Northport Tigers football take it to the house on homecoming
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.
