Justin DePietro totals four touchdowns as Carey beats Mepham, will face Garden City in Nassau II final
Justin DePietro puts Carey on the scoreboard with a touchdown during a Nassau Conference II semifinal football game against Mepham on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, at Hofstra. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Justin DePietro doesn't forget.
When Carey rallied to beat Mepham in its regular-season finale two weeks ago, he thought the team lacked physicality. So during Friday night's rematch in a Nassau Conference II football semifinal at Hofstra, DePietro took matters into his own hands.
The star running back totaled 197 scrimmage yards and four touchdowns on 15 touches as second-seeded Carey rolled to a 49-14 win over fifth-seeded Mepham.
The Seahawks (9-1) advanced to the finals, where they will face top-seeded Garden City at Hofstra in Hempstead at 4 p.m. on Friday.
“That Week 8 [game] really drove me,” DePietro said. “We knew we were so much better than that. They were more physical than us, and we were not going to let that happen today.”
DePietro paced Carey’s ground game, logging 12 carries for 116 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught three passes for 81 yards and another two scores. The middle linebacker added a sack, too.
After helping his defense force a three-and-out on the game’s opening possession, he capped his offense’s first drive by barreling through the right side for a 1-yard touchdown run. To start the second quarter, running back David Avila turned the left corner for a 41-yard touchdown run to go up 14-0 with 11 minutes, 23 seconds remaining. Each team then traded punts before Mepham quarterback Adam Erlichman hit wide receiver Lucas Eagleston for an 11-yard score to halve the Seahawks’ lead.
However, on the next play from scrimmage, DePietro took a handoff and zoomed through the left side, taking it down the sideline for a 65-yard touchdown to go up 21-7 with 2:58 left until halftime.
Later, on fourth-and-5 from Mepham’s 35-yard line, Gunnar Nelson threw a 10-yard pass to the left for wide receiver Vince Vicari, who then lateraled it to DePietro. He broke a tackle, stayed in bounds down the sideline and took it the distance with 29 seconds left to make it 28-7.
After halftime, cornerback Dylan Walsh scooped up a fumble forced by linebacker Anthony DeMarco and returned it 54 yards for a touchdown with 10:19 left in the third quarter. DePietro later caught a pass down the seam from Nelson, made a man miss and took it home for a 46-yard touchdown to invoke a running clock.
“Nobody we’ve ever had in my 20 years works harder than [DePietro],” Carey coach Mike Stanley said. “He’s just incredible, and he led us tonight, for sure.”
Erlichman tossed a 29-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to wideout Ryan McCabe to provide the final margin for Mepham (4-6).
“I did this for my teammates,” DePietro said. “We want this more than anything. This is the most fun I’ve ever had in my life, and I just want to do my thing every snap. It feels awesome to have another week with the fellas.”
Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.
