RSS Feed
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Panthers fall in County final They appeared to be two irresistible forces in a slugfest that went down to the wire. The Mount Sinai Mustangs edged the Babylon Panthers, 28-27 in the Suffolk County Division IV final at Stony Brook's LaValle Stadium. Neither team could stop the other's attack. The stats were practically even. In 55 plays from scrimmage, Mount had 131 yards passing, 255 rushing and 18 first downs. Babylon had 113 passing, 245 rushing and 15 first downs on 54 plays. Each team punted only once. The thriller was an even game all the way, ultimately decided but James Wittpenn's 32-yard field goal with 3:08 remaining in the game. Babylon fought back in the last moments, going from their own 29-yard line to the Mustang 14. But with three seconds remaining, Tim Schweitzer's field goal attempt was wide to the left in what might have been his second miracle pull out in two straight finals. You may remember he hit one from 31 yards out in overtime last year to edge Southampton 17-14 for the Division title. The Mustangs were ecstatic in their post-game celebration after years of Babylon dominance between the two longtime rivals. The Babylon players were dejected on their way to a long bus ride back. But they'll take away a game they'll always remember in a super season. Maybe that's more important than anything else. A disappointed coach Rick Punzone felt that his team might have won it in the last drive. He gave credit to Mount Sinai on a very well played game and wished them the best in the Long Island Class IV final Saturday against the Roosevelt Rough Riders. Mount Sinai's first possession resulted in the game's only 3-and-out. Babylon's first drive began at their own 26. They went 74 yards on ten plays. The keys to the drive were two straight passes by quarterback Chris King, hitting J. T. Pate on a right roll out for 12 and Matt Griffo on a left screen for 21. Tailback Ish Mohammed blasted up the middle to score from the Mount 38. Schweitzer added the first of his three extra point kicks. Mount responded with a 79-yard drive on twelve plays. The key was a 26-yard right flag from quarterback Sean Kelly to wideout Tyler McCabe taking it to the Panther 22. Wittpenn capped the drive on a 1-yard dive over right guard and added the extra point kick to tie the score at 7 up. The Panthers countered with a 70-yard drive on twelve plays. The key was a 19-yard right square-in to Bill Parker getting the ball to the Mount 23. Four plays later, Mohammed banged in from the 1 between Alex Mangini and Matt Martinez. Babylon lined up for an extra point kick, but chose to try for two and Schweitzer's pass to Adam Schuler fell a bit short. It wasn't a terrible gamble, but it would come back to haunt them. Now Mount mounted a counterattack. Following a 28- yard kickoff return by Wittpenn to the Mustang 43, they moved the remaining distance on nine plays. The key occurred on fourth down at the 50. The Mustangs lined up in punt formation, but the snap went to the short back and Steve Yablonski rammed it up the middle for a first down. The drive was completed with Kelly's 25-yard left fly to Dan Seijido for the touchdown. The extra point kick hit the right upright and the score was tied at 13 with 3:33 remaining in the half. Babylon took the lead again with a quick drive, going 67 yards on nine plays with Mohammed slashing between a gap by Marc Martinez and Matt Lauria for 22 yards and a TD. 49 seconds remained in the half. The drive was a bit too quick. Mount used only 31 seconds to score again with Wittpenn picking up 42 yards on four carries and Kelly firing 23 yards to McCabe on a right post for the TD. The extra point kick was wide left and Babylon carried a 20-19 lead into halftime. Early in the second half, Kelly pounced on a loose ball for the game's only turnover. Working on the shifted momentum, the Mustangs drove deep into Babylon turf, but the Panther defense stopped the drive. Wittpenn's attempt at a 25-yard field goal was wide right and the Panthers held the momentum, temporarily. Mount scored next on Kelly's 47-yard fly to the right, hitting McCabe who caught it near the Bab 30 and raced for the score. Kelly's attempted pass for a 2-pointer was picked off by Parker in the right side of the end zone. The touchdown accounted for the first points against the Panthers in the third period all season. It also marked the first time that Babylon yielded the lead to any team all year. Behind 25-20, the Panthers came back with lightning strikes. Parker hauled the kickoff back 59 yards to the Mustang 21. Mohammed ate up the remaining yardage on two carries, the last over right tackle following Jake Casciola's block for a 13 yard TD. It was I Mo's fourth TD of the evening and his 20th of the year - all rushing. Now Babylon was up 27-25. But Mount Sinai came back with the mien of a true champion. Following Schweitzer's booming kick into the end zone (his eleventh of the year), the Mustangs displayed a controlled, sixteen play drive which ate up eight minutes and 46 seconds. Again, the Panther D stopped them deep, but this time Wittpenn hit the field goal from 32 yards out to put the Mustangs up by a point with 3:08 left in the game. Babylon came back valiantly with King hitting on four passes for 46 yards. They got to the Mustang 14 and lined up for a 32-yard field goal attempt with a hair less than seven seconds on the clock. But alas, déj vu would not be in their destiny and last season's field goal thriller would not be repeated. Key stats and other stuff: Mohammed 30 carries for 196 yards and four TDs. King 9 of 13 in the air for 113 yards and he would've had two more completions which were broken up by the hard hitting Mount secondary. For the Mustangs, Kelly was 5 of 7 for 131 yards and three TDs passing. Wittpenn ran for 123 yards on 22 carries and Yablonski had 85 on 16 carries. Up from the JV, Sean Melow made his varsity debut last week for Babylon and got into the game on special teams again in the final. The Panthers finished the season at 9-1 and appeared in the county final for the eleventh straight year. During that stretch, the team won the county title and went to the Long Island Championship game seven times, winning the LI final three times. This year, the Panthers outscored their opponents 412-104 and amassed 3336 yards from scrimmage, more than twice their foes. It was a true season of dominance that just fell short at the hands of an excellent foe. Mohammed totaled 150 carries for 1069 yards, often playing offense only in the first half.
A salute is in order to the graduating seniors who made it happen. #1 Jake Casciola, #2 Captain Matt Griffo, #4 Eddie Rifice, #7 Joe Sullivan, #10 Chris King, #20 Adam Schuler, #24 Frankie Deesing, #34 Captain Ishmoile Mohammed, #40 Peter Vames, #43 Kyle Gredder, #50 Matt Brennan, #51 Jim Mahr, #55 Captain Matt Martinez, #56 Captain Anthony Parrinello, #58 Zak Viverito, #61 John Adorno, #62 Don Pietrowski, #67 Terence Hotchkiss, #70 Alex Mangini, #80 James Panarelli, #82 Tim Schweitzer and #84 Bill Parker. The coaches who guided them: Rick Punzone and assistants Dan Drance, Mike DeJoseph, Chris Morra and Kevin Zaharios. And the Athletic Directors: Bob Mayo and Hans Wiederkehr. The community has reason to be proud of each.
|
for larger version       |
||||||||||||||||||||
