Both Sachem East and Sachem North head into the 2012 season as two of the top seeded teams in Suffolk County’s Division I.
Sachem North, who has appeared in the county final three straight years, is seeded No. 2, while Sachem East is right behind at No. 3. William Floyd is the top seed.
East and North kick off their seasons Friday night.
Sachem East
- Game: Home vs. Northport, 7 p.m. (home opener)
- On Northport: seeded No. 6, have talent at skill positions
- 2011 finish: lost to Sachem North in county semi-final
- Difference makers: Steven Casali (RB/LB), Danny Wolf (QB), Brian Balsalmo (WR/DB), Mike Marchello (DT/OT)
Sachem North
- Game: At Lindenhurst, 6 p.m. (road opener)
- On Lindenhurst: seeded No. 8, Matt Colton is a big threat at linebacker
- 2011 finish: lost to Floyd in county final
- Difference makers: Trent Crossan (QB/S), Tyler Andreassi (RB/LB), Malik Pierre (RB/LB), Stephen Mills (OL/DL)
The skinny
- Sachem East should run with Casali all year and they’ll let Suffolk know how their horse is running right out of the gates on Friday. Expect a big night from Casali as he starts his senior season off at home under the lights.
- On Friday, Sachem North junior quarterback Trent Crossan will start his first regular season game since Week 4 of 2011 when he tore his ACL. He looked strong in his last scrimmage at North Babylon a week ago and will use that performance as a confidence boost for his game, which he says is at 100 percent. Couple that with the running games of Malik Pierre, Anthony Ross and Tyler Andreassi and Lindenhurst will have its hands full.
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro / Photos by Bob Sorensen