Massapequa had yielded a touchdown just before the intermission. The lead was down to 13, and now Oceanside was moving again on its opening drive of the third quarter in this Nassau Conference I championship game.

Then an inside linebacker got his hands on a pass at the Massapequa 19 and ran 20 yards in the other direction with a very large interception.

“It was a momentum turn,” Anthony DiNello said that November night at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium about his pick.

Massapequa went on to win 55-18 and clinch a county three-peat and then claim a Long Island Class I three-peat with a defensive-fueled 14-12 victory over Ward Melville, finishing a perfect 12-0 run.

It surely helped to have the 6-foot, 195-pound DiNello on its side.

The senior received two impressive honors for his work.

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