The Newfield Wolverines’ intended opponent West Islip, was forced to quarantine after a COVID-19 test, which resulted in an unlikely pairing of the Flaming Arrows of Sachem East a D-I team against the D-IV Wolverines on March 27. The voice from the broadcast booth said they could not recall these two teams having ever faced each other, so all the scouting reports went out the window.
Down two touchdowns it was Newfield’s Devin Aviles who provided the spark for the Wolverines on an 11-yard run to tie the game at 14, his second touchdown of the afternoon. Newfield quarterback Josh Jacob the junior rolled out the pocket and connected with sophomore tight-end Kaleb Mapp to re-take the lead with less than a minute left in the half.
Sachem East answered with 2 TD runs by Virgillio Batista with only 1 extra point between them took a 27-20 lead late in the game. It was Newfield’s Brian Akbulet’s pass out of the backfield finding Joe Hackal who turned it up field for a 37-yard touchdown run to trail 27-26. Newfield thought about going for two but opted to kick the single point after to tie the game. Sachem East blocked the point after handing Newfield a heartbreaking one-point loss.
Photos by Bill Landon
