Finley Football-7 Snaps Selden’s Long Win Streak
It’s a game the coaches and players will never forget and rightly so. The J. Taylor Finley Middle School seventh grade football team snapped Middle Country-Selden-7’s 55 game winning streak when the Falcons upended their undefeated rivals, 25-19.
Coaches Kevin Thorbourne and Billy Harris and their 32 proud players will never forget that late October day. Finley-7 went on to record a 3-3 record, adding victories over Riverhead (40-26) and Middle Country-Dawnwood (46-21).
The Falcons lost a pair of games to Half Hollow Hills-Candlewood (28-19 and 25-7) and dropped a hard fought contest to Commack (28-25).
Captained by Torin Bograd, Nicholas Tudisco and Nasir Youngblood. The feisty squad was aggressive on both sides of the ball. “It’s evident that we have some talented athletes on the team,” Thorbourne said.
Bograd performed admirably at quarterback. “It was his first year playing football and he played like a natural born leader,” Thorbourne said. “He picked the game up fast and was a coach on the field.”
Youngblood was Finley’s standout running back, gobbling up yardage on play after play. “Nasir was the ‘go-to’ player on the team,” Thorbourne said. “When we needed something to happen, we called his number. More often than not he came through. He tied the Finley touchdown record with 15.”
Finley-7’s roster of players also included Aidan Bonn, Matthew Colavecchio, Thomas Combs, Harrison Cozine, Justin D’Ambrisi, Nate Deegan, Luis Del Carmen Diaz, Thomas Fucci, Kyle Green, Liam Hassett, Noah Hopson, Brandon Ireland, Ethan Mcguinness, Trevan Meagher, Kyle Moreira, George Morris, Palmer O’Beirne, Joseph Petrone, Christopher Portier Mason, Steven Queen, Michael Quinn, Jed Rowbo, Chad Rowe, Cameron Santa-Maria, Angel Santiago, Andys Saravia-Ramirez, Baris Toprak, Jason Turner, Vincent Vilardi, Daniel Waring and Isaiah Williams.
The highlight of the season was clear: Snapping Selden’s long winning streak. “The team came together and played as one commanding unit the entire game,” Thorbourne said.