Heading into the final game of the regular season, the Floral Park varsity football team knew it needed to defeat Hewlett High School to earn a playoff spot. Nassau County utilizes a complicated mathematical formula of power points to determine the final standings. But without a win, it appeared that the Knights’ season would come to an end.

Even though Floral Park fell to Hewlett 35-14, the final standings left Lynbrook, Hewlett and Floral Park tied for the final two playoff spots with 91.45 power points. This loss, however, left Floral Park on the outside of the top eight seeds.

The season was full of ups and downs, although the most disappointing moment occurred prior to the Hewlett game, when starting quarterback Mitchell Kozak found out that he would be unable to play. His injury will not keep him out of the spring lacrosse season, but that was little consolation for the junior who had emerged as one of the top QBs in Conference III this year. Playing under the lights at Hewlett, the Knights scored first on a 78-yard fumble recovery by Michael Incantalupo. But on a cold night, Floral Park gave up the next four touchdowns, eventually falling to the Bulldogs 35-14.

Even with the loss, the team played hard throughout the season. Led by Shane Elia, Brian Esposito, Jim Ollen, Chris Chimera, John Grossi, Michael O’Connor, Jack Scala and James O’Grady, Floral Park made first-year head coach Mr. Pickett proud of their effort. The seniors will be missed next year. They were a hard-working and dedicated group that fell just short of achieving its goal. The remarkable ability to persevere is one of the most impressive characteristics of this year’s team.