By Diana Fehling
The athletes had great weather at Middle Island Country Club, when the Comsewogue/Miller Place combined golf team went against Sachem on March 22.
Sachem won 8-1.
— Photos by Diana Fehling
By Jim Ferchland
The Mad Dogs were down after dropping their second game all season, the first of three, 996-863, at home at AMF Centereach Lanes against Sachem Jan. 9.
But Middle Country’s girls bowling team was not going to let the loss snap their winning ways, and the team got hot scoring 924 in the second and 1,017 in the third for a 2-1 victory to remain undefeated (6-0).
The team was thinking it might have lost its mojo after it was forced to change lanes. When playing games at home, the Mad Dogs play on lanes 29 and 30, but according to the AMF staff the lanes were down, leaving Middle Country and Sachem to compete on 25 and 26. Middle Country head coach Mandy Dominguez said this ruined the girls’ at-home advantage.
“Our top bowlers struggled on lanes 25 and 26 today,” he said. “They didn’t bowl as high as they usually do but it’s just one of those things you can’t control.”
Dominguez, who has been at the helm for nine years, has led the team to eight straight league titles. He has high expectations and was unhappy with how his team performed in the first game.
“It was our worst game of the year,” Dominguez said. “I was a little disappointed
and depressed, but I knew that the girls had the ability to come back and win.”
Sachem came to play in the first, and even Sachem coach Diane Groneman was really impressed with her girls’ performances. Sophomore All-County bowler Amanda Naujokas scored 246, which really gave Sachem the advantage.
“This is one of the better games we’ve had this season,” Groneman said. “You’re always pumped to go against the first-place team.”
Middle Country senior Nicole Lettich, who is sixth on the team with a 205 average, led Middle Country with a 181 in game one, and then caught fire in the next two. She bowled a 213 and 258, slamming home seven strikes in a row in the third. For Lettich, it was quite a surprise.
“I haven’t bowled over a 200 in my third game in so long,” Lettich said, as she usually bowls around a 170 late in the game. “[It] felt really good … I really haven’t bowled that well lately. It was exciting.”
Senior Allison Burfeindt has been bowling for Middle Country since seventh grade, so she knows the bar is set high every year. She said she and the three other soon-to-be graduates average over 200, along with most of the rest of the Mad Dogs because they know what needs to be put in to get results.
“All of the girls on the team put in so much work,” Burfeindt said. “We practice every single day.”
Middle Country may have won by over 100 pins in game two, but Dominguez said his team still wasn’t at its best with all the spares.
“We are used to getting a lot more strikes than spares,” Dominguez said. “It wasn’t our best day, but we did enough to win.”
Freshman Hannah Skalacki, who bowls the highest average on the team with a 224, did not play because of personal reasons. Senior Julie Acosta fell shy of meeting her 207 average, finishing with a 165, 160 and 191.
“Even though we struggled in the first game, we just came back hard and fought for the win,” she said. “We didn’t give up and came together as a team. We just fought to the end.”
Dominguez said that despite the win, his Mad Dogs can’t play like they did again if they want to beat Longwood Jan. 11. Longwood gave Middle Country their first dropped game back on Dec. 19. The game is set for 3:30 p.m. at Coram Country Bowl.
“If we bowl like we did today, we’ll lose to Longwood on Thursday,” Dominguez said. “They are very good. We have to bowl better.”
Tigers rack up 28 first-quarter points in 48-7 homecoming win
By Jim Ferchland
Northport’s football team was all over Sachem North Saturday, picking up a monster homecoming win in front of its fans Oct. 14. For the Tigers, the 48-7 victory was the fourth straight.
“I knew we were the better team,” Northport head coach Kip Lukralle said. “I feel we were better prepared. It’s our first home game, so there’s a lot of emotion. Sachem’s been a rivalry over the years. Staying focused was key, and our kids did that.”
The Tigers came out firing, and racked up 28 points in the first quarter alone. Senior quarterback Ryan Walsh completed all four of his passing attempts for 140 yards and three touchdowns in that 12-minute span.
“I thought the team as a whole performed very well,” Walsh said. “There was great protection up front and the receivers ran great routes. It was all around a good day.”
Along with three passing touchdowns on the day, the Tigers added two rushing touchdowns and two interceptions returned for a touchdown.
Senior running back Sean Eagers made big plays on both sides of the football in his last homecoming game. He had a 4-yard rushing touchdown in the first and a 60-yard interception returned for a touchdown in the third quarter. For a player who says he loves football, it could not have been a better day.
“It’s just really special to me,” Eagers said of the sport. “It’s been a lot of fun this season and football means the world to me. It was great having two touchdowns on our homecoming day.”
Sachem North started the game with the ball, but their first drive resulted in a blocked punt. Senior Bobby Labatto was credited with the stop and what would later set up Eagers’ touchdown with 6:35 left in the first.
Not even two minutes after the touchdown, the Tigers found the end zone once more. This time, Walsh dumped the ball to classmate wide receiver Curtis Lafond, who ran a curl route, found an opening on the left side and took it to the house for a 40-yard score to make it 14-0 Northport.
With 2:14 left in the first, Walsh continued to lead his dominant offense when he connected with sophomore running back Max Napoli on a pass across the middle of the field. Napoli scored from 40 yards out to increase the Tigers’ lead to 21.
In the final play of the first quarter, it was Walsh to Lafond for the longest passing play of the day. With two seconds left, Walsh heaved the ball from midfield and Lafond retrieved it in double coverage in the back of the end zone to give the Tigers a commanding 28-0 lead. Lafond was quite content with his performance, and even though he’s also a basketball player, he said football is what really gets his engine revving.
“It was awesome,” Lafond said of making the catch. “I’ve been waiting for a day like this the whole season. Football is the most emotionally investing sport you can play and to have your whole school come out and support you and get a win like that, it doesn’t get better.”
Sachem North got the ball to start the second quarter, but the possession didn’t last long. Flaming Arrows quarterback Nicholas Gambino threw the ball into the hands of Northport’s Andrew Bolitho, who carried the interception back 15 yards into the end zone.
Northport’s Jeremy Gerdvil made the longest play of the day six minutes later. The junior running back cut loose from Sachem North’s defense and cashed in a 65-yard rushing touchdown increasing the lead to 42-0.
The Flaming Arrows were in Tigers’ territory late in the third, but Gambino made the same mistake a second time when he threw toward Eagers, who picked off the pass and carried the ball 60 yards for the defensive touchdown. The point after attempt was no good, but it was still 48-0 Tigers.
With 7:39 left in the fourth, the Flaming Arrows finally got on the scoreboard. Senior Alezandro Aponte scored on a 3-yard rushing play to cut to deficit to 41.
“It’s great to win, period,” Lukralle said. “It’s great to beat Sachem, double period. And it’s nice to win at homecoming also. It was a great day for Northport football.”
The Tigers have two games left on their schedule with one at home and one on the road. Northport will host Connetquot Oct. 21 before hitting the road to play William Floyd Oct. 27. Both games are currently slated for 2 p.m. starts.
