By By Nick Pipitone
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y.-For 16 years, head coach Joe Gardi has been working to make a name for the Pride football program. Gardi announced his retirement on Nov. 14 and, in what may have been his last game Saturday, the coach tried his best to land the Pride in the national spotlight one more time.
The Pride (7-4, 5-3 Atlantic 10) handled no. 5 University of Massachusetts (7-4, 6-2), 21-10, in the season finale at Shuart Stadium Saturday. However, despite the win, the Pride’s season ended as the team failed to qualify in the 16-team, I-AA playoff bracket.
“[The team] sure responded for me today,” Gardi said. “I told them to win one for the old man. We’re better than a 7-4 team.”
Headed by a couple of good offensive efforts and a staunch defensive game, the Pride out-muscled the Minutemen in the second half after trailing 7-6 at halftime. On senior day, WR Marques Colston had 8 receptions for 171 yards while junior RB Terry Crenshaw (23 carries, 115 yards, 1 TD) had his third consecutive 100-yard rushing game. Overall, the Pride put up 418 yards of total offense.
The Blue and Gold got on the board early in the third quarter, scoring on its very first drive. QB Anton Clarkson (16 of 27, 255 yards, 1 interception) led the team 78 yards on seven plays and Crenshaw capped off the drive with a 5-yard score. Crenshaw’s ensuing two-point conversion gave the Pride all the points the team would need.
The Minutemen shrunk the lead to 14-10 early in the fourth quarter with a 23-yard Armando Cuko field goal, but failed to score afterwards. The Pride provided an 11-point cushion on the ensuing drive. Clarkson hit Colston on a 64-yard bomb along the near sideline and then, two plays later, sophomore RB Kareem Huggins scored from four yards out. The run would put the Pride up 21-10 and in control. “Going out with a win was the most important thing,” Colston said. “I wanted to come out here and play well in my last game, but just getting a win for coach Gardi and these seniors was really number one on my mind. I was glad my numbers could contribute to that.”
The Blue & Gold defense played solid for the remainder of the game. On the very next drive, UMass QB Liam Cohen was hurt on a third and long, and for the next three Minutemen possessions, backup QB Tim Day relieved him. Day drove the Huskies into Pride territory on its final drive, but tossed an interception to sophomore LB Stanley Gutierrez, sealing the Pride win.
“As a defense, overall, we played really good today,” senior LB Cole Haley said. “It was good to go out with a win and stop a good offense like that.”The impressive win does a lot of things for the Pride. For one, it gives the Pride its best season (record-wise) since 2001. It also provided Gardi with a proper send off after five years of futility.
With Saturday’s win, the coach saw his program come a long way, something he takes great joy in.
“I don’t have to blow my own horn about the contributions I’ve made to the Pride program,” Gardi said. “All you have to do is come with me to an airport when I’m making a trip and Pride alumni and Long Islanders will tell me not only have I put the University on the map, but also Long Island. I’m really proud of that.”