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D. None of the Above: Long day’s journey through the pandemic

by Daniel Dunaief - November 2, 2022

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covid-19-gba8aa1f0e_1920 — Pixabay photo

By Daniel Dunaief

I’ve been on a long journey that’s taken me around the world for more than two and a half years. Many hosts have provided for me, enabling me to grow and, in some cases, make changes.

I don’t recall the beginning. The first host I remember was an incredibly kind doctor. She spent countless hours caring for others, looking into their eyes, assuring them she would do everything she could for them.

She was so focused on helping others that she didn’t even know she was hosting me. I stayed quiet just long enough to make the jump to a famous American actor who was working in Australia.

He and his wife didn’t enjoy their time with me. They warned the world about me and my extended family.

My next host was a businessman. He had been in a hospital with his son, who had a broken leg. The businessman stayed in the waiting room for hours, trying to do his work but unable to focus because he was so concerned about his boy.

Finally, after hours of surgery, the doctor came out to talk to him and that’s when I found a new host.

This businessman worked hard. Once he discovered his son was safe, he ignored me and my needs.

I developed without anyone noticing me. At one point, I heard someone come looking for me, but I hid just far enough away. I traveled a great distance on a plane with him. Once we were in a new country, I had so many choices.

Realizing it was time to go, I jumped to an elderly bus driver. He was a gentle man. The lighter laugh lines near his eyes looked like waves approaching the shore on his dark chocolate skin.

Before he collapsed into bed the second evening we were together, he seemed to be staring directly at me. In his house, I had a choice of other possible hosts, but decided to hitch a ride with his son.

That one almost cost me my life. His son soon realized I was there, and he stayed away from everyone. I was curled up alone with him. He barely moved for long periods of time, except when he coughed or sat up and sent text messages and emails. One night, when he was finally sleeping, a man came into his room to clean it. That’s when I escaped.

This man didn’t even know he hosted me. He wasn’t stuck in bed, and he didn’t cough. I traveled with him to several events. After other trips, I found an important politician. We took a ride in a helicopter and went to a hospital where doctors provided all kinds of new medicines.

I became like a game of telephone, passing along from one person to the next. And, like a game of telephone, the message changed, as I demanded different things from my host.

I found myself at a concert with a young woman who sang and danced for hours. She looked so vibrant and full of life.

She was a friendly enough host, until I set up camp with her mother. Then, she shouted at me, praying to keep me away. She took me to a hotel, where she seemed to stare at me while she prayed.

When someone delivered food and walked in the room to wait for payment, I made the jump to him. During the day, he was a student with a full and busy life. I didn’t stay long, moving on to his girlfriend, her roommate, and, eventually, to a professor.

I stayed with the professor for over a week. She spent considerable time grading papers, writing at her computer, talking to family members, and taking medicine.

I have made some changes along the way. I don’t travel with as much baggage as I used to. I know people think I’m not as much of a burden as I was in the early days. My most recent host would disagree. He couldn’t talk, had trouble sleeping and was exhausted all the time. I’m getting ready to travel the world again this fall and winter. You can ignore me all you want, but I’m still here, making changes and preparing to find more hosts.

Smithtown West boys soccer on to finals after shootout win

by Steven Zaitz - November 2, 2022

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In a bitterly fought match that went scoreless for 100 minutes of regulation and overtime, the Smithtown West Bulls beat the Northport Tigers, 1-0, in the Suffolk County boys soccer semifinal on Monday. The game was decided by penalty kicks — the last of which coming from a surprising source.

In a game that saw five yellow cards and countless hard tackles and collisions, West goalkeeper Landon Schneider came out of his net, where he played brilliantly the entire match, to score the game-winning penalty kick. After five successful penalty kicks by both teams, Northport missed on its sixth attempt.

Having been replaced in goal for the penalty kicks by backup Brendan Madden, Schneider stepped in for the sixth and game-winning kick and calmly drilled it into the left side of the net.

Schneider and Northport goalkeeper Tommy Pace both made a number of acrobatic saves, but none was better than Schneider’s save of Richie Bender’s point-blank blast in the 95th minute that would have been a sudden-death victory for Northport.

Smithtown West (12-4-1) will now battle Connetquot (14-2-3) for the Suffolk AA Championship on Thursday Night at Comsewogue High School. Northport finished 12-6-1 on the year.

Northport field hockey wins county

by Steven Zaitz - November 1, 2022

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The Northport Lady Tiger field hockey team members are the Suffolk County Class A Champions for the third year in a row.

They beat the Ward Melville Patriots, 5-1, on Saturday at neutral site Newfield High School in Selden. It was the third time Northport has beaten Ward Melville to win the County Crown.

Superstar Olivia McKenna scored four goals, and her twin sister Natalie McKenna made eight saves to lead the Northport, who will play for the Long Island championship against Massapequa on Nov. 2 against Massapequa in a rematch of the 2021 L.I.C.

Charley Mason scored for the Patriots, who finished the season, 17-2 with both losses coming at the hands of Northport. The Lady Tigers remain undefeated in 2022 and have won 51 straight games, dating back to March 2021.

Happy Halloween from TBR News Media!

by TBR Staff - October 31, 2022

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Witch-ing you a spook-tacular and fang-tastic Halloween!

— Your friends at TBR News Media

Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum to host new Whale Boat Chats

by Tara Mae - October 31, 2022

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Whaleboat Chats — This 19th century whaleboat is the star of the The Whaling Museum's permanent collection.

An insight into Long Island’s nautical past

By Tara Mae

It’s a whale of a tale! Beginning in November, The Whaling Museum and Education Center of Cold Spring Harbor will host new monthly Whale Boat Chats chronicling the history of whaling on Long Island.

Generally 20 to 30 minutes long, the interactive discussions are metaphorically and physically centered around a historic 19th century whale boat. Led by Admissions Associate Gerard Crosson, the talks are guided by question and answer segments and incorporate whaling artifacts for the public to see and touch such as a 19th century iron harpoon, scrimshaw, and blubber encased in a jar.

“We are excited to offer this new opportunity to engage with the museum’s exhibits! Visitors will learn the significance of this whaleboat and how it is tied to our local maritime history. We invite the community to come, stand around the boat and imagine what it was like to be out at sea chasing a creature larger than the boat you’re chasing it in,” said Assistant Director of The Whaling Museum Gina Van Bell.

The program was formed around the whaleboat, the foundational item of the museum’s permanent collection. It belonged to the 19th century New Bedford whaling ship Daisy, which during its long career sailed from many ports and harbors, including that of Setauket in 1872.

Like many whaling ships, Daisy’s use was multi-faceted: after many Yankee whaling trips and at least one international journey, it was repurposed as a cargo ship during World War I and sank circa 1914.

American use of whaling ships during warfare dates back to at least the Revolutionary War, when they surreptitiously sailed between Patriot controlled Connecticut and British-occupied Long Island, delivering messages, etc.

“They were used in guerrilla warfare. Fierce hand to hand combat happened in whaling ships. They were very useful, very seaworthy,” said Nomi Dayan. Executive Director of The Whaling Museum.

For decades, the Daisy whaleboat proved to be profitably versatile. During her most famous excursion, Long Island ornithologist Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy used the whaleboat on an exploratory voyage to Antarctica in 1912, commissioned by the American Museum of Natural History to study birds and bring back specimens.

A dedicated diarist, Murphy, who was fascinated by all he witnessed on the voyage and intrigued by Yankee whaling, kept a detailed record of the journey. He later published Logbook for Grace: Whaling brig Daisy, 1912-1913 about the sojourn. Murphy’s photos from the trip are part of the Whaling Museum’s collection.

“He was one of the best scientists to come out of Long Island…Murphy ended up documenting whales and whaling in a way that no one had before,” Dayan said.

So enamored was he with the experience, that Murphy purchased the whaleboat for the Brooklyn Museum in the 1910s. After the museum rejected his gift, he offered it to the American Museum of Natural History, which also declined to accept it. The whaleboat then hibernated under a tarp on a friend’s front lawn until Murphy and his friends generated enough support and funds to build it a home of its own: The Whaling Museum of Cold Spring Harbor.

“The community came together to build the museum around the whaleboat. It is a key part of maritime heritage,” Dayan added.

Established in 1936, the museum opened its doors in 1942. The museum currently has 6000 object and archival items in its holdings including whaling tools, products, and even art.

“We have one of the best scrimshaw collections in the northeast. People can see beautiful examples of what men carved at sea during the hours, weeks, months, years, of boredom,” Dayan said.

As one of the three original whaling ports on Long Island, Cold Spring Harbor maintains a buoyant connection to its maritime heritage. Whaling was one of the area’s most important sources of commerce, facilitating economic and social growth while making Cold Spring Harbor somewhat of an industrial hub.

Whaling was fairly steady, if inherently risky, work. Voyages were long and frequently fraught. Whalers could lose their boats or even their lives when whales fought back.

“It was a dangerous job,” said Van Bell.

Yet the sea provided potential opportunities to those who might not find it on land, motley crews of experienced sailors, farm boys, and escaped enslaved men.

“Whaling ships were like a kind of United Nations,” Dayan said.

Rather than being paid a wage, crew members were generally paid with a cut of the profits. Whale products included everything from food to oil for lamps, and overhunting eventually led some whales to near extinction.

Whaling as a much sought source of communal sustenance, however, predates European settlers. Indigenous groups like the Shinnecock had a strong tradition of whaling on Long Island, anchored to their connections to the sea. This heritage is explored in another exhibit at the museum, Shinnecock Artists and Long Island’s First Whalers, which debuted January 2021.

Both exhibits are part of the museum’s ongoing efforts to expose the public, both adults and children, to the diverse background of Long Island whaling. A different feature, the hands-on exhibit If I Was a Whaler, permits kids to pretend to be whalers from the 1800s.

“We want to get the community excited and engaged in the story of whaling, following through with our mission of sharing the diversity of our whaling heritage and how it enhances and impacts our lives,” Van Bell said.

Whale Boat Chats will be offered on Nov. 5, Dec. 3 and 29 and Jan. 27 with more dates to be announced in 2023. The programs will be held at noon and 1 p.m. and are free with paid admission to the museum of $6 for adults and $5 for kids and seniors. Members are free.

Located at 301 Main Street, Cold Spring Harbor, the Whaling Museum is open to visitors from Thursday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, call 631-367-3418 or visit www.cshwhalingmuseum.org.

Area doctors urge caution amid viral triple threat this fall and winter

by Daniel Dunaief - October 27, 2022

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N1911P21007H-scaled — Doctors suggest getting immunized before the holiday gathering season begin. Stock photo from Metro

This fall and winter, several infections have their sights set on your lungs.

Amid threats from diseases that affect other organ systems, three of them — COVID-19, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus — can and often do attack the lungs.

While the current strain of COVID isn’t as lethal as the original, the virus continues to mutate, leading to new strains and, potentially, to different strains later this fall.

At the same time, the flu and RSV have been waiting for an opening after COVID protections like masks also kept them at bay during 2020 and 2021.

“How bad is the winter going to be?” asked Dr. Sharon Nachman, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital. “It will be based on more [COVID] variants coming through, with a strong flu season, which is never something you want to see.”

The number of cases of respiratory illnesses like RSV and the flu has been lower in the last few years. The lack of exposure to those viruses, however, may give them an opening for a stronger return in the population.

These viruses “didn’t paddle along for a while,” Nachman said. “Now, they are paddling furiously. Everyone is seeing them.”

People’s immune systems may not be prepared for the threat from these recurring viruses.

When people arrive at the hospital, health care officials often see the same symptoms, with coughing and sneezing.

“It could be one, two or three” causes at the same time, Nachman said.

The combination of contracting more than one virus at the same time could lead to prolonged and painful illnesses.

COVID reality

Much as people would like to return to a pre-pandemic reality, the SARS-CoV2 virus not only continues to infect people, but it also remains something of an evasive target, with mutations leading to new variants.

While area hospitals don’t test for the specific COVID strain when patients are sick, doctors expect that some of the people who have contracted the disease have the modern variants.

“Undoubtedly, many cases that are coming to our Emergency Department are due to the new Omicron sub-variants,” said Dr. Sunil Dhuper, chief medical officer at Port Jefferson’s St. Charles Hospital. “Information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shown that Omicron BA.5 cases are trending downwards and the cases due to the sub-variants are on the rise.”

“The purpose of the vaccine is to attenuate the symptoms from the virus and reduce the severity of illness, hospitalizations and/or death.”

— Dr. Sunil Dhuper

Symptoms of the newer variants are similar to others, with fever, chills, cough, runny nose, fatigue, muscle or body aches, shortness of breath, loss of smell or taste, sore throat, nausea or vomiting and diarrhea, Dhuper explained.

Doctors said it was difficult to gauge how effective the new bivalent COVID vaccines are against the latest strains.

The latest booster may “not be active against all the coming variants,” explained Dr. Phillip Nizza, attending infectious disease physician at St. Charles Hospital.

The new booster was designed to enhance the reaction to the BA.4 and BA.5 variants.

“We don’t have enough data” to determine the effectiveness of the booster against current and future threats, Nachman said. “How effective it will be depends” on differences between the booster and the strain someone contracts.

Still, the vaccine is likely to provide some benefits, doctors said.

“The purpose of the vaccine is to attenuate the symptoms from the virus and reduce the severity of illness, hospitalizations and/or death,” Dhuper wrote. “And I think the vaccines would be very successful in accomplishing that objective.”

Even for people who have been infected recently with COVID, Nachman urged people to get a booster.

The combination of an infection and a booster “Is always better than not getting a vaccine,” Nachman said. “You should get a vaccine. The timing is tricky” and could involve getting a dose two weeks after contracting the virus or waiting.

The viral threat during the December holidays, in particular, is higher, so Nachman urges being as immunized as possible before then.

With people not wearing masks and not even testing for the virus even when they get sick, Nachman suggested that it’s “highly likely” the country will see new variants by the spring.

Nachman urged people to take steps to protect themselves, which includes eating well, exercising, receiving the latest vaccination and limiting exposure, particularly for those who might be vulnerable.

“Take care of yourself,” Nachman urged.

At Stony Brook University Hospital, the wards are busy, with a steady stream of patients coming in, receiving treatment and getting discharged, Nachman said.

“We’re seeing a lot of other viral illnesses,” she added.

She sees a ramp-up in RSV, which she doesn’t expect to peak until Thanksgiving.

Dhuper remains concerned about viral threats this fall and winter.

“We do anticipate a worse flu season this year as the herd immunity is at a lower level,” he wrote. “People should get their flu shots sooner rather than later as that is the only primary protection we have to offer. People with comorbidities should particularly be concerned as the likelihood of severe illness, hospitalization and even death could be higher without the protection from the vaccine.”

While Nizza hasn’t seen any major spike in the flu yet, he suggested in an email that “now would be a good time to get vaccinated.”

Got all that? Good, now, when you’re outside, far from other people and you want to give your lungs a break, take a deep, cleansing breath. Other times? Protect your health and the health of your family and community.

Between You and Me: Do you have a special retreat in the neighborhood?

by Leah Dunaief - October 27, 2022

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Frank Melville Memorial Park 04:21 by Gene Sprouse — Frank Melville Memorial Park. Photo by Gene Sprouse

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

Last week I wrote about the pleasure of getting away, even for a day, and enjoying the foliage season in lower New England. This time I want to wax rhapsodic (well, in a manner of speaking) about the special places we love here in the neighborhood.

Do you have such a special place? By which, I mean a place you go when you want to enjoy the beauty of the area, where you can sit and relax and let concerns just melt away for a few minutes. Or where you can go to think out troubles peacefully, deciding what to do next. Or maybe, you just want a bucolic walk.

One such location for me is the Frank Melville Memorial Park, not far from 25A and my office in Setauket, but nicely hidden from view. Opened in 1937 as a memorial to Frank Melville Jr., it was the brainchild of his wife, Jennie MacConnell Melville, and his son, Ward Melville. While it is privately owned, the park is open for the pleasure of the public every day from sunrise to sunset.

So who was Frank Melville, you might ask, and how did it happen that a park is dedicated to him?

Frank Melville Jr. started by selling shoes to the residents from his sailboat on a fixed schedule, as he and his family of wife and small children circumnavigated Long Island. Eventually, he founded the Thom McAn brand with J. Franklin McElwain, a New Hampshire shoe manufacturer, exactly one hundred years ago. Their first retail shoe store in New York, selling a few simple styles at a low fixed price, then expanded to hundreds of stores across the US, becoming the largest footwear retailer in the country with 1400 stores. The brand name was eventually bought by Sears 86 years later.

As they grew wealthy, the Melvilles, who lived in Manhattan, bought a second home for themselves in Old Field, and became increasingly philanthropic, donating local land for community benefit, including what is now the campus for Stony Brook University. And it was Ward Melville, who visualized and created Stony Brook Village in 1941, the first outdoor mall in the country, and to this day, a fun daytime destination.

When I walk through the park, which surrounds the duck pond with leafy and varied greenery now changing colors, I marvel at the generosity and vision of the Melville family in fashioning such a jewel for anyone who wishes to enjoy its paved path, picture postcard views and many benches. It is such a place of respite for those of us who work just around the corner and those who come with their dogs from farther away.

Dogs are welcome, as long as their owners pick up after them. We sat on one of the benches last Saturday and called out, “Hello, Dog,” to the various pooches as they walked by with their owners. The dogs immediately veered over for a pat, and sometimes the owners lingered for a chat.

It was quite a social affair on a beautiful fall afternoon for dogs and people.

One of the people we met as we strolled along was Anita Lago, an energetic woman from Stony Brook who discovered the pond and the park eight years ago and has been coming over to enjoy the swans regularly since then. When she was found cleaning out the stray fishing lines and other detritus that might enmesh the fowl, she was offered a pail and a rake by the foundation that oversees the park and invited to be official. And so, she can be found at water’s edge, when she is not at her full-time job, a hard-working volunteer helping to keep the pond clean and the swans and other fowl safe.

The Frank Melville Memorial Park is supported by donations from a grateful public. It’s that kind of place, one that brings out the best in all of us as it gifts to us all year round.

Editorial: The age of the uninformed voter

by TBR Staff - October 26, 2022

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Election Day is less than two weeks away, and now is the time for citizens to begin researching their ballots.

When we vote, we are not merely selecting a “D” or “R.” Our representatives are living, breathing creatures with all of the features of ordinary citizens. They possess personality traits, character flaws, preferences, opinions and persuasions.

In these last few weeks, we must uncover these traits and determine whether they align with our values. Today, it is not enough to show up to the polls and vote. Here in Suffolk County, we find numerous examples of the popular will being subverted to advance the interests of a powerful few.

Take judicial elections, for example. Party leaders hold enormous power concerning our judges. Through a sequence of dealmaking and compromises — most of which happen behind closed doors and away from the public eye — the party leaders line up all county judgeships through cross-endorsements well before the election.

To receive a judgeship and the sweet $185,000 to $211,000 salary that comes with it, our “elected” judges do what they must. They answer to their superiors, who are the political bosses awarding them their seats of power and cushy salaries. Meanwhile, the ordinary citizens — those paying these salaries — get left behind and forgotten.

If we do not research our ballots thoroughly, then our only options this November are those handpicked by the party chieftains. An uninformed citizenry only reinforces this broken electoral system, rendering our elected officials less accountable to the people with each passing election.

A functional, vibrant democracy requires that citizens take an active, rather than passive, role in the electoral process. We must take a deeper plunge into the candidates on our ballots. Who are these people? What are their professional backgrounds? If elected, how will they advance our values and interests?

It is time for the people to take back the reins of power. Let not the political bosses pull our strings as they do the puppets they try to plant in office.

If we want politicians to be accountable to us, we must give our votes much more weight. Blindly voting down a ballot is as pointless and unproductive as not voting at all, especially since ballots also include candidates who have not actively campaigned. No person, regardless of party affiliation, is entitled to our vote.

Next week, TBR News Media will release its election supplement. Read through those articles, and get to know your prospective representatives. Let us break away from the party masters. Let the age of the uninformed voter die a sudden, unceremonious death.

D. None of the Above: Our pets do as much, or more, for us as we do for them

by Daniel Dunaief - October 26, 2022

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By Daniel Dunaief

In tougher days before our son had a driver’s license and I had to pick him up from school, I brought the dog in the car. I’d see my son walking from school, head down, shoulders slumped, with the equivalent of a teenage angst enveloping him.

He’d get to the car, ready to throw himself into the seat next to me, to tell me his day was “fine” or that he “didn’t want to talk about anything,” and then he’d see the dog, wagging and prancing in the back seat and he was helpless against such charm and unbridled joy.

Our dog would throw his head into his hands, letting our son know that anything and everything our son did, particularly when he pet our dog’s ears, was welcome and appreciated.

While I know many people love puppies, with their fluffy fur and their playful demeanor, I have become increasingly attached and fond of our dog as he has aged.

And, as my wife has said, the feeling appears to be mutual.

When he was younger, our dog rarely came when I called him. He seemed fine with my petting him, but he didn’t go out of his way to get up from a comfortable nap.

But, then, something happened in the last year. Maybe it’s because we’ve traveled to visit family and friends for weddings and we haven’t taken him on each of our trips, or because he suddenly figured out that I feed him, provide water and take him for his necessary walks.

Whatever the case, he’s as happy to see me as I am to see him. At the same time, he’s become increasingly sensitive to the stress I’m feeling. When I get off the phone after an exasperating call with a customer service representative, he comes wagging over as if to say, “Yeah, that was annoying, but you’ll be fine and I’m still incredibly soft. Don’t you want to check?”

Recently, I contracted COVID-19. My wife, who hasn’t been feeling too well herself, took incredible care of me, picking up food and medicine while I shivered in bed and struggled to swallow through the razor blades dangling in the back of my throat.

In addition to the necessary and helpful support from my wife and brothers, I received encouragement from our dog, who seemed to recognize something was amiss. He came to the side of the bed and leaned his head into my hand. He put his paw up near my arm as well, wagging cautiously and looking into my eyes.

He reminded me of our dog from my childhood. Also, a golden retriever, our earlier dog raced to the kitchen door to be let out (yes, that was a different time). He used to return when he was ready and after he’d visited the neighbors and tended to his physical needs.

In my junior year of high school, I developed a migraine that limited my ability to see and gave me a horrific headache. At the same time, all physical contact was uncomfortable, from my friend touching my hand to guide me to the nurse to my mother escorting me to the car.

When I returned home, I lay in a dark room, miserable under the searing pain. The dog, who wasn’t used to having me home during the day, stayed in my room all day. He didn’t move or make a sound and, more amazingly, he never tried to touch my hand.

He finally went outside after I got up and felt better. He stood guard all those years ago, just as our pets do now, protecting us against strangers and offering support in our lowest and most emotionally vulnerable moments.

Northport Tigers triumph using class, commitment and character

by Steven Zaitz - October 26, 2022

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This past week, the Northport High School football team showed the world that their credo — Class, Commitment, and Character — isn’t just a trio of noble-sounding words.

They embodied it.

Two Saturdays ago, the Tigers not only lost a game to top-ranked Bellport and a share of first place in Suffolk County Division II, but also the services of their all-star quarterback, linebacker, and field general on both sides of the ball, senior Owen Johansen. He is out for the season with a broken ankle.

Johansen was injured early in the game against the Clippers when their star player, Donte Phillips, ripped Johansen down by his facemask and the Northport quarterback got his ankle rolled over and broken by Phillips, who never let go of the mask throughout the course of the play. It was an over-the-top, dirty tackle.

Phillips was called for unnecessary roughness, and Bellport lost 15 yards. But Northport lost its heart, soul and leader as Johansen’s brilliant high school football career was now over.

As the misery of that Saturday afternoon faded into the next week, there was not a single member of the Tiger football family that outwardly expressed any malice towards Phillips or Bellport. There was no complaint filed with Section XI about the flagrancy of the foul or the severity of the injury. Instead, there was a lot of talk of ‘it’s football, injuries happen, and we have to move on.’

That’s class — and it starts from the top.

“Owen is a fantastic football player,” said Northport Head Coach Pat Campbell. “He’s a phenomenal quarterback, probably one of the best defensive players I have ever coached, and he’s a great teammate and leader. It [stinks] that he got hurt, but it’s a team game. Guys are going to have to step up.”

Senior Macklin O’Brien took over as quarterback in Bellport and showed flashes of competence. He directed a long, first-half drive that he finished himself with a 14-yard touchdown scramble. But the Tigers would lose, 21-7, and next up on their schedule on Oct. 22 were the always powerful and well-coached West Islip Lions, who like the Tigers have a record of 4-2.

“Mack has been taking snaps with the first team in practice since August and he works his butt off,” Campbell said. “Nobody on the outside has really ever gotten the chance to see it, but everybody in our locker room knows that he’s a great quarterback.”

It was now time for O’Brien to prove it in a game against a quality opponent.

He would start the day spectacularly, engineering a 75-yard touchdown drive that included two nice throws and an off-schedule scramble for 15 yards that was reminiscent of his fallen friend and teammate Johansen.

“I’ve been working hard in practice behind Owen all year,” said O’Brien. “It’s just my nature to compete and try hard for my teammates and myself. I thought I played okay today, but now I just have to get better.”

Christian Raio would finish the drive with a four-yard touchdown run on his only carry of the day, and Northport would lead 7-0 with six minutes left in the first quarter and would take 7-6 lead into halftime. Johansen was on the Tiger sideline in a boot and waved his crutches around whenever the Tigers and O’Brien did well. In turn, the team wore a #8 decal on their helmets, Johansen’s number, to honor him. This is Tiger class now blended with a commitment to one another.

Lest we forget, the West Islip football program is as successful as there is on Long Island. They are also mixed up in this Conference II dogfight and needed this game just as much as Northport.

To start the second half, they ripped off a 16 play, 85-yard drive for a touchdown. Bruising running back Chris Piropato had 29 of those 85 yards, and he capped it off with a two-yard blast up the middle. West Islip took the lead for the first time, burning most of the third quarter and wresting momentum in doing so.

On Senior Day for Northport, the stands were packed, the state champion field hockey team had won a playoff game earlier in the day, and the 300-piece marching band, sounded like it was 600 during their halftime performance. But the stadium was now stunned into silence.

With a Tiger loss, West Islip would leapfrog Northport and at 4-3, the Tigers would be scrambling just to make the playoffs with only a road game against West Babylon left on its schedule. The Tigers would need to answer.

Tiger running back Michael Campoli would do just that. He ran off right tackle and followed a devastating lead block from fullback/linebacker Thomas Kraus. Fifty-seven yards later and 57 seconds after they lost the lead, Campoli gave it right back to them. It was now 14-13 Northport.

“I just try to help the team any way I can,” said the junior Campoli, who also contributes on defense and special team. “Kraus made a great block, and I saw a lot of green in front of me. He was the reason I scored on the play.”

“Lead blocking is always a fun time for me,” Kraus said. “I had a feeling we were going to get Campoli in the end zone on that play and we did.”

Michael Raio would get in the end zone again for the Tigers from four yards out with 5:29 left in the game. The senior halfback electrified the crowd with a 28-yard run and two plays later, would close the deal and give Northport a 20-13 lead. The party was on.

It was Raio’s third rushing TD of the year and after the Tigers got the ball back on downs, was looking for his fourth with the ball deep in West Islip territory. He ran behind Tiger tight end Andrew Miller and had enough yardage for a first down to seal the win. But linebacker Jordan Fileti got a desperation right hand on the ball as Raio ran by him. Lion Safety Dan Klein fell on it at the West Islip 10-yard line and down by only seven points, the Lions had new life in a now dead-silent stadium.

“I was sick to my stomach when I lost that ball,” Raio said, “One guy (Fileti) grabbed my arm as he was falling, and it came out. I should have had both hands on it.”

All Raio could do now was watch and root for his teammates on defense, as West Islip was 90 yards from tying the game with 2:15 remaining.

They would get a huge chunk of that 90 when Lion quarterback Patrick Keenan ran for 17 yards to start the drive and things started to get dicey for Northport. The Lions had all their timeouts remaining.

But Northport defensive lineman Justin Macke sacked Keenan on the next play and Tim Cleary, who is the de facto leader of the Tiger defense in Johansen’s absence, ended the threat with a leaping interception at the Tiger five-yard line. The Tigers had themselves an exhilarating and perhaps season-saving win, and they celebrated like it.

“That was a statement game,” said the senior linebacker Cleary, who had 13 tackles on the day. “We made some adjustments in the second half on defense, and we stopped them when we needed to.”

So, in the first game in the post-Johansen era, the Tigers rolled up 256 yards of offense, overcame a second half deficit — however brief — and withstood a late charge after a costly turnover to gut out a victory in a very important game.

This was a character win in the truest sense, and it was a great time for all three of Northport football’s principles to not just exist as painted words on a locker room wall, but really have them come to life.

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