Sports

Playoff Preview, First Round: No. 1 Sachem vs. No. 8 Brentwood

Arrows host Indians in first round of Division I playoffs.

The playoffs are finally here. It's the time of season that Sachem has been waiting for all year. It was a forgone conclusion that the Arrows would clinch a playoff spot and most figured they'd grab the top seed in Suffolk County's Division I.

Now the fun starts. It all begins Friday night at Fred Fusaro Alumni Stadium when Sachem hosts No. 8 Brentwood, a team it beat in the quarterfinals last season.

Sachem is a well-oiled machine that will chug all the way to the Long Island Championship. It starts Friday.

Find out what's happening in Sachemwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Match-up: Division I: Sachem (8-0) at Bay Shore (4-4)

Venue: Fred Fusaro Alumni Stadium

Find out what's happening in Sachemwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Game time: Nov. 5, 7 p.m.

In-game battles: In their previous game, Sachem lit up the Indians, 48-8. Dalton and Trent Crossan combined for 109 yards and three interceptions. That was during Week 3, when Sachem was modestly finding its way and taking names with each devastating win. Now the Arrows are the face of Long Island football and are destined to finish better than any team in the program's history.

Still, they have to play the games and are not taking any opponent lightly.

"They have a capable coaching staff and some good athletes," said Sachem head coach Dave Falco. "We have to stay calm, make those adjustments and play as well as we can."

Like during the regular season, Brentwood's biggest threats are running backs Chris Green and Dwayan Scott.

Interesting Facts

  • Sachem is 30-15-1 all-time against Brentwood. Their playing history dates back to 1972 when Brentwood opened the rivalry with a 35-6 win. For a stretch from 1973-1979, Sachem played both Brentwood Ross and Brentwood Sonderling during the regular season.
  • Sachem has outscored Brentwood 955-729, all-time.
  • They met twice last year and both games had historic value: In the regular season, Sachem won, 42-41, making for the highest combined points (83) in a game in program history. The playoff game, a 42-6 Sachem win, saw the most points the Arrows ever put up in the post-season. 
  • Sachem is 25-20 in the playoffs, all-time.
  • In playoff games, Sachem leads all opponents, 803-725, in scoring.
  • In even number years, Sachem is 13-8 in playoff games.
  • Between 1977 and 1987, Sachem played won 12 of the 14 playoff games it appeared in.
  • In first round playoff games, the Arrows are 18-8. Note: In many situations, the county title game was the first and only playoff game Sachem played in that given year. For this statistic, it still applies.
  • Sachem set a single-game playoff record last season, scoring 42 points against Brentwood.
  • In the playoffs, Sachem is 2-2 against Brentwood. They played in 1996 (34-7 Sachem win), 1997 (19-7 Brentwood win), 2006 (46-26 Brentwood win) and last season.
  • Sachem leads Brentwood, 109-78, in playoff scoring against each other.
  • An interesting note, Lawrence, the team that beat Sachem in its only Long Island Championship appearance, is the second-seeded team in Nassau County's Division II. The would not be able to face each other this year.

See what North head coach Dave Falco had to say about the Week 8 Bay Shore win and the playoff battle coming up.

What's next: With a win, Sachem will play the lowest seeded team in the Division I bracket after teams are re-seeded following the first round.

*After this week's game there will be a game story, photo gallery, video highlight and Saturday there will be the "This Week in Sachem Football" column 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here