PHOTOS: East Meadow H.S. Homecoming Celebration

East Meadow students and community members put their Jets pride on display Saturday for East Meadow High School’s annual homecoming.

To start the day’s festivities, students gathered at Prospect Park for the start of the homecoming parade. This year’s theme was superheroes, as representatives from each class marched down Prospect Avenue to the high school on different superhero inspired floats.

The floats were constructed by members of each class with the aid of float coordinator, John Scerbo, and his cabinet making program, who brought Spiderman, Captain America, Superman and Batman to life.

In addition to the class floats, members of the 2012 homecoming court rode in convertibles, waving to the community members that lined the streets, as they eagerly anticipated the results of the homecoming king and queen vote to be revealed at halftime.

The cheerleaders, East Meadow Rockettes, and The Jets Marching Band supplied entertainment for the crowds gathered along the parade route, delighting the onlookers with their routines and distributing East Meadow spirit items.

As the parade pulled into East Meadow High School, the excitement shifted towards the Jets (5-2) matchup with the Chiefs of Massapequa High School (5-2). MSG Varsity was on hand to tape the game, adding to the already electric atmosphere of the day.

At halftime of the football game, East Meadow put on their homecoming halftime show with performances from the varsity cheerleaders, the East Meadow Rockettes, and the Jets Marching Band.

Unfortunately for the Jets, Massapequa spoiled the homecoming fun, defeating East Meadow by the final score of 38-29.

No superheroes were on hand to save the Jets from a barrage of turnovers and penalties. East Meadow had three fumbles lost and an interception to go along with a number of penalties in the loss.

Billy Andrle had a big game for the Jets, powering East Meadow’s offense with four rushing touchdowns and picking up a big sack on a third-and-goal play, forcing Massapequa to settle for a field goal just before the half.

However, Andrle’s performance was not enough to save the Jets from themselves, as costly turnovers and penalties ultimately doomed East Meadow.

Jack Korber and Nick Capuana had big games for Massapequa with two touchdowns a piece, as well as key plays on defense.

“You just put this one to bed,” East Meadow High School head coach Vinny Mascia said. “We did everything that you do when you lose a football game. We turned it over, we didn’t play any defense and we committed too many penalties. It’s a recipe for losing.”

“This one’s over,” Mascia added. “Next week we start fresh and I’d like to see our old team back on the field.”

Next week, the Jets will play against Freeport as they look to rebound at home in the regular season finale at 1:30 p.m.