Port Washington football's Jackson Marro stops Mepham on two-point conversion with no time left for win
The Port Washington football team celebrates its win against visiting Mepham on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. Credit: Morgan Campbell
Port Washington needed someone to make a stop with 0:00 on the clock.
Adam Erlichman had just fired an 18-yard TD pass as he was being taken down, finding Ryan McCabe in the left side of the end zone with time having expired in the fourth. Mepham was now down one on the Vikings’ home turf Friday night.
Go for the point-after kick and OT? Or go for two and the win?
“I felt like we had the momentum,” Pirates coach Tom Mazeika said.
Paulie Genovese carried left, but senior defensive lineman Jackson Marro got there quickly for Port Washington to make the tackle.
The Nassau I Vikings escaped with a 7-6 win over the Nassau II Pirates in this crossover game.
“I said it in the huddle [afterward]; it’s a testament to this team’s resilience,” senior quarterback Harry Eynon said. “I mean, we break down on ‘family’ every day, and I think that’s what this team is. We’re a family.”
The family is 3-1, but it still has some polishing to do after committing six holding penalties overall on offense, including two that negated TDs.
“It’s something that we’ve got to clean up, and I think the kids know that,” Vikings coach Kevin Cloghessy said. “It goes back to the little things that we’re preaching.”
Eynon did just fine, completing 14 of 20 throws for 148 yards and a TD. Levi Felix did fine, too. The standout receiver made two big catches — as a defensive back. The senior picked off two passes, one that set up the touchdown.
“He’s a great player,” Cloghessy said. “He’s a great kid. He puts a lot of time in on both sides of the ball.”
Felix returned his first INT about 25 yards, giving Port Washington the ball at the Mepham 32.
The next play was a trick play.
Eynon handed the football off to Jackson McCormack, who gave it on a reverse to Max McElhone, who flipped it to Eynon, who threw downfield to Joe Fox, who took it in for the score with four seconds left in the first quarter. Sam Adler kicked the PAT — 7-0.
“We have a great OC, Ryan Proper,” Eynon said. “He sets up a lot of great plays for us. Been waiting to call that one for a few weeks now.”
Then there was Marro coming through after Erlichman led a 77-yard drive in the last 1:11.
“That’s an effort play for a kid that was battling some injuries,” Cloghessy said.
After an opening win, Mepham had its second straight difficult loss. It fell in double OT to Calhoun in the previous game.
“Listen, our kids our resilient,” Mazeika said. “… We expected this to be a battle, and it was.”
