Northport defeats Commack in pre-season play

In a final tune-up before the regular season, the Northport Tigers football team defeated Commack, 20-10, at Commack Stadium on Friday afternoon.

Tiger senior quarterback and second year starter Owen Johansen threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to senior running back Emmett Radziul in the second quarter  after Commack opened the scoring on a juggling TD catch by slot receiver Matt Rosenoff from Long Island QB Challenge winner Jeremy Weiss. Johansen hit senior tight end Andrew Miller with a perfectly placed 60-yard bomb down the right sideline for a touchdown to put an exclamation point on the first half for Northport. The Tigers would lead 13-7 at the break.

Most of the starters were rested for both teams in a second half that was dominated by Northport. Northport’s Matt Diaz, a senior who was on the Tiger soccer team in 2021, was very active on defense throughout the game as was 2021 All-division linebacker Tim Cleary. RB Giancarlo Valenti, a junior, capped the scoring with a one-yard TD plunge late in the game. Tiger back QB senior Macklin O’brien looked comfortable running the offense in the second half.

The season starts for both teams next weekend when Northport travels to Smithtown West on Friday, Sept. 9 and Commack hosts Sachem North on the afternoon of Sept 10.