The Ward Melville Patriots homecoming game ended on a high note. While the score was close, when all was said and done, the team edged out Central Islip, 13-12, in a Division 1 game. The Patriots now are 3-1 in the league while Central Islip fell to 1-3.
Ward Melville will travel to Brentwood Oct. 9. Game starts at 1:30 p.m.
The Newfield Wolverines cast a shadow over Smithtown East in their homecoming football game handing the Bulls a 39-7 defeat Oct 2.
Newfield’s Devin Aviles found the endzone twice in the 1st quarter, and teammate Joe Hackal broke a 44 yarder in the second to lead 24-0 at the half.
Smithtown East junior running back Ryan Rooney took the goose egg of the scoreboard for the Bulls catching a pass from Tommy Azzara then turned it upfield and dove for the endzone for the score. Newfield quarterback Josh Jacobs punched in from short yardage along with teammate Sean Sullivan scored on a 29 yarder for your final score.
The win lifts the Wolverines to 2-2 as the loss drops the Bulls to 1-3 at this midway point in the season.
Both teams retake the field Saturday where Newfield hosts North Babylon in their homecoming game, and the Bulls travel to Connetquot. Kickoff for both games is 2 p.m.
The Ward Melville Patriots overpowered Riverhead in a Division I matchup on the road shutting out the Blue Waves, 41-0, Sept 18.
Nick Gaffney got the call for the Patriots pounding out yardage carry after carry punching in on short yardage for the score. Ward Melville quarterback Chris Prussen connected with Lorenzo Velez on a 60-yard pass play, when Prussen followed on a keeper covering 65 yards for the score to put the Patriots out front 21-0. Andrew Weber connected on all three kicks. Ward Melville junior Andrew Belli found the end zone twice in the second half capped off by a 50-yard run as Nolan Fontana punched in on a 14-yard carry for your final score.
The Patriots retake the field with a home game against Sachem North Sept 24. Kickoff is schedule for 7 p.m.
Shoreham-Wading River running back Max Barone was a one-man wrecking crew as the senior powered his way in to the endzone five times in the Wildcats season opener 42-7 victory at Port Jefferson in a league IV matchup Sept 11.
The Royals struggled to find traction until late in the 3rd quarter when senior line-backer John Sheils recovered a Wildcat fumble and punched in for the Royals’ lone touchdown on the day. Port Jeff senior Kyle Yannucci’s kick was good to trail 35-7.
Will Hart, the freshman running-back for the Wildcats, found the end-zone midway through the 4th quarter and Ryan Farron’s foot drilled the uprights for the final score. Farron was perfect on the day nailing all six extra points.
The Royals look to regroup when they retake the field in a road game against Greenport/Southold/Mattituck Sept 17. Kick is at 6 p.m.
The Wildcats are back in action at home to take on Miller Place Sept 18 with a 1 p.m. start.
All photos by Bill Landon
By Steven Zaitz
The game of football is many things. One thing it is never supposed to be, is easy.
But that is what the Northport Tigers made these spring games look like, when they iced their fourth and final cupcake on Saturday, April 10, creaming Copiague 41-6. They finished the season 4-0 and outscored their opponents 140-25.
To an athlete, they know that while these four wins were nice, nothing worth fighting for is ever easy and the journey to greatness has only just begun.
“These kids never take a day off in their preparation,” said head coach Pat Campbell. “This is what these kids have been waiting for — this moment.”
The ‘moment’ that Campbell is referring to is a showdown with Suffolk County League IV champions West Islip on Saturday, April 17. The Lions beat Bellport 24-14 to earn that crown.
Northport is seeded second in League III and Half Hollow Hills East is first because the Thunderbirds won five games to the Tigers’ four. Hills East and Northport were supposed to play earlier this season, but the game was cancelled due to COVID-19 protocols.
Campbell is taking a “we play who is on our schedule approach” even though an argument could be made that Northport’s 4-0 Conference record should have been a factor in deciding the League champions. Hills East was 3-0 in league play and 5-0 overall.
“It is what it is,” Campbell said.
The Tiger defense, which allowed a microscopic 1.6 yards per rushing attempt this year, will have a stiff test against the Lions. They are led by breakout star quarterback Joe Constantino, who ran for 263 yards on Saturday and also threw for a touchdown.
“They run a lot of Read Option and Quarterback Power,” Campbell said. “Constantino is a really good player and probably the best runner we’ve faced. He’s got speed, he’s savvy and he’s quick. It’s going to be a challenge for us. They are a very good and well-coached team.”
West Islip also has a steam-rolling offensive line that will smash you in the mouth without hesitation, and a stingy defense that gave up about two touchdowns per game. The Lions’ storied program has a long tradition of winning and is coached by the highly respected Steve Mileti. They had a recent stretch of games that saw them win 22 out of 24 and they were undefeated this year.
“We all know the real challenges are coming up,” said running back, defensive back and co-captain Rocco Stola. “Our focus is on winning and we are super excited to play in this game against a top team. I remember playing this kid (Constantino) in junior varsity, and we know what to expect, we have a history with him, and I have full confidence in our defense that we will put a game plan together to stop him. This is the chance to prove ourselves.”
The Tigers are eager to erase both the memories of an injury-marred 2-6 season in 2019 and a bitter playoff loss the year before against North Babylon when they fumbled late in the fourth quarter, just as it looked like they were going in for a winning touchdown.
“I’ve been thinking about getting back to the playoffs ever since that loss against North Babylon,” said co-captain and leading tackler Anthony Canales. “I am really fired up for
this game.”
Another motivating factor for the Tigers is the apparent lack of respect from major regional media and social media power ranking sites, that have seemingly ignored Tiger Nation’s overwhelming success this year. Twitter prognosticator L.I. Sports Fanatic has already predicted that the Tigers will fall to the West Islip Lions in the first round of the playoffs.
“We don’t make it on to their power rankings, but we don’t care,” said Canales, who averaged more than 10 tackles a game despite sitting out large stretches due to lopsided scores. “They can have people ranked higher than us and predict whatever they want. We like being underdogs because we know that when we get out there, we have a good chance to win.”
Northport averaged more than seven and a half yards every time their offense snapped the ball. The defense very reluctantly allowed two and a half yards per play and gave up two touchdowns all year. These numbers are absolutely staggering but despite all of that, the attention around these parts has been given to teams like Floyd, Sayville, Bellport and Lindenhurst.
Rafe Carner, Stola’s first cousin, ran for 224 yards and three touchdowns this year. They have been playing sports together most of their lives and have always enjoyed pushing each other to excel athletically and academically. Like his cousin, Carner knows what is at stake in the coming days.
“Our expectations are to win a championship and that hasn’t changed since the beginning of the year,” Carner said. “This game is going to be tough, and if we win, the next one will be even tougher, but we’re going to do everything we can to make it happen.”
In other words — things are no longer easy, and the Tigers wouldn’t have it any other way.
By Steven Zaitz
Demolish, rinse, repeat.
The Northport Tigers football team made Smithtown East its latest victim this past Saturday, as they cruised to a 50-13 road victory in St. James and ran their record to 3-0. The Bulls drop to 2-2.
Senior running back Andrew Argyris rumbled for 139 yards and three touchdowns, leading a rushing attack that gained 376 yards. Junior Jack Sandrib had 89 yards, and senior Rafe Carner had 71 and two scores. This trio averaged over nine and a half yards every time they touched the ball against Smithtown East. The Tigers have averaged 301 rushing yards in their three victories this season.
“Our philosophy is to run it down their throats until they prove they can stop us,” Argyris said. “Our offensive line is nasty, and they open up big holes for us.”
Smithtown East found itself in a nasty situation right from the opening whistle. They won the coin toss but elected to kickoff to the Tigers. Ten plays later, it was 7-0 Northport on Carner’s 3-yard touchdown run. The Bulls fumbled the ensuing kick and Argyris scored on the very next play to make it 14-0 — and Smithtown East’s offense had yet to touch the ball. “It was like an avalanche,” said Northport Head Coach Pat Campbell. “We didn’t give them a chance to breathe because we did a good job of turning their mistakes into early points.”
Northport converted three East turnovers in the first half into 17 points and had a 44-0 lead at halftime. One of those turnovers was an interception by senior cornerback Tom Tini.
“They had a stack on my side of the field, and I read what he [Bulls Quarterback Nick Karika] was trying to do and he threw it right to me,” Tini said. “I’ll take that any day!”
Despite his perfect diagnosis of the play, Tini was kicking himself for not turning the interception into a pick six. “My coaches were busting my [butt] because if I made one cutback, I would have been gone, “Tini said. “It cost me a steak dinner.”
Regardless of Tini having to pay for his meal, the Tiger defense was its usual mauling self. They were responsible for only one of the Bulls’ touchdowns — the other was a 86-yard fumble recovery by East’s Santino Pollina — and have given up only two scores in three games this year, both of which came in garbage time. The Bulls eked out 162 total yards, which is the high-water mark this year for a Northport opponent. The Tigers have allowed only 129 per game on average – a remarkably low number.
“Our TNT [defensive line and fittingly also an abbreviation for dynamite] is just dominant,” said Campbell. “They do a lot more than take blockers. It’s three against five up there and most times, our three are winning that battle against the opponents’ five.”
One of those three is Cole Ronan, who registered a sack and two tackles behind the line of scrimmage versus Smithtown East. His nickname is Big Nasty.
“Our main goal is to eat up the blocks and let our linebackers come down hill and make the tackles,” said the 6’3” senior. “We work really hard all week in practice to get ready and it shows up in the games.”
His linemate, senior Dan Lugo, loves to have ‘meetings’ with fellow linemen Ronan and senior Ryan Farrington.
“We are always talking about meeting in the backfield, meeting at the quarterback, meeting at the line to stop the running back”, laughed Lugo, who is known around the locker room as Big Daddy. “We have great chemistry.”
So far that chemistry has resulted in the Tigers outscoring their opponents 99-19, with Copiague next on the schedule. The Eagles have laid quite the egg this year, having dropped all three of their games, outscored 155-8 in the process.
Pictured clockwise from above, Smithtown’s Matt Kaires stiff-arms Northport’s Ryan Bell; the Tigers Andrew Argyris on his way to a 28 yard touchdown run; and Jack Sandrib takes on two tacklers in Northport’s win against Smithtown East.
The Comsewogue Warriors at 0-2 this season looked to notch its first win when it hosted the Eastport South Manor Sharks at home in a League V conference matchup in a rare Monday night game April 5. Comsewogue’s first win would have to wait as they fell to ESM 20-8.
The Sharks set the tone early when on their opening drive consumed nearly 7 minutes off the clock to punch in on a touchdown pass to take the early lead. Comsewogue struggled to get traction and after a blocked punt gave the Sharks another scoring opportunity with 9:06 left in the half for a 13-0 lead.
With less than a minute left in the 3rd the Sharks found the endzone again to take a 20-0 lead. The Warriors took the egg off the scoreboard in the final 2 minutes and were able to convert for two more but it was too little too late and that elusive victory will have to wait.
The Warriors conclude their COVID shortened season with a road game against West Babylon April 10. Kickoff is at 2:00 p.m.
Photos by Bill Landon
by Steven Zaitz
By Steven Zaitz
Many eyes of the Long Island football universe were focused on the South Shore last Saturday, March 27.
However, there was an important contest that took place on the North Shore, too. The Northport football Tigers were back in business and business was booming.
Booming with pad-popping tackles and the pounding of bass drums. Booming with explosive hits over the middle, running backs and quarterbacks thrown around like rag dolls and bellowing voices cheering from all corners of Tiger Stadium. A March day in 2021 time-warped to a typical October afternoon in any other year, as Northport lowered the boom on crosstown Huntington, 23-6.
After taking a week off due to pandemic protocols, the Tiger defense was as ferocious as ever, stifling and suffocating Huntington’s offense. Making matters worse for the Blue Devils, they lost All-State running back Nasir Youngblood to a foot injury early in the second half. He was held in check even before the injury, finishing with 31 quiet yards on eight carries.
The leader of this band of mayhem-making marauders is linebacker Anthony Canales. But could he possibly top his superlative performance against Connetquot from two weeks ago?
Sixteen total tackles? Ridiculous.
Four tackles for loss including a sack? Silly.
Add in two passes batted down and five or six bone-crunching hits and we are talking about quite an encore from Opening Day, and outstanding enough to be one of Newsday’s top players of Week 3.
“Anthony has great linebacker instincts, plain and simple,” said Head Coach Pat Campbell. “He knows how to fill a window and when he sees a gap that he can get through, he flies through that gap and gets there and makes plays.”
Canales, who celebrated Senior Day on this sun-splashed Saturday, doesn’t just put up gawdy numbers. He establishes and enforces an attitude on defense that makes an impression with the opposing team. For instance, early in the game Huntington receiver John Chirico came over the middle in an attempt to make a short reception. Canales separated the intended receiver not only from the ball, but from his mouth guard as well. The Northport side of the field hooted and hollered with delight and Chirico didn’t run that particular pass pattern for the rest of the day.
“He cleaned that kid up”, said Campbell. “The thing about Anthony is that when he gets there, he gets there with bad intentions.”
The entire defense has had plenty of bad intentions in both Tiger wins this year. It’s a hard-hitting and speedy bunch that is always on the attack, giving offenses absolutely no room to operate. Defensive Linemen Cole Ronan, Dan Lugo and Ryan Farrington were in the Devils’ backfield all day long, disrupting whatever Huntington tried to do.
“Our defensive line eats up blockers like crazy,” Canales said. “It makes it easier for me to run downhill and get the ball carrier. That’s what I love to do.”
They have allowed an average of 93 total yards in two contests and a grand total of six points. Those points scored on this day by the Blue Devils was a garbage time touchdown when the game was no longer in doubt.
The likeable linebacker had extra motivation as Huntington has always been an archrival of Northport, as the two schools sit five miles apart.
“We took this game personally,” Canales said. “There is no way we were going to let our crosstown rivals beat us, especially on Senior Day. No way!”
The Tiger offense, which was very run-heavy in the opening win against Connetquot, had a nicer balance to it against Huntington. Quarterback Conner Gallagher had six completions for 73 yards, including a super accurate rainbow to senior running back Rafe Carner for an 18-yard touchdown in the 1st quarter.
“We were practicing that play all week and we liked the matchup we had in that down and distance,” Gallagher said. “Once Rafe had a step on his defender, I tried to drop it in. Rafe made a great catch.”
“Conner had to make an adjustment because Rafe got knocked off his original route,” Campbell said. “It was a nice throw and a good, athletic play by Rafe.”
Gallagher had another touchdown on a quarterback sneak and Northport is 2-0. They have again cracked Newsday’s Top Ten Power Rankings and their next matchup is at Smithtown East, who got bullied by Bellport 46-14 on Saturday — but all is not roses for the Tigers. Starting Center Joe Keller-DelPrete suffered a knee injury in the third quarter and was replaced by Canales’ brother Andrew. Keller-DelPrete is one of the team leaders and when he went down the festive atmosphere of the afternoon became muted.
“He’s one of our big-time leaders, an energy guy, a vocal guy and he’s going to be hard to replace,” Campbell said. “But you have to be a ‘next-man-up’ type of crew and I think we are.”
Another issue the Tigers need to address is the fumbling of the football. They have lost six of them in their two games.
“We have some things we got to fix for sure,” Campbell said. “You don’t win a lot of football games turning the ball over as much as we have. It’s a lack of focus and it has to be our primary job – to take care of the football.”
So far, the defense has bailed them out of dicey situations caused by these turnovers. One of those defenders, sophomore Owen Johansen had eight tackles, including a safety. Huntington, who made it obvious that they were playing their first game of the year, sloppily snapped the ball over its punter’s head and Johansen tackled him in the Devil end zone.
“That was a big momentum shift for us,” Johansen said. “I think the tide really turned for us after that.”
Johansen’s not kidding. After his play made the score 16-0, senior Rocco Stola showed off one of the many tools he has in his football tool belt — his blazing speed.
He took the free kick 69 yards straight up the middle, blew past three or four white-shirted Blue Devils for a touchdown. There wasn’t a Huntington player within 15 yards of Stola when he crossed the goal line.
“Perfect blocking,” said Stola, who plays on all three units of the football team. “As I saw the kick coming towards me, I knew I had to score. I thought I was a bit late for a split second, but I ran my fastest, I saw the hole and I wasn’t going to let anyone catch me.”
“We all knew he was gone as soon as he touched that ball,” Canales said.
Rocco’s run closed the scoring for Northport at 23 and put a ribbon on this one, for all practical purposes.
Oh, and in that game on the South Shore, Sayville beat Floyd. But lest people forget, there are good football teams north of I-495 as well.
By Steven Zaitz
The Kings Park defense did something of a rarity on March 20 against Half Hollow Hills East.
They scored four points on two safeties. That’s a pretty neat trick.
Unfortunately for the Kingsmen, Hills East superstar Quarterback Leisaan Hibbert rushed for four touchdowns, as the Thunderbirds cruised to a 35-4 victory in this non-league matchup in Kings Park on Senior Appreciation Day. Touchdowns are much better than safeties.
The Kingsmen, having drawn two tough matchups to start the season, are now 0-2 and have been outscored by a combined 93-10. They lost this year’s opener to Sayville in a rematch of the 2019 Suffolk County Division III semifinal playoff game. In so many ways, that playoff game seems like it was a 100 years ago.
As for Hills East, in their two games, Hibbert has rushed for seven touchdowns with three against Malverne and four on this day against Kings Park. He rambled for 195 yards against the Kingsmen, running around, through, and over the K.P. defense in a variety of ways. The Kingsmen had no answer for running backs Jared Gallub and Kris Tillis either, as the Thunderbirds rolled up over 300 rushing yards on the afternoon. Tillis took the second play from scrimmage 45 yards for a touchdown and Hills East never looked back.
On this spring-like Saturday, the artificial turf and the sun might have been a factor in conditioning, but both teams had to play on the same field. The Kingsman simply got their crowns handed to them.
Kings Park starting quarterback Jonathan Borkowski was harried and hassled all day, with defensive linemen Obiri and Konadu Boadu setting up shop in the Kingsmen backfield from the opening gun — both of whom refusing to leave. Hills East had six sacks and Middle Linebacker Josh Isaacs had one of those sacks. The leading tackler on Hills East Team was Gallub with 11 tackles. James O’Melia replaced Borkowski in the 4th Quarter but fared no better.
It doesn’t get any easier for Kings Park, as they host Westhampton Beach Friday, March 26. The Hurricanes blew away Centereach 48-0 on Saturday, have won both their games and are ranked fourth in Newsday’s Top Ten Small School poll for all of Long Island.
Fresh off their season opening 66-0 blowout over Copiague, Smithtown East was in the driver’s seat from the opening kickoff led by senior quarterback and co-captain Nick Karika who scored four touchdowns for the Bulls to win it 27-19 at home March 20.
Karika had touchdown runs of two yards, nine yards, 12 yards and his longest, a 49 yarder to put his team out front by 14 with six minutes left in the game. Connetquot managed to find the endzone with seconds remaining in the game.
The win lifts to Bulls to 2-0 for the top spot in League 3. They will hit the road March 27 where they’ll face Hills East. Game time is 1:30 p.m.
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