Sachem Football Looking Back: 1986, Championship

Each week in honor of the 25th Anniversary of Sachem's 1986 Rutgers Trophy team, Sachem Patch will give a brief recap of how Sachem faired during that season.

Sachem Patch will be profiling athletes from that team and sharing stories from the memorable season all fall. But to give you some facts about 1986 ... the Flaming Arrows were in the midst of one of their most dominant stretches in program history. In 1985, Sachem finished 8-2 overall, just behind West Islip in Suffolk County League I.

Sachem returned 16 starters from that dominant '85 club, including a stacked line with Gary Beutel (6-4), Marty Cummings (6-2), Curt Giacobbe (6-2) and Kevin Bauer (6-4). Defensive Backs Paul Engelhardt and Ralph Isernia were fierce. Athletes like Gary Comstock, Dave Shanahan, Anthony Gambino, John Walsh, Wayne Wilson, Bob Kohn and others knew how to play.

Season Record After Finals: 9-1

Sachem 14, West Islip 0 ... Sachem beat West Islip, 14-0, in the 1986 Suffolk County Division I championship, winning a title for the fifth time in 10 seasons. The victory snapped West Islip's 19-game winning streak. Dave Shanahan rushed for 19 carries and 109 yards. The Flaming Arrows scored on their first possession when Ralph Isernia crossed the goal line on a 1-yard touchdown run, set up by a 23-yard catch by Gary Comstock. Comstock later caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from John Walsh in the second quarter to put Sachem up. "It wasn't pretty," Walsh told Newsday, "but he saved it with a great catch. We waited all year for this game."

Sachem players hoisted coach Fred Fusaro onto their shoulders after dousing him with water following the victory. "My boys played a fantastic game," he said.

Gary Beutel finished the game with two sacks and led a defensive effort that kept West Islip in check for the duration of the contest.

"They beat us three times in the last two years," he told Newsday. "We said to each other, 'Enough is enough.'"

Sachem won the Rutgers Trophy as the best team in Suffolk County that season. In total, the Flaming Arrows only allowed 44 points throughout 1986, the lowest amount in the program's 50-year history. It will go down as one of the greatest Sachem teams of all-time.