The Great Neck North High School varsity football team pulled out a last-minute minute 20-18 win over St. Dominic last Thursday in a game the players had dedicated to the memory of their late head coach, Chris Deeks.
Deeks, 60, in his first year as Great Neck North head football coach, died of a heart attack on Aug. 30. The Sewanhaka High School graduate had also been the Great Neck North lacrosse coach and was former football coach at Floral Park Memorial High.
Coach Chris Cesar, the defensive coordinator who replaced Deeks as head coach, said the coaches specifically avoided talking about Deeks with the players on game day. Instead, during the week of practices leading up to the game, they had put Deeks’ cap on a table in the middle of the locker room.
“I’m really proud of the kids and the way they played, especially the kids who played lacrosse for coach Deeks,” Cesar said. “Everybody knew who we were playing for. We kept saying, ‘Just one play at a time’.”
Cesar said the coaches wanted the players to keep their emotions in check during the game.
Prior to the game, three of the team’s seniors and one junior who had all played lacrosse for Deeks were chosen as team leaders for the midfield pre-game meeting with referees and captains of the St, Dominic team. One of the players carried a small placard with Deeks’ image bearing the phrase “Always in our hearts.”
The Great Neck North and St, Dominic players joined in a moment of silence to honor Deeks’ memory prior to kick-off on Theodore Roosevelt Field in Oyster Bay.
Cesar addressed the players repeating words that Deeks had used: “Always leave a footprint and be the best person you can be in life.”
With Great Neck North trailing with less than three minutes left in the game, senior running back Oliver Elihu, one of the team leaders for the game, broke a 37-yard run up the middle of the field to put his team in position to score the winning touchdown. Quarterback Brian Azizi scored from the 1-yard line with 2:07 remaining in the fourth quarter for the winning score.
When the game ended, the players vented their emotions with tears and singing on the bus back to Great Neck.
“All the emotion came in at the end of the game. The kids did not stop singing the whole ride home,” Cesar said.
They sang tunes from the movie “Remember the Titans,” he said.
“After a very heavy week, they got a little release. And they were just ecstatic about it,” Cesar said. “I was very glad for the kids.”
The week before the big season-opening win in the Nassau Conference V game, the players had attended Deeks’ wake wearing their football jerseys over their shirts and ties.
“Emotionally a lot of them are really still grieving,” said Eamon Flood, Great Neck North athletic director. “They did exactly what Mr. Deeks wanted them to do. They played with such courage. We’re really proud of them. We’re proud of their coaches.”
Cesar said his task now is to get them prepared for Saturday’s game at home against Roslyn.
“We start today with some sprints. We’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing. They have 21 hours a day to grieve, but we’ve got to do what we need to do for coach Deeks,” Cesar said.
