MacArthur flag football wins Long Island Class B title on Taylor Garro's 20-yard TD catch in OT
Teammates carry MacArthur’s Taylor Garro off the field after scoring the winning touchdown in overtime of the Long Island Class B flag football championship against Hauppauge at Long Island University in Brookville on Saturday, May 30, 2026. Credit: Kathy M Helgeson
The MacArthur flag football team is no stranger to close finishes. In last week's county final, it was Alexa Coppola who caught the go-ahead touchdown pass in the final seconds of a thrilling win.
This time around, it was Taylor Garro.
Garro caught a 20-yard pass from Gina Iannuzzi in overtime to give MacArthur a 25-19 victory over Hauppauge in the Long Island Class B championship game between a pair of undefeated teams at LIU on Saturday.
"There was something that just came from within, and I got happy and excited," Garro said. "There were no doubts, you have to believe in yourself and believe in your teammates, and that's what happened."
Hauppauge (17-1) won the coin toss in overtime and had the first attempt to score, but Garro got a big sack on second down. Then she stepped up on offense.
“I never thought I would be here,” said Garro, a senior. “It feels great, I’ve been working since my freshman year so to see my hard work pay off feels great.”
MacArthur coach Steve Fazzolari said, "Taylor is just a stud. She's not the tallest or the biggest girl in the world, but the heart on that little girl is something I've never seen."
MacArthur (18-0-1) will face Section I's Yorktown or Section IX's Washingtonville in the state semifinal on June 6 at Homer High School in Cortland on June 2.
"They've been motivated since Day One," Fazzolari said. "We're not going to go there just to be there, we're going to win it."
With the score tied at 7 in the fourth quarter, MacArthur's Melissa Wetzel made an interception. Three plays later, Garro caught a pass from Iannuzzi and burst down the sideline for the 40-yard TD to give MacArthur the lead.
It was 19-7 after Iannuzzi connected with Meaghan Campbell for a 5-yard TD.
"We are a very resilient team," Campbell said. "We never panicked. But we've been in this situation before, and we knew we deserved to be in this position."
Hauppauge answered with Taylor Mileti connecting with Lindsay Adams for a 21-yard score to cut it to 19-13. Mileti ran for a 6-yard TD to tie it at 19 with 17 seconds left. Hauppauge's ensuing one-point pass was incomplete. Overtime.
Suffering their first loss of the season in the Long Island final was tough, but Hauppauge coach Steve Mileti is proud of the team's season.
"When your first loss is in overtime against a club like MacArthur, it says a lot about this team," he said. "They didn't give up, and they came back with less than four minutes. I'm extremely proud of my girls."
Said Fazzolari, "I told the girls this is their marquee matchup, your heavyweight fight. [Hauppauge] gave it everything, a big credit to those girls and the coaching staff."
Jonathan Ruban covers high school sports for Newsday after graduating from St. John’s.
