Massapequa football shuts out Oceanside thanks to dominant defense
David Gibson of Oceanside is tackled by Massapequa defenders during a Nassau Conference I football game on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in Massapequa. Credit: Kelvin Loarca
For as stingy as Massapequa’s defense has been, it had yet to post a shutout in the first half of the season.
Top-seeded Massapequa was just saving its best defensive performance yet for its homecoming game against No. 2 Oceanside and one of the best running backs on Long Island.
The front of Nolan Wieczorek, Ryan Chabus, Jake Spina, Jack Mulligan, Giovanni Tarasi, Aiden Carozza and Justin Farrell smothered Oceanside’s high-powered offense in a 33-0 win Saturday in Massapequa.
Massapequa improved to 5-0 and extended Long Island’s longest active winning streak to 28 games.
“It’s exciting, but there’s always things that we can fix,” Wieczorek said. “We pride ourselves on being very disciplined and we did that. We kept the score at 0. We got the second unit in the game in the fourth quarter and they still kept it at 0, so it’s exciting to see those guys get their chance.”
Chace Morris entered Saturday with 70 carries for 547 yards and five touchdowns in three games for Oceanside (3-2). Massapequa held him to 18 yards on 10 carries.
“We’ve been chasing Morris around for three years, he’s a great back,” Massapequa coach Kevin Shippos said. “He’s a great wrestler, so you know you’re not going to get him down easily. He’s as tough as they come and we have a ton of respect for him.”
Dylan Milio returned the opening kickoff 76 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown. Michael Ippolito intercepted a pass on the Sailors’ second play from scrimmage, setting up a 28-yard field goal by Caden Bowen to take a 10-0 lead with 7:48 left in the first quarter. Ippolito reeled in another interception on Oceanside’s ensuing possession.
“Coach Shippos was preaching all week that we wanted to be the first ones to score and Dylan made a great play,” Wieczorek said. “We had to keep our foot on the gas and Ippolito came up big with those interceptions.”
It was up to Blake Seidenstein to keep the foot on the gas, as Massapequa’s starting quarterback Luke Garguilo remained on the sideline with ice wrapped around his right knee following Ippolito’s second INT. Garguilo, last year’s Snyder Award winner as Nassau’s top quarterback, did not return, but walked up and down the sideline throughout the remainder of the game.
Seidenstein immediately filled the void. On his first pass, the junior rolled left and fired 30 yards downfield to Farrell, who ran the rest of the way for a 64-yard TD with 5:11 left in the first quarter. Seidenstein completed 9 of 11 passes for 137 yards and ran for 30 yards.
“Blake is a great athlete,” Shippos said. “He would be a starter anywhere else. His confidence has definitely grown from last year.”
Chabus and Tarasi combined for a tackle for a loss in the end zone with 11 seconds left in the second quarter for a safety and a 19-0 halftime lead. Then, Michael Castellano went to work.
The junior running back broke a 44-yard run down the right sideline behind Tarasi’s sealing block and was forced out at Oceanside’s 3-yard line. He pounded in a TD on the next play. He added a 4-yard TD run with 1:20 left in the third quarter for the final score. Castellano had 15 carries for 116 yards, 92 of which came in the third quarter.
“We kept making mistakes in the beginning, but the holes really opened up in the third quarter,” Castellano said. “That first run of the second half, the hole was wide open and I just busted it outside. Coach challenged us at halftime and we came together and responded.”
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
