By Steve Zaitz
Northport running back Luke Loiacono rushed for all four Tiger touchdowns — one in each quarter — Northport’s 28-14 win at West Islip, on Friday Night.
The junior Loiacono, who is also a prolific scorer for the Tiger lacrosse team, finished with 168 yards on only 13 carries, as Northport improved to 2-0. West Islip falls to 0-2.
On the Tigers’ second offensive possession, Loiacono ran around left end for a 20-yard score that gave Northport a 7-0 lead. Loiacono and the Tiger rushing attack continued to exploit left-side runs for the entire game, amassing 314 yards on the ground. Senior Asher Levine had 92 yards on 8 carries, as Northport averaged 8.3 yards per rushing attempt.
Loiacono’s second touchdown was a 12-yarder in which he broke a tackle at the five-yard line, ran to the right sideline, and waltzed into the end zone with just under two minutes to go in the first half.
Northport’s defense also had a strong game as they limited the Lions to 194 yards of total offense. Eighty-one of those yards came in semi-garbage time when West Islip wide receiver Nils Haugen caught a short pass from quarterback T.J. Sonnenberg in the right flat, spun out of a tackle and raced 82 yards to make the score 28-14 with ten minutes remaining in the game.
The Lions recovered a Loiacono fumble with six minutes left, but the Tiger defense got a turnover on downs when Sonnenberg threw an incompletion on 4th down and 5 with four minutes remaining. The Lions never possessed the ball again.
Northport meets their old friend, Bellport, next Saturday, September 28. The Clippers are 1-1 after their 20-15 loss to highly-ranked North Babylon. Northport and Bellport met at Stony Brook in the 2022 Suffolk County Championship, with Bellport winning 35-14.
— Photos by Steve Zaitz
