Cascadden Leads Garden City Football In Rout Of MacArthur

The top ranked Trojans controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and that proved too much for a strong MacArthur Generals team. The offensive and defensive lines have contributed immensely to the 7-0 record for the Trojans as they have rolled over teams with a points differential of 313 to 20. The offensive line is key to not only the potent running game that has produced week after week, but also gives QB Luke Schmitt the time to throw the ball when needed. Schmitt’s two long touchdown throws against MacArthur give him ten on the season.

But the bread and butter for the Trojans has been the running attack behind an athletic front line that is anchored by senior center TJ Krieg. He has formidable help on either side with senior captains Rowan Stenson and Brendan Staub, along with juniors Andrew Cresciullo and Sawyer Olson.

Jumping out to a first half 35-0 lead courtesy of five Jack Cascadden touchdown runs, Garden City looked like the top seed in Nassau County is supposed to look. Cascadden ripped off a 23 yarder for the first touchdown of the game that was set up by a defensive stop highlighted by Staub’s tackle for a loss on MacArthur’s first series. Although they controlled the time of possession, the Trojan’s came out of the first quarter with only a 7-0 lead.

On their first drive of the second quarter Garden City’s second touchdown was a short run by Cascadden who shed a tackler at the line of scrimmage to go in for the 14-0 lead. The TD run was set up courtesy of a long pass from Schmitt to Jackson Perisa.

On the ensuing kickoff, MacArthur’s Finn Duffy tried to gain second effort yards but fumbled the ball that Garden City’s Evan Katridis jumped on for the first turnover of the game. The Trojan’s cashed in on the turnover with another short Cascadden touchdown run for a 21-0 score with 4:59 remaining in the half.

Less than two minutes later the Trojan’s turned another fumble into seven points as Jack Archer picked up a loose ball that was forced by a hard tackle by Aidan Considine of James Napoli after a short completion. Cascadden bulled into the end zone for his fourth touchdown and the Trojans had a 28-0 lead.

Capping a dominating first half, Garden City took advantage of a short field after a MacArthur punt with a two minute drill that culminated with Cascadden’s fifth rushing touchdown of the half. The TD gave Cascadden a share of the GC record for touchdowns in a game with Trevor Yeboah-Kodie. The key play of the drive was a nice touch pass from Schmitt to Stevie Finnell for a big gain.

The halftime performance by the award winning Garden City Marching Band, the acrobatic Varsity Cheerleaders and the high kicking Varsity Kickline entertained the large crowd.

The second half featured two long touchdown passes from Luke Schmtt. The first coming on the Trojans opening drive of the half, as senior Jackson Perisa went up high at the goal line to make the nice hands catch for a 30 yard touchdown and a Garden City 42-0 third quarter lead.

MacArthur continued to play hard and it paid off for them. With Garden City stuffing the Generals running attack that keyed on feature back James Napoli, MacArthur turned to the pass. And although quarterback Ryan Muller was under constant pressure from Cascadden and Staub, he stayed in the pocket and eventually connected for the big play, a nice 37 yard touchdown pass to Matt Papach for a score. The ensuing PAT was blocked, not once but twice by Kevin Blum because of a GC penalty. The score was only the third touchdown against the tough GC defense.

The last score of the game was Schmitt’s second touchdown pass of the game, a nice over the shoulder 85 yard catch by Robert Votruba. The point after was good by Michael Fargione, his seventh of the day, and Garden City led 49-6.

The top ranked Trojans have one more regular season game remaining at Elmont next Saturday. Then it will be on to the playoffs and a run at their sixth consecutive and 37th overall County Championship.