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Jen Holden

Blue Devils edge Newfield, 21-14

Huntington’s Eric Sands almost single-handedly spoiled a second straight homecoming. After the Blue Devils running back racked up four touchdowns last week in a 28-23 edging of Smithtown West, he tallied two of three Huntington scores in a 21-14 win over Newfield Oct. 14.

“We played hard physically,” Newfield head coach Nick Adler said. “But we made too many mental mistakes and the game comes down to who makes the least mistakes. Today we were not that team and we shot ourselves in the foot.”

The Wolverines got on the board early when senior running back Terrell Thomas broke away with the ball in Newfield territory and covered 64 yards on his way to the end zone. Senior Jacob Newell successfully completed the point-after kick attempt to put his team up 7-0.

Newfield quickly racked up penalties to start the second, and Huntington quarterback John Paci made the Wolverines pay for the costly errors with a 46-yard touchdown run.

“We left everything out on the field; we play really hard, we practice hard, our only concern is we’ve got to fix those mental mistakes, it kills us every game,” senior lineman Zachary Ferrari said.

With the game tied 7-7 heading into the halftime break, Newfield knew it needed to make some adjustments to come away with the homecoming win.

“All we need to do is focus better and we can’t choke like on a fourth-and-5,” Ferrari said. “We really need to improve on that in the next two weeks we are really going to see if we can get it going.”

Unfortunately, Newfield couldn’t get it going against Huntington, and Sands was too much for the Wolverines to handle. He scored on runs of 3 yards and 20 yards in the third quarter to put Huntington out front 21-7. He finished the day with 153 yards on 21 attempts.

“All these teams are good, and we’re not going to be able to overcome and win a game against a team like that when we make that many mistakes,” Adler said. “This is a great team we played, but we have to regain our focus. The season’s not over and I look forward to next week.”

Junior wide receiver Anthony Cabral scored the Wolverines’ only other touchdown late in the third on a 5-yard pass from Newfield’s sophomore quarterback Maxwell Martin.

Newfield fell to 1-5 in the Division II standings while Huntington improved to 4-2 with its third straight win. Newfield hosts North Babylon (5-1) Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. before hosting Smithtown East (1-5) Oct. 27 in the last game of the season.

“We should come out the way we practice, with more energy and more focus,” senior lineman Christopher Vidal said. “I was very confident, and I still am very confident in my team. I know we can make a comeback. It’s just all about how much we really want it.”

Jen Holden contributed reporting

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Northport's Kristen Roethel dribbles the ball up the field. Photo by Jen Holden

By Jen Holden

Northport’s field hockey is at it again.

For the sixth time this season, the visiting Tigers secured a shutout and, this time, with a 6-0 blanking of Connetquot Oct. 10, earned a postseason berth.

Northport’ Lilly Fox sets up a pass. Photo by Jen Holden

Senior Olivia Lewis scored the first goal five minutes in, on her way to a hat trick. She scored twice in the first half.

“We did a good job possessing the ball,” Lewis said. “It was in our half almost the entire game. We moved the ball well and our off-ball movement was good. We did a good job keeping it from the
other team.

Junior Lily Fox added a goal and one assist, scoring off a penalty shot, and junior forward Taryn Saturno rounded out the scoring for the first half, 4-0, on a corner shot.

“We had a lot of different players come in and we definitely used the width of the field.” Fox said.

Saturno said her teammates worked on sharing the wealth.

“I think we did a really good job like playing as a team and passing to each other and working for the ball and assists early,” Saturno said. “[The team] made sure that we each got equal opportunities to get some good goals.”

The second half challenged the Tigers’ stamina as the Thunderbirds applied pressure — forcing Northport passes and allowing Connetquot to steal the ball and gain two breakaway chances.

Northport’s Olivia Lewis passes the ball across the field. Photo by Jen Holden

The Tigers were able to slow the game and regain control of the ball, allowing the Thunderbirds just three shots on goal, all of which were blocked by sophomore goalie Hayley Hayden. The midfield also blocked Connetquot from gaining yards in the Tigers’ zone.

Lewis scored again before sophomore Kate McLam rounded out the scoring, 6-0, for the 10-3 Tigers.

Northport head coach, Gina Walling said she’s happy how her team has developed since the start of the season, and thinks they’re on the path toward success.

“They did a good job focusing on playing their game, maintaining their game and working on things they needed to work on,” she said.

The Tigers walked off the field with smiles on their faces and their sights now set on a state finals appearance.

“They are starting to put it together,” Walling said. “It’s great for postseason.”

Northport will visit Sachem East Oct. 12 at 4:30 p.m. before playing Garden City in a nonleague game at Veterans Park Complex, Northport, Oct. 14 3:30 p.m.