The following is an excerpt from my book “Sachem High School Football: The History of the Flaming Arrows.” It’s an inside look at the first ever Nor’Easter game played between Sachem North and Sachem East in 2005. Some of the titles for people quoted in the book have since changed.
In 2005, perhaps the most official sense of a split took place. It was the first ever Sachem vs. Sachem football game. It wasn’t an alumni event either. It was North vs. East for the Chief Sachem trophy, created to seem like this game actually meant something, when in reality it was a gut wrenching experience for the coaches that had ties to North, including those still coaching at the old regime.
I was there. I couldn’t believe the tension that swirled through the stands. Arriving two hours before the game because I was doing color commentary for 91.9-FM WSHR, Sachem High School’s own radio station. (I had graduated, but was asked back to broadcast a meaningful game in Sachem history). Security guards tried to separate the North and East students, thinking semi-riots would break out in the stands. There was a decent turnout for the Friday night game that had a sense of dreariness mixed with excitement.
“It was the most heart wrenching, nauseating experience I have had as a coach,” Sachem North head coach Dave Falco said. “The split ripped the heart out of the Sachem athletic program and created controversy. We broke up the Sachem family. The realization is that we’re never going to be in the playoffs for 20 plus years in a row again and that we had hit rock bottom and we needed to get back to work.”
I talked to North principal James Nolan after the game.
“The game generated a lot of support and enthusiasm for the entire community,” he said. “By the nature of the game, it puts you on the opposite side when really we’re in the same community. Sachem kids are Sachem kids and it was positive for everyone involved.”
Sachem East’s Matt Ferber ran for a career-high 260 yards and four touchdowns, torching North’s defensive line. He had scoring carries of 25, 40, 45 and 65 yards. North’s shining moment was a 52-yard charge downfield, resulting in an 18-yard touchdown pass thrown by Nick Guidi to Denis Kelly early in the game, but that was it. East won, 40-13.
The toughest part for the coaches was that a handful coached most of the players on both teams.
“We knew those kids,” said Mark Wojciechowski, then the defensive coordinator at North. “Those kids were part of who we were.”
The game, as well as the split, was extremely tough on Dave Caputo, who was at East until 2007 as an assistant coach, but made the switch to North in 2008. Even with the schools separated for over a year at that point, nothing could prepare them for a battle against their own brethren.
“The teams lined up across from each other at the 50 yard line at the end of the game and that was one of the hardest moments,” Caputo said. “That was it. We were split and we’re not coming back together. I saw tears in guys like Woj’s eyes. That was reality. It was a terrible experience. It was like a funeral for the program. In my eyes it was the official end of the program.”
When the 40-inch wooden Chief Sachem trophy was handed to Ferber and the East team captains, Caputo couldn’t stand the wave of negative energy on the North sideline and told his guys (East) to put the trophy down.
“It wasn’t fair to them. I didn’t feel comfortable with us holding the trophy with the other team in tears,” he said. “That was the worst. As a coach you’re telling the players not to celebrate on the field. The bus ride home wasn’t celebratory.”
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro
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