Uerda Zena and mom Barbara are all smiles while in the U.S. to repair the girl's heart defect Photo from Joe DeVincent
Simple but necessary medical procedures we receive in the United States are often something we take for granted, but they are miracles to many people around the globe.
Take, for instance, the case of 4-year-old Uerda Zena, a girl born in Kosovo with a heart defect. Rotary volunteers across Suffolk County and the North Shore recently brought her to this country through their Gift of Life program so she could receive a lifesaving heart operation. Uerda had a hole in her heart the size of a nickel, but the procedure to repair it was not available in her home country because the hospitals there do not have the resources to train their staff.
Uerda’s case is not an isolated one. Young children from developing and disadvantaged nations around the world, including in Eastern Europe, much of Africa and South America, do not have access in their home countries to medicine and surgical procedures they desperately need.
Several global organizations have made it their mission to provide procedures like the one performed on Uerda, but Americans tend to forget that those organizations are necessary at all. If an American child is born with a cleft lip or a detectable heart defect, it is fixed as soon as possible and without the child needing to trek hundreds of miles — or thousands, in the case of Uerda.
We should be grateful for all the lifesaving procedures we have at our fingertips. And maybe instead of spending some of our money on a discounted plasma screen television on Black Friday, we should donate to causes like Gift of Life.
Miller Place senior Allison Turturro sends the ball through midfield. Photo by Desirée Keegan
After going undefeated in League III with a 14-0 record, the Miller Place Panthers field hockey team continued to pounce on its opponents.
First, the No. 1-seeded team topped Comsewogue, 4-0, before beating out No. 2 Rocky Point, 1-0, for the Suffolk County Class B crown.
Following the matchup, the Panthers took on Class C’s No.1-ranked and Suffolk County champion Pierson/Bridgehampton, and edged out the opposition, 1-0, for the Small School champion title.
On Sunday, Miller Place traveled to Dowling College’s athletic complex in Shirley to take on Garden City in Long Island Class B championship.
Both goals were scored off of penalty strokes, despite sophomore goalkeeper Ally Tarantino making nine saves in goal.
‘We have parts of the plane and we also have the pilot, who is quite alive and kicking. The pilot is in Moscow and so are parts of the plane.’ — Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, 1960
By Rich Acritelli
It was a great time to be alive within American society during the 1950s and 1960s. Our nation defeated the fascist powers of Germany and Japan and was the strongest country to emerge from the fighting of World War II. These decades saw the growth of Levittown, Mickey Mantle hitting home runs, massive goods and services being consumed by our citizens and “Leave It to Beaver” and “The Honeymooners” on television.
While this nation enjoyed these positive times, the United States was engulfed in the Cold War. These concerns are depicted through Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks’ production of “Bridge of Spies.” Once again these two Hollywood icons have created a unique film that will not only be well perceived in movie theaters but will be used by future high school and college teachers to describe the impact of this epic conflict.
Directed by Spielberg, this movie does a masterful job of showing how our government functioned during those tumultuous years at home and abroad. Hanks portrays James B. Donovan, a New Yorkinsurance lawyer who was part of the prosecuting team that convicted the top Nazis at Nuremberg in 1945. He was also approached in 1957 by the government to provide a capable defense for Soviet spy Rudolph Abel, played by Mark Rylance, who was arrested with American military intelligence.
While he was apprehensive at first to take this case, he understood that even enemies of the state were entitled to due process. Through this part of “Bridge of Spies” Spielberg depicted how Donovan was able to see both sides of the Cold War through the Soviet perspective. This aspect becomes dominant within the film when Francis Gary Powers’ U-2 spy plane was shot down over communist territory in 1960. The creators of this movie supremely showed the paranoia that our Central Intelligence Agency held in training its pilots for the dangerous and secret operations that it conducted.
Powers, played by Austin Stowell, understood the gravity of the Cold War and accepted the risks inherent in taking high-altitude pictures of enemy troop movements and weaponry. When Powers was shot down, it presented a dilemma for our leadership, which did not want our pilot to be executed for espionage.
During and after his defense of Rudolph Abel, Donovan stressed the need for our government not to execute this spy and to treat him with some decency. Although these were humanitarian views, Donovan continued to counsel the government about the need to show fairness out of the fear that eventually one of our own spies would be caught by the enemy. Well, the movie shows how his assessment comes to fruition.
Allen Dulles, the head of the CIA, played by Peter McRobbie, pushed Donovan to travel to East Berlin to engineer an exchange of the Russian spy for Powers’ release from captivity. From a historical point of view, Spielberg produced the hysteria of the earliest moments when the communists erected the Berlin Wall. “Bridge of Spies” teaches the viewer how the communists tried to isolate the eastern part of Berlin from the western world, the chaos between these powers and the pressure that was placed on Powers to break under imprisonment.
Donovan was tasked with not only getting Powers back but also an American student who was caught behind the wall. With common sense, intelligence and poise, Donovan understood that this incident could have triggered a massive war between these two political and military foes.
The all-star cast also includes Alan Alda, Amy Ryan, Billy Magnussen, Michael Gaston, Domenick Lombardozzi and Eve Hewson.
Once again the combination of Spielberg and Hanks has made a film that will be respected by moviegoers that never get tired of watching this type of American history. It is possible that these two men could be one of the best teams to ever make movies of this magnitude. “Bridge of Spies” is a historic thriller that will continually show you how difficult the Cold War was to wage for our government and the serious national threats that were always present against our citizens during and after this time period.
‘Bridge of Spies,’ is now playing in local theaters. Rated PG-13.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower makes Veterans Day an official holiday. Photo in the public domain
By Rich Acritelli
Veterans Day is a time to remember all of our past, present and future members of the Armed Forces, but it was only about 60 years ago that President Dwight D. Eisenhower officially created the holiday we know today. Much happened on Nov. 11 even before it became a date of remembrance — there were significant losses and gains for our militaries during this month throughout history.
In the fall of 1776, Gen. George Washington was reeling from one loss after another that sent his army retreating from Long Island, Manhattan and across New Jersey toward Pennsylvania. It was a dark moment in the Revolutionary War for Washington to lose ground to the British, though he ultimately led the colonies to victory.
President George H.W. Bush rides in an armored jeep with Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. in Saudi Arabia, Nov. 22, 1990. Photo in the public domain
During the Civil War, in November 1863, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was summoned to Chattanooga, Tenn., to prevent a total collapse of Union forces against the Confederacy. As Grant headed into the beleaguered city, he saw northern forces terribly hurt from the nearby Battle of Chickamauga. President Abraham Lincoln sent 20,000 soldiers from the Army of the Potomac to aid the defensive and later offensive efforts of Grant to defeat the South in that region, and while the Confederates had been on the verge of gaining a huge victory, Grant opened up the “Cracker Line” to Chattanooga, with additional men, supplies and horses to deter the enemy. Grant’s calm and cool presence helped secure a much-needed victory for a thankful Lincoln, who saw the battle as one of the greatest tests of survival for the Union.
Eisenhower had his own recollections of this date through his experience leading the Allied Forces during World War II. As a new commanding general, he planned the mid-November 1942 allied landings of Operation Torch against the Germans and the Vichy French in North Africa. From Morocco to Algeria, untested American military troops drove to destroy the war machine of Germany. The chainsmoking Eisenhower eagerly waited in Gibraltar for news that his men had achieved all of their objectives against the enemy. Two years later, in the fall of 1944, Eisenhower looked eastward as his forces operated on a broad front against the Nazis in France. By that time, his armies were nearing the German frontier with the belief that their bitter enemy was about to surrender. Little did he know that Hitler was planning a final December offensive, which would later be called the Battle of the Bulge, to drive a wedge against the Allies on the Western Front.
In 1990, President George H.W. Bush led the American efforts to destroy the strength of Saddam Hussein. That dictator had invaded Kuwait and was poised to attack Saudi Arabia, but the U.S. aimed to protect the Saudis through Desert Shield. Two weeks after Veterans Day, Bush was eating Thanksgiving dinner in the desert with the American military forces that eventually led the fighting into Iraq and Kuwait to defeat Hussein’s Republican Guard army.
Over the last 15 years, the United States has been in a constant state of warfare against aggressor and terrorist forces. From the deserts of Iraq to the mountains of Afghanistan, American service members from across the country have tirelessly fought against an enemy bent on hurting our way of life. Currently, this mission has expanded over the skies of Northern Iraq and Syria to limit the growing expansion and influence of ISIS.
Americans should not neglect the “Forgotten War” veterans of the Korean conflict who bitterly fought against the communists during that Cold War battle, nor the Vietnam War veterans who honorably served for a decade in that Southeast Asian country.
May we always remember and honor our veterans from every American conflict, on Veterans Day and throughout the year.
Rich Acritelli is a social studies teacher at Rocky Point High School and an adjunct professor of American history at Suffolk County Community College. He was a staff sergeant in the New York Air National Guard 106th Rescue Wing in Westhampton Beach.
‘Woman and Dog’ by Marisol, 1964
Image from Philip F. Palmedo
By Elizabeth Kahn Kaplan
Just a few weeks ago, the Museum of Modern Art opened its exhibit, Picasso Sculpture, to critical acclaim. The exhibit is so chock full of fascinating objects that it can be daunting to take them all in properly, and so it is fortunate that Philip F. Palmedo’s latest book has appeared, just in time to guide us. The book can help even a newbie to understand, appreciate and delight in modern sculpture, not only by Pablo Picasso but by 93 other sculptors who expanded the boundaries of what is considered great art.
Enriched by 155 illustrations, and satisfactorily printed on thick glossy stock, ‘The Experience of Modern Sculpture: A Guide to Enjoying Works of the Past 100 Years’ makes a joyous introduction to the subject, with informative, user-friendly notes. It is also, with its carefully chosen bibliography, a worthy addition to the bookshelves of art historians.
Palmedo, a resident of Head of the Harbor, seamlessly achieves his objective, which is to enrich the experience of modern sculpture, “particularly for those who have found it uninteresting, mute, or simply baffling.” He guides a willing learner to experience a work’s power, originality, and, often, humor, by absorbing the artist’s purpose in its creation. We are encouraged to dismiss previously held intellectual distinctions of what is art. Palmedo believes, “The appreciation of sculpture is first of all a visual and sensuous affair. It is the encounter and the experience that are important.”
Constantin Brancusi’s graceful “Bird in Space “(“L’Oiseau dans l’espace”), 1932–1940, is a case in point. A commanding presence of polished brass, almost 5 feet tall, it evokes the thrill we experience when a bird celebrates its freedom in flight; we need no artist to sculpt its wings or beak to confirm its identity.
As the 20th century progressed, sculptors began to appropriate materials that were either previously unavailable or simply not considered for use in the past. In 1909, when Picasso first transitioned within cubism from painting to sculpture, he chose bronze for the head of his mistress and muse, “Woman’s Head (Fernande).” “Contrast this with his 1942 ‘Bull’s Head’ — an assemblage of the leather seat and metal handles of a bicycle.
“No matter that the bull has an unusually pointy snout; we recognize it immediately because of its gently curved, symmetrical horns,” Palmedo writes. “The two aspects of the sculpture — the simple, familiar objects, and the form of the bull — seem to first oscillate in our consciousness and then coexist. A simple and captivating magic trick is performed before our eyes.
“You often wonder, looking at a piece of abstract sculpture, whether you are feeling what the artist intended you to feel, whether you are getting it. When you get the joke . . . in Picasso’s ‘Bull’s Head,’ you have the pleasure of knowing you are indeed connecting with the artist’s intent. You are getting it — as long as you don’t think that the joke is everything.” Both of these works are included in Picasso Sculpture at MoMA.
Another work that incorporates unusual materials along with a dose of humor was created in 1964 by Marisol — one of 15 women artists whose work is recognized in this book. Her life-size “Women and Dog,” in which the four women are said to be self-portraits, is on exhibit at the new home of the Whitney Museum of Art, and incorporates wood, plaster, synthetic polymer, a taxidermic dog head and miscellaneous items.
Palmedo likens a perfectly balanced abstract sculpture to a great musical composition. In Anthony Caro’s complex construction of bright yellow-painted steel “Fanshoal,” 1971–1972, Palmedo senses that any alteration of the relationship between the disparate parts would lessen the perfection of the whole. He likens it to a Bach partita that contains no superfluous note.
Another work, created in homage to a master of musical composition, is Kenneth Snelson’s “Mozart I,” in stainless steel, 1981–1982. Palmedo sees Snelson’s act of creating a work of art as very similar to composing music, in its clarity, lyricism and rigor of composition.
“Swing Dance,” fabricated bronze, 2005 by Bill Barrett
The movement of dance and music has inspired many sculptors past and present. Bill Barrett’s “Swing Dance,” 2005, of fabricated bronze, captures the vitality of a couple swept up in the music and rhythm of a boogie beat. “Capturing evanescent movement in bronze is no mean feat,” writes Palmedo, who pays tribute to Barrett’s distilled, subconscious sense of grace and melodic line.
Lin Emery’s sculpture, “Sunflower of 2009,” photographed here in motion, underscores her fascination with movement. Early in her career she used flowing water as the motive force for kinetic metal sculptures. In later works such as this, ball bearings create delicately balanced works moved by the wind. Polished aluminum surfaces resembling parts of the flower reflect the changing colors of clouds and sky, and we respond as we do to the beauties of nature. The skill of an engineer is required to achieve a kinetic work, a balancing act between beauty and the machine.
The pleasure that Palmedo derives from art in all its manifestations is a defining characteristic of his persona. He writes, “There are times looking at a sculpture when I am profoundly struck by the absolute perfection of the relationship between all of its elements and for a brief moment I experience something as close to joy that a physical object can grant.” This magnificent book brings the willing reader into that delightful state.
Palmedo will be speaking and signing copies of his book at The Long Island Museum, 1200 Route 25A, Stony Brook on Friday, Nov. 20, at 5 p.m. The book may also be purchased from the publisher, Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., the gift shop of The Long Island Museum, and at Amazon.com.
In 2013, South African cave explorers were told of a chamber with what looked like human bones in the Rising Star Cave system in South Africa. The Sotho language uses “naledi” for its word for a star. When a preliminary examination of some of the bones revealed this was a new species of humans, the formal species name naledi was attached to the genus name to give us Homo naledi.
Over the next two years, three areas within the chamber were excavated, yielding 1,413 bones or bone fragments, 137 isolated teeth, and 53 jawbones with teeth. They belong to 15 different individuals, all of the same species, H. naledi.
Their brain size is about that of human ancestors who lived two to four million years ago. Their hands and feet are more human-like than ape-like. Their teeth are remarkably human-like. Their torso, shoulders and pelvis, however, are chimpanzee-like. They were small (four to five feet tall) and, most remarkably, they set aside their dead in a special chamber in the cave. Until this find, no other animal but our own species, Homo sapiens, has been known to provide a special resting place for the dead.
The digging will continue over the next few years, and many more (perhaps dozens) of fossil members of this species will be uncovered and analyzed. It is rare to have human fossils in such abundance. Where these humans fit in the many branched human, ape and monkey family tree will be worked out as these bones are studied by paleontologists and anthropologists in the years to come.
I look forward to the associated findings that will be explored in the cave and in a careful study of the many bones available.
For those who like the scientific description of a human, we are of the order Primates, the suborder Anthropoides, the superfamily Hominoidea, the family Hominidae, the tribeHominini, the genus Homo and the species sapiens. Replace that last word with naledi and you see how close we are despite being separated, in all likelihood, by some two to four million years.
It has been satisfying to see the many new fossil humans, apes and related ancestors over the four generations I have lived and to reflect on how the ancestral connections are emerging. It is a story that will continue with more surprises as paleontologists continue exploring the places where humans have resided in the distant past.
Pessimists will see the extinction of humans from natural catastrophes, from human neglect of the world we live in or from alien or supernatural invasion. But four million years have passed and yet another connection to that past is revealed. If the average species runs about two million years, our species, Homo sapiens, has a long way to go before it is just a fossil memory.
Elof Axel Carlson is a distinguished teaching professor emeritus in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Stony Brook University.
The Huntington football team lines up against North Babylon. Photo from Huntington school district
Huntington’s football team never really got started last Saturday at North Babylon. The Blue Devils struggled throughout the Suffolk Division II quarterfinal round game, ultimately falling to the Bulldogs 36-7 before a crowd of 750.
Huntington’s vaunted ground game was ineffective for most of the contest. The Blue Devils were able to move the ball through their air attack, but were unable to mount sustained drives.
North Babylon (7-2) put the first points on the scoreboard on a 10-yard touchdown pass and later extended its lead to 14-0 before Huntington responded with a 36-yard touchdown from Blue Devils quarterback Will Wright to Jared Leake to cut the deficit to 14-7.
The Bulldogs scored again before halftime to extend their advantage to 22-7. The teams battled through a scoreless third quarter before North Babylon found the end zone two more times in the final frame.
“North Babylon is a well-coached team and they executed their game plan successfully,” Huntington head coach Steve Muller said. “They did what they had to do in order to win the game.”
Huntington (5-4) enjoyed a handful of big plays, but was never able to capitalize on any of them and gain any momentum. After their only touchdown of the game, the Blue Devils recovered a North Babylon fumble on the ensuing kickoff, but the team’s drive fell flat.
Play was stopped in the fourth quarter after some on-field fisticuffs, but when order was restored, both teams played hard until the final whistle.
The loss ended Huntington’s season. North Babylon will now advance to the county semi-finals, where the team will play No. 1 Newfield.
The Ward Melville field hockey team poses for a group photo after claiming the Long Island Class A championship. Photo by Bruce Larrabee
The Ward Melville field hockey team blanked Massapequa 5-0 to win the Long Island Class A title Sunday at Dowling College’s athletic complex.
Sophomore forward Kerri Thornton started off the scoring five minutes into the game, and junior forward Kassidy Rogers-Healion tacked on four second-half goals to propel the Patriots to the win.
Ward Melville will face Shenendehowa in a Class A state semifinal Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Maine-Endwell High in Endwell, a suburb of Binghamton.
Northport running back Rob Dosch makes his way upfield while he carries Sachem North defenders in the Tigers' 29-22 homecoming win over the Flaming Arrows on Sept. 19. Photo by Bill Landon
By Miguel Bustamante
Northport school district is enacting stricter rules for handling student-athletes with concussions.
School board members were informed of new procedures for kids returning to athletics after those injuries during their meeting on Nov. 5, using guidance from New York State regulations.
Northport running back Rob Dosch makes his way upfield while he carries Sachem North defenders in the Tigers’ 29-22 homecoming win over the Flaming Arrows on Sept. 19. Photo by Bill Landon
Paul Klimuszko, Northport-East Northport’s director of physical education, athletics and health, and Cynthia Fitzgerald, director of student support services, made a presentation to the board outlining the new procedures to follow if a student has a concussion.
“A concussion is an injury that changes the ways the cells in our brain function,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s important to understand that a concussion is a brain injury, and can occur in any sport.”
According to Fitzgerald, there are between 70 and 90 concussions in the district every year, including at the middle and high school levels.
The two administrators laid out the “return to play” regulations, which are used across the country and require students to complete a five-stage observational test before full re-entry into school-sponsored physical activities.
The five stages include light to moderate aerobic exercises observed by the school nurse and/or an athletic trainer; a non-contact gym class participation period; and a full-contact gym class participation period. A school district physician must clear the concussed students before he or she can be fully reintegrated into school athletics.
The presentation followed a previous district discussion about student safety in school athletics. That subject has been a hot topic over the last few years, but particularly since Tom Cutinella, a high school football player from Shoreham-Wading River, died after taking a big hit in a game against John Glenn High School in Elwood last year. School districts across Long Island have been making changes to their concussion responses following Cutinella’s death, and there have been new directions from the state on the matter.
Northport-East Northport Superintendent Robert Banzer. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
New York State’s Concussion Management and Awareness Act of 2011 requires local school boards to develop and promote concussion management policies. According to the act, children and adolescents are more susceptible to concussions and take longer than adults to fully recover.
“Therefore, it is imperative that any student suspected of having sustained a concussion be immediately removed from athletic activity … until evaluated and cleared to return to athletic activity by a physician,” the act said.
Northport school officials don’t take concussions lightly, Klimuszko said.
“The athletic office ensures that all coaches are educated in the nature and risk of concussions and concussion-related injuries.”
Elijah Riley scores three times, Denzel Williams scores twice in the Wolverines' 54-6 victory
Newfield senior quarterback Ryan Klemm cuts up the middle following blocker Isaiah Israel, a junior linebacker, in the Wolverines' 54-6 Division II qualifying round win over Deer Park on Nov. 6. Photo by Bill Landon
By Bill Landon
Earning the No. 1 seed in Division II after finishing the regular season with a perfect 8-0 record, the Newfield football team hosted No. 8 Deer Park in the qualifying round of playoffs Friday, where the Wolverines ended the Falcons’ season with a 54-6 blowout to advance to the next round.
Newfield senior defensive lineman Dylan Ferrari sacks the Deer Park quarterback in the Wolverines’ 54-6 Division II qualifying round win over Deer Park on Nov. 6. Photo by Bill Landon
Newfield edged closer to a score when junior linebacker Isaiah Israel recovered a Deer Park fumble, putting the Wolverines deep into Falcons territory. On the next play from scrimmage, Newfield senior quarterback Ryan Klemm tossed the ball to classmate Elijah Riley, a wide receiver, who cut up the field and flew into the end zone. On a bad snap, the point-after attempt failed and the Wolverines settled for a 6-0 lead.
The Falcons struggled to move the chains and went for the down on fourth-and-15, but didn’t come close, as the Wolverines took over on downs. On the next play, Klemm dropped back and threw deep down the left sideline to senior wide receiver Jelani Greene, who caught the ball in stride and strolled into the end zone untouched. With a successful two-point conversion, Newfield extended its lead, 14-0.
Greene said his team prepared for the playoff game like any other.
“We came out and did what we usually do — what we had to do,” Greene said. ”In practice, just like all season, we have the same mindset that we come out and put points on the board, and at the same time prevent them from putting points on the board.”
Unable to mount much of an offensive effort, Deer Park handed the ball back to Newfield and the team got back to work. This time, Klemm took matters into his own hands as he followed his blockers up the middle of the field, broke free from the crowd and found the end zone for six more points. With the point after, the Wolverines surged ahead, 21-0, with a minute left in the first quarter.
“We went about [tonight’s game] like we did for the first eight games,” Klemm said. “It was the next game up so we did the same thing we do every other week.”
Newfield senior tailback Denzel Williams runs down the sideline for the score in the Wolverines’ 54-6 Division II qualifying round win over Deer Park on Nov. 6. Photo by Bill Landon
Deer Park threatened on the opening drive of the second quarter, choosing to go for it on fourth down, but Newfield’s swarming defense stood tall with a big stop and again the offensive unit got down to business. With just over six minutes left in the half, senior tailback Denzel Williams got the call on a pitchout from Klemm. Williams, a sprinter for the Middle Country track team, took off like it was the 100-yard dash and no defender came close. With the point after successful, the Wolverines jumped out in front 28-0.
Williams said he knew his team was up for the task heading into the game.
“We gave it our all, but we know that any team can beat us, so we stay humble,” Williams said. “We just do what we do from here on out and our goal is the championship.”
Deer Park halted the Newfield scoring fest on the ensuing kickoff, where the team narrowly escaped a diving defender and stumbled into the end zone to break the ice.
“They’re an aggressive team and they come after you,” Newfield head coach Joe Piccininni said. “They’re tough kids, and they don’t stop.”
Deer Park lined up for the two-point conversion, but again the Wolverines’ defensive unit said “no,” and the Falcons trailed 28-6.
Klemm and Riley hooked up again for the next score, but this time, Riley cut to the outside on a pass play, where he went the distance for his second touchdown of the night.
“Everybody did a fantastic job,” Riley said. “The defensive line did a great job of getting [Deer Park’s] quarterback and our linebackers did an even better job filling [the holes]. We had good secondary pressure coming from the outside.”
The point-after attempt missed, and Newfield pressed ahead 34-6.
Newfield senior wide receiver Elijah Riley goes the distance for the touchdown, one of his three in the game, to help the Wolverines outscore Deer Park 54-6 in the qualifying round of the Division II playoffs on Nov. 6. Photo by Bill Landon
Deer Park was unable to find the scoreboard again, and before Newfield flushed its bench, Williams looked for a hole up the middle, and finding nothing, broke to the outside and again did what he does best, sprinting ahead to leave would-be tacklers in his dust as he made his way into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game. With the extra point good, the Wolverines took a 41-6 advantage into the halftime break.
On the first play from scrimmage, Riley helped put the game out of reach when he bolted down the left sideline, leaving Deer Park defenders behind as he broke into the end zone for his third touchdown of the contest. The Newfield avalanche was on, and after Piccininni swapped in his bench players, junior quarterback Joe Reyes took over under center, and pitched the ball to the junior running back Maximillion Mastroianni, who stayed half a step ahead of three would-be Deer Park defenders, and outran the pack to find the end zone to add salt to the Falcons’ wounds. Newfield lined up for what looked like a two-point conversion, but took a knee to arrest the scoring fest ahead 54-6.
With the win, Newfield advances to the next round where the team will host No. 4 North Babylon on Saturday at 1 p.m., in their quest for the Suffolk County championship.
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