TBR News Media’s reporter Daniel Dunaief spoke with Shawn Heilbron, athletic director at Stony Brook University the day before the 2024 Homecoming Game. In a wide ranging statement interview, Heilbronn discussed how student athlete GPA has improved to 3.24 from 3.06 a decade ago.
To listen to the interview click here.
Huntington Town Councilman Salvatore Ferro has announced the collaboration between his office and Town Director of Minority Affairs Kevin Thorbourne for the third annual Supermarket Food Drive.
This community-driven event will take place for Harborfields, Huntington, and John Glenn high schools on Sunday, October 27 from noon to 4 p.m. and for Northport on Sunday, November 10 from noon to 4 and will bring together local high school football teams to raise hunger awareness and support local food pantries.
The Supermarket Food Drive will feature a friendly competition among several football teams from high schools across the Town of Huntington.
These teams will be collecting non-perishable food items outside the following locations:
Councilman Ferro emphasized the significance of the different football teams coming together to give back to the community, stating, “The Supermarket Food Drive embodies the strength of our community spirit. I’m proud of our local high school football teams for their commitment to supporting those in need within our community. This event showcases the unity and compassion that define our town.”
Residents are encouraged to join Councilman Ferro, Director Thorbourne, and the high school football participants on Sunday, October 27, for Harborfields, John Glenn, and Huntington Football Teams and on Sunday, November 10 for the Northport Football Team to donate non-perishable food items and help make a positive impact on the lives of those facing food insecurity in Huntington. For more information, call 631-351-3175.
By Steven Zaitz
Northport High School broke out their new uniforms on homecoming, this past Saturday, and then broke out the whoopin’ stick on Deer Park, blanking the Falcons 49-0, in front of packed house at Northport Tiger Stadium. Northport improves to 4-2 on the season, and Deer Park remains winless at 0-6.
From midfield and sporting a new camo-tinged, navy and butterscotch uniform, Tiger junior running back Grayson Cabrera scored on the first offensive play from scrimmage, which gave Northport a 6-0 lead. Northport scored a safety when they bungled a punt for another two points, and junior Luke Loiacono returned the free kick 71 yards for a touchdown. Northport had a 15-0 lead after just four minutes of play. It was much of the same for the rest of the game.
Cabrera added a touchdown on a 39-yard pass from QB Enrique Hernandez to start the second quarter and Loiacono zig-zaged his way to the end zone, for 47 yards to give the Tigers a 36-0 six minutes, before halftime. Senior fullback Jesse Castillo blasted his way in from five yards away to put a cap on the half. Northport led 43-0.
After a gala halftime show, starring the famous Tiger Marching Band, Tigerettes, the Flagline and varsity cheer, Northport inserted junior Simon Blissett. He scored on a brilliant 49 yard bootleg midway through the fourth quarter. Perhaps the only blemish on this sun-drenched day, from a Northport perspective, was the missed point after touchdown, which would have given the Tigers an even fifty.
The defense for Northport, led by linebacker Reid Johansen, allowed only 102 yards of Falcon offense on the day. Johansen had 10 tackles, and defensive tackle, Gio Valenti, had six.
For Northport, the celebratory vibe will have faded upon hitting the practice field on Monday, as they will now prepare for the undefeated East Islip Redmen, who are ranked number one in Newsday’s power rankings.
East Islip is undefeaded at 6-0 and have outscored opponents 240-42, and most recently, defeated 2023 Suffolk County Conference II champions North Babylon, 42-7.
The Redmen are led by QB Thomas Costarelli and running back Ryan Parker, who has scored 14 touchdowns so far this year.
The game will be at East Islip on Friday Oct. 25 at 6 p.m.
By Bill Landon
The Comsewogue Warriors had their hands full when the Bonackers of East Hampton came calling in a Division II contest Saturday afternoon, Oct. 19.
East Hampton scored two unanswered goals in the first half before Gabrielle Sohngen broke the ice for the Warriors to trail 2-1 at the halftime break. The Bonackers countered in the third quarter scoring the insurance goal to lead by two at 3-1.
Warrior Allison Colmer’s stick spoke next when she rocked the box in the middle of the 3rd to make the score 3-2.
The Comsewogue sticks fell silent the rest of the way, with the Warriors falling to East Hampton 4-2.
Grace Peyman had 12 stops in the box for the Warriors.
Comsewogue hosted Bayport-Blue Point Monday, Oct. 21, but lost 1-0. The Warriors now have a 6-10 league record.
— Photos by Bill Landon
Tyler Knoop threw for a career-high 387 yards and broke the program record with six passing touchdowns, while Roland Dempster put up 103 yards on the ground as the Stony Brook football team dominated Towson, 52-24, on the road on Oct. 19.
The Seawolves improved to 5-2 on the year and 2-1 in CAA play, while the Tigers fell to 3-4 and 1-2.
Jasiah Williams pulled in nine catches for 92 yards and three scores. Jayce Freeman made his presence felt in the passing game, recording five receptions for 91 yards and two touchdowns.
Rushawn Lawrence paced the Stony Brook defensive effort, collecting three tackles, 2.0 TFL, two sacks, and two forced fumbles. Kris Caine added four tackles, 1.0 TFL, and one recovered fumble and Chayce Chalmers had six tackles, 0.5 TFL, and one recovered fumble in the win.
The Seawolves won the turnover battle in Saturday’s game, forcing three turnovers while avoiding any giveways, with Stony Brook turning those takeaways into 10 points. The defense also held the Towson passing attack to just 158 yards in the air.
Stony Brook dominated offensively, racking up 512 total yards, 125 on the ground and 387 through the air, while averaging 6.4 yards per play and out-gaining Towson. The Stony Brook offense was prolonging drives consistently, converting on 50 percent of third-down attempts. The Seawolves also went 2-for-3 on fourth down. In the red zone, Stony brook scored six times on six trips inside Towson’s 20-yard line, picking up touchdowns on five of those trips.
“Proud of our team’s performance today,” head coach Billy Cosh said. “I was really proud of the offense and how we played today. We were waiting for this for a while. The pass game came alive and I thought Tyler and our receiving core played outstanding. Our defense created takeaways, which was huge. I was proud of our response, we were down seven, they could have easily cashed it in but we kept competing. We’ve got a lot more ball left, we gotta keep getting better.”
Up next, the team heads back to Long Island for their next battle as they host William & Mary for Homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 26. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. and the contest will air live on SNY and stream live on FloFootball.
To purchase season, single game, mini plans or group tickets, call 631-632-WOLF (9653) or email [email protected].
Stony Brook women’s soccer got a pair of goals from Reilly Rich in a 3-0 shutout victory over UNCW on senior day on Oct. 20 at LaValle Stadium. The Seawolves earned their sixth straight result and clinched CAA postseason berth with Sunday’s victory.
Stony Brook grabbed a 1-0 lead when Rich scored her fifth goal of the season, via a penalty kick, in the 37th minute. After a Seawolf was taken down in the box, Stony Brook was awarded the PK, which Rich buried on the left side of the goal.
The Seawolves added another score on a goal from Rich, this time after her shot deflected off a Seahawks’ defender, in the 46th minute. Mercy Sabuni Soderling and Emanuelly Ferreira assisted on Rich’s second goal of the match.
Stony Brook went up 3-0 on Linn Beck’s 61st-minute goal, her seventh of the season. Aneta Sovakova assisted on the goal, feeding a perfect pass from the corner that Beck headed home to the far side of the net.
Nicolette Pasquarella made five saves, including a pair of highlight-reel stops to keep UNCW off the board entirely and pick up her 10th win of the season.
“Happy with the overall performance today. We scored the first goal at the right time, just before half, that gave us the security and belief for the second half,” head coach Tobias Bischof noted postgame. “I thought we played a very clean game, created some good scoring opportunities and scored our goals at the right time.”
By Bill Landon
It was the final edition of the Patriot Run to honor the legacy of Thomas Cutinella, who tragically lost his life following a head injury sustained on a varsity football field Oct. 1, 2014.
Thomas’ football jersey No. 54 has since been retired and the Shoreham-Wading River Wildcat Athletic Club, which sponsors the event, established the race distance at 2.54 miles in his memory.
The finale was held Sunday morning, Oct. 20, at Wildwood State Park in Wading River. The runners were met with mild temperatures and brilliant sunshine, and were treated to a barbecue after the race.
The fundraising event raises money for the Thomas Cutinella Memorial Foundation, whose mission is to improve awareness of football-related head injuries, stress the importance of being an organ donor and keep Thomas’ legacy alive.
The foundation awards scholarships to local area students who exhibit characteristics of kindness, modesty and selflessness, as well as a genuine concern for improving the condition of the community at large.
For more information visit www.tom54.org.
By Bill Landon
The Patriots of Ward Melville girls soccer team came calling on Sachem East Saturday morning, Oct. 19, with an unblemished League II record 6-0 looking to stay atop the leaderboard just ahead of their opponents, but the Flaming Arrows at 5-1-1 wouldn’t make it easy.
Ward Melville forward Adriana Victoriano broke the ice for the Patriots at the 16-minute mark of first half when she rifled a shot to the back of the net. The lead would not last long when a minute later Sachem East countered to make it 1-1.
Sachem East struck again halfway through the second half, courtesy of a corner kick to take a 2-1 lead, before Victoriano struck again six minutes later to retie the game. Victoriano scored in the closing minutes of the game for a notable hat trick as the Patriots secured a narrow 3-2 victory.
Ward Melville goalkeeper Kate Ronzoni notched four saves.
— Photos by Bill Landon
The Stony Brook football team earned a spot in the AFCA Coaches Top-25 Poll for the first time since 2019 as the organization announced the Seawolves at No. 24 on Oct. 21.
The Seawolves have tallied votes from the AFCA poll for the last seven weeks and have been recognized on the Stats Perform list for the last six weeks. They have also received votes in the CBS Sports FCS Top-25 poll this season.
In their last time out, Tyler Knoop threw for a career-high 387 yards and broke the program record with six passing touchdowns, while Roland Dempster put up 103 yards on the ground as Stony Brook dominated Towson, 52-24, on the road on Oct. 19.
The Seawolves head back to Long Island for their next battle as they host No. 15 William & Mary for Homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 26th. The Seawolves are 1-4 all-time against the Tribe and are looking for their first victory over W&M at LaValle Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. and the contest will air live on SNY and stream live on FloFootball.
To purchase season, single game, mini plans or group tickets, click here or call 631-632-WOLF (9653) or email [email protected].
For an inside look at the Seawolves football program, be sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
By Bill Landon
It would be the foot of Dan Jurgens, the place-kicker for Center Moriches, that would decide the game when Shoreham-Wading River came calling, snatching victory from the Wildcats to win 17-14 Friday afternoon, Oct. 11.
Deadlocked at 14-14 from the middle of the third quarter, Shoreham-Wading River mounted a late-game surge only to be stopped 2 yards from the end zone where the Red Devils took over on downs. Center Moriches, with a ground-and-pound offensive running game, mounted an eight-minute drive moving the chains bleeding out the clock, and called time-out at the 19-yard line with two seconds left in regulation. Jurgens split the uprights for the 29-yard field goal for the Red Devils win as time expired.
The victory lifts Center Moriches to 3-2 in Division IV, while the Wildcats drop to 3-2.
— Photos by Bill Landon
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