Sachem North Clinches Division I Regular Season Title

Some said it couldn’t be done, but Sachem North won its third straight regular season Suffolk County Division I title.

Amidst chants of “A or U,” a program moniker to signify “Champs or Chumps,” Sachem played its normal high-powered football behind five Dalton Crossan touchdowns in a 53-28 victory over Lindenhurst on the road Friday night.

Sachem (7-1) earned the top seed in the Division I playoffs, which begin next Friday night. It’s still unclear who the Flaming Arrows will play in the first round.

Crossan tied a program single-game record with the five touchdowns (James O’Neal 2x in 1995 and Davon Lawrence in 2009), and rushed 22 times for 285 yards, reaching career marks in yardage and scoring.

“When you have the best player, you give him the ball and let him run,” said Sachem coach Dave Falco. “We have a lot of people blocking and we’re putting him in different positions to be successful. Three years in a row, a lot of people said we couldn’t be successful because of the guys we lost. We used it as motivation in regards to the success we could have this season.”

Sachem jumped out to a 34-0 lead midway through the second quarter with Crossan scoring on touchdown runs of 40, 35 and two for 6 yards apiece. Anthony Ross also scored on a 24-yard touchdown run.

Crossan had his most explosive run on a first down carry with 3:38 left in the third quarter, rushing 74 yards for a touchdown. Malik Pierre scored two second-half touchdowns of 33 and 27 yards.

Lindenhurst (5-3) scored 21 second-half points. Quarterback Brad Witkowski finished 13-for-27 for 153 yards passing. He also threw two touchdown passes and three interceptions. This is the same Lindenhurst team that beat Sachem East last week, 42-0.

Sachem also saw strong efforts from its running core of Tyler Andreassi (13 carries for 67 yards), Pierre (5 carries for 72 yards and two touchdowns) and Ross (5 carries for 50 yards and one touchdown).

“It’s a great boost going into the playoffs,” Crossan said. “We’ve been having really good weeks of practice, which is why we’ve been so successful. We’re going to have a lot of tough games, but I think we can get it done." 

Fourth and Long

• This is not the first time Sachem has won three straight Division titles. The Flaming Arrows also did it in 1977, 1978 and 1979.
• The 81 combined points in the game is the second highest total in Sachem history. The record is 83 recorded in a victory over Brentwood in 2009.
• Crossan now has 1,585 yards this season and 25 touchdowns rushing.
• Stay logged onto Sachem Patch for the latest historical columns about Sachem football coming this weekend and for complete playoff coverage throughout November.