This Week in Sachem Football: Suffolk County Semifinals, 2011

Every week I'll breakdown each game and what it means from a historical perspective in the football programs at Sachem North and East. As the season progresses, the numbers and statistics become more and more interesting, but here's the information from this week:

The Rivalry

• Sachem North leads the all-time series 3-1
• Sachem North has outscored East, 112-53
• This was the first time both schools have played a football game against each other in the playoffs
• All four of the games against each other have been played at Sachem North

Sachem East at a glance

• Sachem East won more games this season (6) than any other in school history
• Head coach Mark Wojciechowski's six career victories are the most to start a career at Sachem East in football and the second most between both Sachem football programs. Kiernan Lawler won seven games in 1961, Sachem football's inaugural season.
• The 10 games East played this year at the most the program has played in one season.
• The two playoff games are the most the program has played in one season.
• This was Sachem East's highest scoring season in program history.
• The 21 points scored against West Islip in the quarterfinals are the most the team has scored in one playoff game.
• The 57 points given up to Sachem North are the most allowed in a playoff or regular season game.
• The 57-6 loss was Sachem East's largest margin of defeat in any game in school history.
• The 69-yard rush by Billy Merone in the third quarter against Sachem North was the longest rush of the season against North.
• The Steven Casali File: Steven Casali has compiled 1,380 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns this year.

Sachem North at a glance

• The Flaming Arrows have won 30 of their last 33 games dating back to 2008.
• Only three other teams in Sachem history - 1983, 1986, 1996 - have won nine or more games in a season. The record is 10 set in 2009 and 2010.
• Sachem has now scored 384 points this season, the second most in school history. The record is 422 set in 2010.
• The 190 points allowed are the sixth most in program history as well.
• The 57 points scored are a program record for points in a single-game, breaking the previous record of 56 which was set against Brentwood this season. The 57 points are a playoff record as well.
• The 6 points allowed are the lowest amount given up in 2011.
• Sachem has scored 50-plus points this year three times, a program first.
• Sachem is now 29-22 all-time in the playoffs. 
• Sachem is making its 16th appearance in the Suffolk County championship. It is 6-9 all-time and has lost the last two title games to William Floyd. Their last county championship was in 1995.
• This is the fourth time that Sachem has appeared in three straight county finals: 1977-1979, 1983-1986 and 1994-1996.
• The Bryan Morris File: *With 86 career PATs (42 last season, 44 this year) that puts him third all-time in county history and sixth all-time in Long Island. The record is 105 by Jon Korn from William Floyd. *With 44 in a single-season, that puts Morris sixth all-time in county history and tied for ninth all-time in Long Island history. *With 86 career kicking points, he's tied for 14th all-time in Long Island history.

The Dalton Crossan File

• Crossan set the career touchdown record with 47, passing James O'Neal's mark of 46.
• 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 tied the single-season rushing touchdown record with 32, also set by O'Neal (1995). 
• He tied the single-game points scoring record, which is 32 set by O'Neal in 1995.
• Crossan currently ranks No. 2 at Sachem all-time in single-season rushing yardage with 1,951 yards. The record is 2,185 set by O'Neal in 1995.
• With his 248 yards, Crossan (32 TDs and 1,951 rushing yards in 2011 - tops on Long Island) currently has 2,925 career yards, good enough for No. 2 all-time in Sachem history. Next on the list is No. 1 James O'Neal (3,786). If you add in his numbers from two varsity seasons at Shoreham, he has 3,969 career yards as a high school football player. 
• Crossan ranks No. 13 all-time in Suffolk County history in rushing yards and No. 18 in Long Island history. He ranks fifth all-time in points scored in Long Island history with 416. He ranks seventh all-time in Long Island history for points scored in a season with 212. He ranks fifth all-time on Long Island with 69 career touchdowns. He ranks fifth all-time in Long Island history with 35 touchdowns in a single season.