Chase Solliday notches three TDs and Bethpage 'D' seals victory
Jack Poppe of Bethpage pulls to clear a hole in the South Side defense during a Nassau Conference III football semifinal at Hofstra's Stuart Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
South Side had moved the ball to the Bethpage 12-yard line and faced a third-and-2 with 1:28 left in a Nassau Conference III semifinal playoff game Sunday night.
Bethpage was clinging to a three-point lead and needed a big defensive stop. The Golden Eagles got two.
Linebacker Jack Poppe roared through a gap on the left side of the offensive line and tackled halfback A.J. Magaraci for a 2-yard loss to the 14. “I saw the guard come down on our nose tackle and the tackle go to kick out the end,” Poppe said. “I blew up the fullback and made the hit.”
Faced with fourth-and-4, South Side quarterback Connor McNulty rolled to his right, away from the pressure, and threw into heavy coverage, and Vincent Morice made a juggling interception with 52 seconds left.
That enabled Bethpage to come away with an 18-15 victory at Hofstra University.
No. 3 Bethpage (9-1) will play No. 4 Wantagh (7-3) in the Nassau III championship game at Hofstra on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Bethpage’s last appearance in a Nassau final was in the fall of 2021. The Golden Eagles’ last title came in 2008 in a 22-20 win over Plainedge.
“We have the best defense in the county,” Morice said. “We bend and don’t break. When we fumbled in the fourth quarter, there was no worry on our sideline. We knew we would pick those guys up and take care of business.”
Bethpage had three interceptions, but the heart of this team can be found in its offensive line. They move people. “I couldn’t do it without our offensive line,” said halfback Chase Solliday, who ran for 163 yards on 16 carries and all three touchdowns. "They worked so hard in the weight room in the offseason. And it showed.”
Solliday capped a nine-play, 77-yard march with a 6-yard TD run with 3:50 left in the third quarter for the final margin.
South Side (7-3) scored on its first possession. With a strong wind at his back, McNulty delivered a strike to Kieran Vetter for a 31-yard TD pass. Lukas Papadopulos’ kick made it 7-0 with 8:54 left in the first quarter.
Bethpage answered with a 17-play, 80-yard scoring drive. Solliday scored on a 2-yard run, but the kick failed and the Golden Eagles trailed 7-6 with 11:08 left in the half.
Bethpage forged its first lead on its next possession. Solliday went over right tackle and picked up a few blocks for a 51-yard gain to the South Side 15. Two plays later, he was in the end zone with his second 2-yard TD run for a 12-7 lead.
“It’s hard to beat a good team twice, and we were able to do that,” Solliday said.
South Side went ahead with 1.1 seconds left in the half. McNulty lofted a pass high into the wind, Vetter jumped over a defender to make the catch at the 5 and skipped out of a tackle for the score. McNulty hit Magaraci with the two-point conversion pass for a 15-12 halftime lead.
The Golden Eagles rushed 42 times for 249 yards and 14 first downs -- riding that efficient offensive line of guards Ben Ciervo and Poppe, tackles Sam Fornelius and Matt Brady and center Joe DiNuzzo -- and did not attempt a pass in the entire game.
“We didn’t need to throw, we don’t throw,” Bethpage coach Pete Zito said. “We ground and pound with our O-line.”
It was defensive football at its finest. had moved the ball to the 12-yard line and faced third down and 2 with 1:28 left in
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
