Seaford tops Polytech: Levan leads Blue Jays to 34-18 victory

By Andy Walter
Posted 9/24/21

WOODSIDE — Seaford High’s football team hadn’t played a game in so long it was almost like the Blue Jays were starting the season over.

Before Friday night, Seaford had played …

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Seaford tops Polytech: Levan leads Blue Jays to 34-18 victory

Posted

WOODSIDE — Seaford High’s football team hadn’t played a game in so long it was almost like the Blue Jays were starting the season over.

Before Friday night, Seaford had played just once, downing Southern, Md., on Sept. 3.

But the Blue Jays shook off the rust, thanks in part to a big game from sophomore running back Jazonte Levan, and pulled away to a 34-18 win over Polytech in a matchup of Class 1A, District II squads.

Levan ran for 204 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries for Seaford (2-0), which led only 21-18 before scoring a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. He also caught four passes for 140 more yards and another TD.

“We had a great three weeks of practice really focusing on fundamentals every day,” said Seaford coach Mark Quillin. “But when they don’t play, it’s hard to keep the kids going.

“But the kids have really kept it together nicely for three weeks. I’m so proud of them.”

Levan capped off his big night with a 35-yard touchdown run with only 31.9 seconds remaining.

“He’s a special kid,” said Quillin. “Last year he never really bought in all the way. But then I started the weight room (during the winter) and he was a kid that didn’t miss a day for us all spring and all summer.

“He’s really a talented kid. ... Very rarely do we get negative yards when he carries the football. He’s a great young man.”

Already leading 15-12, the Blue Jays took the second-half’s opening kickoff and drove 60 yards on 10 plays for their third touchdown of the night. Seaford sophomore QB, left-handed Careen Bolden, rolled to his left and found Cameron Willey in the front of the end zone for a nine-yard scoring pass that stretched the Jays’ lead to 21-12.

The Panthers (1-2), who just snapped a 15-game losing streak last week, answered with a touchdown of their own, though.

A 46-yard burst by Brett Shelton-Hoskins set up a four-yard scoring run from Bruno Nyandemo that got Polytech back within 21-18 with 6:18 left in the third quarter.

But with a couple minutes left in the third quarter, the Panthers lost starting quarterback Taariq Bacdi, who went down with a possible concussion.

Th Blue Jays finally opened up some breathing room when Bolden found senior Dalton Hignutt for a 14-yard touchdown pass with just 4:08 remaining in the contest. The touchdown gave Seaford a 27-18 advantage.

Seaford made the game’s first big play when Levan took a short pass from Bolden and sprinted away on a 90-yard yard scoring play. The TD put the Blue Jays up 7-0 less than five minutes into the contest.

But that was just the start of the scoring.

Polytech needed just six plays to 74 yards on the ensuing drive, finishing the march when De’Marion Lee bounced outside for a six-yard touchdown run.

Levan, though, scored his second long touchdown of the quarter, this time on a 63-yard sprint. Bolden’s two-point conversion run gave the Blue Jays a 15-6 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

Polytech scored the only touchdown of the second quarter after recovering a Seaford fumble at the Jays’ 13. Two plays later, Nyandemo caught a swing pass from Bacdi, spun out of a tackle inside the five and completed the 13-yard TD reception.

One of the reasons for creating Class 1A was to give rebuilding programs like Seaford and Polytech a chance to play more competitive games like Friday’s.

“The kids really played so hard tonight,” said Quillin. “That was really a good high school football game. Every football game can be great.

“I look at the scores and some are lopsided. But tonight was a great football game for both schools.”

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