Luke LaRocca, Lucas Bouchard team up as Sachem North football runs away from Floyd
Quarterback Luke LaRocca of Sachem North, left, celebrates his touchdown with his teammates during a Suffolk Division I football game against Floyd on Friday, Sept.18, 2026 in Lake Ronkonkoma. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Luke LaRocca has been a steady, solid quarterback the last two years.
Two games into his senior season in Suffolk Division I, LaRocca has emerged as one of the elite quarterbacks in the county.
LaRocca completed 13 of 15 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 85 yards and a score to lead Sachem North to a 35-13 win over visiting Floyd in the National Football Foundation’s Kickoff Classic on Friday night.
“He’s the only three-year starter at quarterback in Sachem North football history,” coach Dave Caputo said. “Each year, he’s taken a step. But the step from junior to senior year has far exceeded our expectations. He’s one of the top three players in Division I.”
LaRocca found Lucas Bouchard for a 29-yard touchdown pass to take a 7-0 lead with 2:19 left in the first quarter. Floyd’s Derek Glock returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for a TD to even the score.
As LaRocca readied to take the snap on the first play of Sachem North’s next drive, he noticed that Bouchard had nobody lined up across from him on the outside. LaRocca quickly flipped a pass to Bouchard, who got a downfield block from Jon Mullaly on his way to a 75-yard TD reception.
“We were running a run play," LaRocca said, "but I saw Lucas waving his arms, so I turned and threw it to him right away.”
Bouchard’s 1-yard TD run gave Sachem North a 21-7 lead with 8:10 left in the second quarter. He caught three passes for 116 yards and two TDs. Gavin Nuzzi caught three passes for 41 yards and a touchdown and Mullaly caught seven passes for 73 yards.
“They make it a lot easier on me,” LaRocca said. “Bouchard and Nuzzi have found the end zone the last two weeks, but you can’t forget about guys like Mullaly, who had a lot of catches today and will keep getting more targets.”
Jake Rivera had two sacks and recovered a fumble that set up Davonte Medlock’s 9-yard rushing touchdown for Floyd (1-1).
Sachem North’s defense was smothering. Safety Joe Gambardella had three tackles for a loss and an interception and was named the defensive player of the game.
“You don’t get safety play like that in high school,” Caputo said. “That is collegiate-level safety play. He’s a run-stopper. He’s a special player.”
Dwayne Dumpson and Danny Ferrizz each had a sack and a tackle for a loss, Niko Valenza had two sacks and Shaun Marx recovered a fumble for Sachem North (2-0).
“We have a big squad and those guys up front really made all the plays for me,” Gambardella said. “The outside linebackers pushed the ballcarriers to me and I just had to make some tackles.”
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
