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Babylon Football: Saturday’s rain and wind did little to stop the Babylon Panthers. They wisely used timeouts and field direction to storm over the Hampton Bays Baymen, 27-7. Babylon’s offense hogged the ball as they used 59 plays to pile up 338 yards. They pounded for 229 yards on the ground with Jake Casciola rushing for 119 on 23 carries. Quarterback Chris King completed 6 of 12 passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns. The defense held the Baymen to only 33 plays and a net 34 yards rushing. But Hampton QB Andrew Raimo was very sharp, completing 11 passes for 224 yards, 109 to Chris Blevins and 108 to Michael Kovar, a pair of receivers whose precise patterns and excellent hands combined for a number of Baymen threats. The Panthers’ first drive went 56 yards on 11 plays with Casciola and Eddie Rifice chewing up the turf. Casciola capped it, banging in from the 1-foot line behind Anthony Parrinello, Griffin Choceles and Jim Mahr. Tim Schweitzer kicked the first of his three extra points. Schweitzer’s long kickoffs (three into the end zone and two beyond the 5-yard line) were important in the field position struggle throughout the contest. The defensive front contributed strongly with Matt Brennan, Matt Martinez and Frankie Deesing plugging the middle, Parrinello, Zak Viverito and Darin Reddish batting down passes in the Hampton backfield and outside linebackers Matt Griffo, Ish Mohammed and Kyle Gredder containing the wide stuff. Babylon’s opening drive in the second half went 67 yards on 9 plays. They hit paydirt from the Hampton 30 as King rolled right and passed to Schweitzer who made a sliding catch in the end zone reaching up and bringing the ball in with his left hand. They scored twice more in the third quarter. King led the offense for 51 yards on 9 plays and Griffo smashed in from the 1. Minutes later following a punt to the Hampton 48, King stepped up from the snap and fired a quick look in to Joe Sullivan slanting in from the right. The fleet receiver gathered it in, split the secondary and sped untouched going all . . . the . . . way for the TD. The Panther D continued to foil Hampton’s offense, stopping a drive on an interception by Schweitzer in the end zone and another drive on a big rush by Gredder to thwart another pass attempt. The Baymen finally scored with less than three minutes remaining in the game. Raimo hit Kovar on a right fly for a 61-yard score. Babylon’s Smurfs provided the offense in the final period and successfully ate up much of the clock. Up from the JV, Beau Bachety, Joey Bender, Marc Martinez and Willie Rivas made their varsity debuts. Coach Rick Punzone praised the effort. "We really did well to come out ahead against the Hampton Bays’ excellent passing game. With Southampton’s loss to Amityville, there’s quite a dog fight for the top position." This Saturday is Babylon’s Homecoming. They’ll host the Port Jefferson Royals at Williams Field. Game time is listed at 2 pm.
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