What a Rush: Jets' Ground Game Leads to First Round Victory

How many times has a team won without completing a pass?

That was the case at Saturday, as the Jets soared past Uniondale in the first round of the playoffs, 65-26.

Early on, the Jets' defense had trouble stopping the run. The first quarter and a half belonged to Uniondale's William Stanback, who rushed for three touchdowns to give the Knights a 20-14 lead in the second quarter. On the other side of the ball, Robbie Healy and David Zea ran for scores to keep East Meadow in it.

Then the defense arrived.

Uniondale quarterback Devon Henry had nowhere to go the following possession, and he was sacked three consecutive times. The Jets took the ball back and marched down the field, which was culminated by a Zea touchdown to give East Meadow the lead.

"We didn't divert from the plan," East Meadow Coach Vinny Mascia said. "I give the coaches a lot of credit for making the proper adjustments."

On the ensuing kickoff, Uniondale fumbled, and the Jets recovered, which led to one more Healy touchdown scamper before the half to give East Meadow a 29-20 lead.

"It was a big play," Healy said. "We didn't start off playing well, but we did what we needed to do."

The third quarter belonged to East Meadow, as the Jets began to pull away. Healy added two more touchdowns rushing, and the Jets led 52-26. Stanback added one more score for Uniondale, but that was all for the Knights. Bobby Bender and Nick Marinello added touchdown runs in the fourth quarter to put the game on ice for East Meadow.

The Jets move on to play Massapequa on Nov. 12 at 8:30 p.m. at Hofstra University.

"The goal is winning a Nassau County Championship," Healy said. "But we need to take it one game at a time."

East Meadow Stats

Rushing: Robbie Healy- 23 carries, 209 yards, 5 TDs; David Zea- 11 carries, 60 yards, 2 TDs; James D'Elia- 13 carries, 110 yards.

Tackling: Billy Andrle- 8 tackles, 3 sacks; Evan Pantofel- 7 tackles, 2 sacks.

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

EM- Zea 5-yard TD run (extra point good)

U- Stanback 51-yard TD run (extra point good)

EM- Healy 22-yard TD run (extra point good)

Second Quarter

U- Stanback 17-yard TD run (extra point no good)

U- Stanback 80-yard TD run (extra point good)

EM- Zea 1-yard TD run (extra point good)

EM- Healy 1-yard TD run (two-point conversion good)

EM- Healy 5-yard TD run (two-point conversion good)

Third Quarter

EM- Healy 17-yard TD run (two-point conversion good)

EM- Healy 5-yard TD run (extra point good)

U- Stanback 59-yard TD catch (two-point conversion no good)

Fourth Quarter

EM- Bender 2-yard TD run (extra point no good)

EM- Marinello 1-yard TD run (extra point good)