On Saturday, October 6, the Kingdom of Floral Park Memorial was blacked out as the Knights successfully protected their castle. FPM rolled right through Division with a thoroughly dominating 35-7 victory, bringing its record for the season to 2-3.

Floral Park’s defense once again held its own against a Division offense that continually struggled to challenge while in enemy territory. The secondary kept the passing attack in check, holding Division’s quarterback to zero touchdowns and only 4 completions in 16 attempts. In addition, the Knights picked off two passes. It seemed like Division was more often moving backwards than forward as its ground game finished with negative yards.

“I was incredibly proud of this overall team effort,” said coach Pickett, who has done an excellent job keeping Floral Park in contention in the ultra-competitive Nassau County Conference III. “We really played a complete game.”

Senior quarterback Mitch Kozak deserves a huge round of applause in this one as he put up one of the best games in his high school career. Kozak finished the day 9-for-18 with three touchdowns and just one interception. He also added 22 rushing yards on two attempts. Marco Montreuil led the team in rushing with 54 yards while Dan Patalano and Mike Kelly each had a score on the ground. The recipients of Kozak’s passes for the day were Mike Matich, Drew Stabinsky and Charles Mealing, who each hauled in a touchdown.

While it’s often overlooked, the Floral Park special teams’ unit was by far the most impressive part of last Saturday’s game. Mike Matich started off the game with a huge kickoff return which led to a touchdown on the very next play. Late in the second quarter, senior Jim Ollen chased down a Division return man inside the five, preventing him from scoring. The Knights would then hold their ground and force a turnover on downs in one of their best defensive stops of the season. In windy conditions, Senior kicker Justin Vij went 5-for-5 on extra point attempts, leaving no doubt that each would be successful. Vij also contributed a few lengthy punts, pitting the Division offense deep in its own territory on several occasions.

The Knights will look to keep up their winning ways at home this weekend against the Lynbrook Owls. Come cheer on the team as they look to go 3-3 and keep their playoff hopes alive.