Hewlett football celebrates 100 years with comeback win over Sewanhaka
From left: Hewlett's Kennlee Charles, Xavier Cortes, Edson Emmanuel, Eilai Karadi and Gabriel Bowery, celebrate after a win over visiting Sewanhaka in a Nassau Conference III football game on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. Credit: James Escher
The celebration of 100 years of Hewlett football Friday night needed just one more thing to feel complete — a comeback victory against Sewanhaka.
Bulldogs ball at their own 46, down by four, exactly two minutes on the clock.
“It’s really tough, especially when we had a lot of drives where we just couldn’t do anything,” Preston Cusumano said. “But we trusted our guys.”
The senior quarterback passed them down the field, and Dylan Parchment ran the ball in from the 2 with 1:08 left. The Ravens reached Hewlett’s 16 but couldn’t turn a pass into a touchdown on the final play.
And soon there were the Bulldogs happily singing “Take Me Home, Country Roads” at midfield. They owned a 23-20 win at their home.
“It is unbelievable,” said coach John Palladino, in his 10th season as head coach after 15 as the defensive coordinator. “Just to work and coach in a place like Hewlett where football has been around for 100 years, it’s so special.
“The community, the families, the parents, the players, the administration, the board, the leadership from our superintendent, I’m just the luckiest guy to work here.”
Jay Iaquinta, the coach of the 1999 team that claimed the program’s lone county title, and some of the alums were on hand for the recognition of these 100 years.
“It’s great,” said John Amitrano Jr., a punter from the Class of 1994, one of three generations of Hewlett players with his dad, John Sr., a quarterback/punter from the Class of 1976, and John Jr.'s son, current starting guard John Amitrano III, although he injured a knee in the second quarter.
“… You see in the other towns that schools are closing their football programs, and we’re able to do it for 100 years now and get bigger and bigger every year. It’s a wonderful thing to have here in our town.”
Hewlett, which has made the final four at Hofstra 12 times, moved to 3-2 after Cusumano threw for 173 yards and a touchdown.
“The big picture? As our coach always says, it’s to go 1-0,” Cusumano said. “But we really just keep our mind on our playoff hopes.”
Justin Moreau intercepted Cusumano, and Sewanhaka had the ball at its own 14 with 2:29 remaining. The Ravens lost 11 yards over the next three plays, then took a safety and kicked off leading 20-16.
The Bulldogs had a first down at the Sewanhaka 36. Then Aaron Pahl grabbed a throw with two defenders on him, going down at the 2 to set up the winning TD.
“I couldn’t concentrate on anything else but the ball,” Pahl said. “I knew I was coming down with it.”
After State Senator Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick did the coin toss, the Bulldogs excelled, going up 14-0 by early in the second quarter. But Sewanhaka responded, taking a 20-14 lead at halftime.
Amari James, a speedy 5-5 junior who rushed for 167 yards, highlighted the rally with TD runs of 8 and 37 yards in a span of 10 seconds, sandwiched around a turnover.
“He’s a dynamic kid,” Sewanhaka coach George Kasimatis said.
But the Ravens would fall to 1-4.
“We’re better than our record,” Kasimatis said. “We show up and we don’t play a full game ever. So that’s on me. I’ve got to figure this out.”
