blog

In total, Sachem (2-0) had 330 yards of offense compared to the 132 Lindenhurst (1-1) put up, including just eight total rushing yards.

"Our kids came to play today," said Falco. "We rose to the challenge."

Skon's passes shoot off his arm faster than the average high school quarterback. So much so that representatives from Yale and Brown both traveled to watch him play Thursday night prior to the rain out. He can stretch the field and run.

Knowing this, Falco and his staff were pressed all week to create proper defensive packages.

"Coach Caputo did a great job coming up with a defense that slowed him down," he said. "We had a good pass rush without having to blitz a lot."

Skon was 12-of-19 for 123 yards and two touchdowns.

"Our d-line got the job done," Scanna said, "putting pressure on him. We've been working hard since summer for things like this."

Had Sachem's Alex Katos not dropped a punt return in the first quarter, Lindenhurst probably wouldn't have scored as easy. Mike Chaffin recovered the fumble and a 3-yard pass from Skon to his brother Kenny at the 2:13 mark led the Bulldogs to take a 6-0 advantage. They missed the extra point. 

This sluggish play came on the series after Angelo Armine's 50-yard touchdown was called back for a holding penalty. It was two early mishaps for Sachem.

"Anytime you give high school kids a full day off they're sluggish," Falco said.

Michael Andreassi, who finished with 113 yards on 22 carries, scored on a 17-yard touchdown run with 1:29 left in the second quarter on a second-and-seven play. The drive consisted of seven runs, packed with two monster rushes by Mike McCarthy. Brendan Garry made the extra point and Sachem took a 7-6 lead.

On the next series, Skon fumbled and Scanna picked up the ball, taking it to Lindenhurst's three-yard line. He scored on the very next play and Sachem led 14-6 at the half.

After Lindenhurst was shutdown on the opening series of the third quarter, Sachem drive the ball eight times and capped it off with another 3-yard Scanna touchdown in the middle of the hash marks at 7:15. At 21-6, Sachem was cruising on the ground.

In the fourth quarter, Sachem again drove the length of the field on nine carries, three of which were from Dalton Crossan for 18, 18 and 8 yards, respectively. Andreassi, who started on the 15-yard line, fumbled on the 4-yard line, but McCarthy picked up the ball in the end zone to score his first touchdown since he was 8-years-old.

Lindenhurst responded three plays later when Skon hit David George for a 26-yard touchdown with 10:58 remaining in the game. Sachem led 27-13.

Crossan scored at 6:36 but it was called back for a Sachem penalty at the line of scrimmage. Scanna made up for it on the following scramble, which was a 24-yard score nine seconds later.

Fittingly, Scanna leveled Skon on a fourth-and-two drive with 1:54 left, hammering out the win.

McCarthy ran the ball out of Sachem's end zone for a safety with 10.8 seconds in the game so the Flaming Arrows could punt the ball out of their backfield and sure up the game.

Scanna was the focal point for Sachem Friday, rushing 11 times for 86 yards. Besides his three touchdowns and fumble recovery, he had numerous tackles and looked drastically different from Week 1.

McCarthy finished with 57 yards on five carries and Crossan had 69 yards on 11 carries.

Notes & Quotes

-Tyler Andreassi recorded four sacks during the win, the team had a total of eight.

-Angelo Armine was 2-of-2 passing for 28 yards.

-Sachem scored five touchdowns in the red zone Friday and eight so far this season in two games.

-Lindenhurst's David George caught 7 passes for 81 yards and one touchdown.

-Lindenhurst assistant coach Rick Caravaggio is a former Sachem football player (Class of '73) and was on the other sidelines.

-Falco on McCarthy: "He worked extremely hard in the weight room this off-season. He's one of our leaders and did a great job for us today. I'm very happy for him."

-Chris Manno (Class of '03) was in attendance. He said he recently returned from a trip to Seattle where he met with former NFL coach Jim Mora in regards to playing in the UFL at some point this year. Manno played four years of ball at Hofstra.

                              1                2               3               4              F

Sachem                     0                    14                   7                    13                34     

Lindenhurst          6                    0                     0                    9                 15

LIND - Kenny Skon 3-yard reception (kick missed)

SACH - Michael Andreassi 17-yard run (Garry kick)

SACH - Jesse Scanna 3-yard run (Garry kick)

SACH - Jesse Scanna 3-yard run (Garry kick)

SACH - Michael McCarthy 15-yard run (Garry missed kick)

LIND - David George 26-yard reception (kick good)

SACH - Jesse Scanna 24-yard run (Garry kick)

LIND - Safety