Flushing football squad out to prove that rapid ascent was no fluke

BY MARK LELINWALLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Monday, September 21st 2009, 9:17 PM

Disappointment set in for Flushing's football players as they lined up to shake hands with Lincoln after Friday's 16-12 home loss, their first defeat of the season.
The Red Devils fell short at Flushing Memorial Field, but they'd earned Lincoln's respect.
"Welcome to the 5," said Railsplitters coach Shawn O'Connor, referring to the Championship Division, the most competitive level of the PSAL's three-tiered alignment, to which Flushing was promoted before the season. "You guys deserve to be here."
Just four years removed from playing at the developmental level, Flushing has charted a rapid rise to the PSAL's upper tier.
The players understand that they've made it, but they're not content that accomplishment.
"It was good to hear (O'Connor) say that, but we want to win," said linebacker Nathan Elder-Solomon, and senior captain who started playing in Flushing's first year of JV, back in 2006. "We want to win."
Flushing coach James DeSantis - who steered the Red Devils' program from freshman-only in 2005 to JV in 2006, Cup Division in 2007 and Bowl Division last year - doesn't want his players to use the fact that they're the new kids in the top tier as a crutch when they lose to more experienced squads. And it shouldn't be considered a fluke, when they win.

Disappointment set in for Flushing's football players as they lined up to shake hands with Lincoln after Friday's 16-12 home loss, their first defeat of the season.
The Red Devils fell short at Flushing Memorial Field, but they'd earned Lincoln's respect.
"Welcome to the 5," said Railsplitters coach Shawn O'Connor, referring to the Championship Division, the most competitive level of the PSAL's three-tiered alignment, to which Flushing was promoted before the season. "You guys deserve to be here."
Just four years removed from playing at the developmental level, Flushing has charted a rapid rise to the PSAL's upper tier.
The players understand that they've made it, but they're not content that accomplishment.
"It was good to hear (O'Connor) say that, but we want to win," said linebacker Nathan Elder-Solomon, and senior captain who started playing in Flushing's first year of JV, back in 2006. "We want to win."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/high_school/2009/09/21/2009-09-21_flushing_out_to_prove_that_rapid_ascent_was_no_fluke.html#ixzz0U13tsUTy