Babylon Football:
Panthers pound Phantoms, take top playoff slot
by Tony Spota

The cold rain came down in a slant, pushed by a wind from the north. The field was slippery. But the Babylon Panthers showed again that they love adverse conditions as they beat the Bayport Phantoms 35-14 at Bob Sullivan Field in Bayport, in Saturday's nor'easter. And the Panther cheerleaders and faithful were there to back the team, as always. Babylon's victory locked up a first place finish in Division IV and home field advantage for the first game of the playoffs.

With a rock solid defense, the Panthers dominated without allowing a first down until midway in the third period. Going back to the game against Amityville they had four quarters in a row without allowing a first down. That included eleven straight three-and-outs and takeaways. The Panther offense hogged the ball throughout. They rumbled for 303 yards rushing (by nine different ball carriers) and 54 in the air, a total 357 yards from scrimmage and fifteen first downs on 61 plays. The Black D kept Bayport to only 57 yards on 27 plays with four first downs.

Babylon scored first. Quarterback Willie Rivas rolled left, fired into the wind and hit Alex Grandal on a right post for a touchdown. The play went for 40 yards. Kerry Carlock kicked the first of his five extra points. Next, the Panthers went 77 yards on fifteen plays helped by a roughness penalty. The key was a 14-yard middle screen from Rivas to Joe Bender taking the ball to the Phantom 18-yard line. Two plays later, Rivas swept the left side on a keeper for 13 yards to the 2. Bender banged it in from there between center Tom Heavner and right guard Marc Martinez. Following a fumble recovery by Pat Pietrowski at the Bayport 13, the Panthers scored in two plays. Rivas swept the left side again to the 4 and Aaron Pinto scored from there over the right side behind Martinez and tackle Matt Lauria. Babylon forced another turnover when Lauria blocked a punt and Beau Bachety recovered at the Bayport 20. Pinto swept the right side 17 yards to the 3 and capped the possession from the 1 on another run to the right. The Panthers led 28-0 at the half. Babylon opened the second half going 65 yards on four plays. Cory Rugen blasted off right tackle and raced 37 yards for the TD.

The Smurfs took over for the second half - Brendan Banks, Ryan Bliss, Bryan Connolly, Jim Dawes, Kevin Foret, Kevin Kelland, Max Lockwood, Matt Loskamp, Ryan McKeown, Dom Rifice, Adam Rodriguez, Richie Smith, Mike Sullivan, Billy Vukovich. They wear that label like a badge of honor. These are the guys you don't hear enough about. A few star on the unheralded special teams. The Smurfs spend the season in the pits going up against the starters in practice. After taking those lumps against one of the league's top teams week after week, a game against another opponent is like a day at the beach. With the exception of one Bayport drive, they owned the remainder of the game.

In the middle of the third quarter, the Phantoms picked up their initial first down. They scored on the first play of the final quarter with quarterback Corey Picone sneaking in from the 1. It would be their only play from scrimmage for the remainder of the game. Bayport later scored when Dylan Gray scooped up a loose ball and raced 82 yards for the score. Ricky Allen kicked both extra points. The real story of the period was the ball control by the Smurfs. They had possession for 11 minutes and 55 seconds of the 12 minute quarter. Bayport touched the ball only twice and scored both times. Babylon ran 21 of the 22 plays from scrimmage.

The Babylon Panther 10 year olds beat Hauppauge 18-0 at home Sunday October 7th, extending the team's winning streak to 5-0. Babylon's win pushed them ahead of West Islip to clinch 1st in the division top 5 leaders, in P.A.L.'s 10 West-3 division. West Islip, in a heart breaker lost over the weekend to Half Hollow Hills in a close game 7-6.

Hauppauge's first play of the game was immediately turned over by the powerful Babylon defense. Exploding through the line, defensive tackle Alex Turri rips the ball loose from the quarterback and nose guard John Botto runs over the fullback recovering the ball on their 32-yard line. Babylon took full advantage of the mishap, and on its second play, halfback Zachary Carmody breaks a tackle attempt and runs for a 20 yard touchdown.

Hauppauge's second drive fell just as quickly when they attempted to run to the outside and defensive end Henry Brunjes knocked the ball loose on a hard hit, and safety Thomas McHugh recovered the fumble on its 34-yard line. The Babylon offense answered right back with a 30-yard run by fullback Kyle Buser and Henry Brunjes ran the ball in for a 4-yard quarterback sneak touchdown.

Late in the second quarter, Hauppauge attempts the other side of the Babylon defense and is again met with Panther fury. Defensive tackle Matthew Lauri forces a fumble just as Hauppauge quarterback is handing the ball off and defensive End Steven Schwitzer pushes the halfback aside recovering the ball on their 44-yard line.

Babylon, with seconds left, ends the quarter when fullback Kyle Buser breaks several tackles and runs for a 44-yard touchdown.

Hauppauge starts the third quarter off with a loss of 6-yards when Babylon defensive end Jack Conlon goes in pursuit of the quarterback and is assisted by linemen Joe Ponzone, Jack Kresic and Corey Harberg on a gang tackle sack.

Babylon quarterback Jack Conlon starts the third quarter with a drive, using halfback Derek Chapey.

Babylon's next set of downs fall just short of a first down and are forced to punt for the first time in the game. Steven Schweitzer with a long kick and a Babylon bounce gives Hauppauge terrible field position. Hauppauge, in desperation, falls to the Babylon defense with another sack, led by defensive end Jack Conlon and linebacker Christian Martino. In pursuit, lineman John Botto takes them all down with an incredibly powerful hit.

Babylon, with good field position just shy of a first down, sees Hauppauge force its way into the Babylon backfield for the first time in the game with a 14- yard loss sack. Babylon goes to the air with an incredible diving 14-yard reception by Dylan Dreher. The officials marked the ball inches short of a first down. Hauppauge with 2 unbelievable runs late in the game goes 75-yards to the Babylon 9-yard line.

Hauppauge with a time out plans its attack. Babylon retakes the field with its powerhouse goal line defense. With one play left in the game Hauppauge is held, 4th down and goal at the Babylon 8-yard line. Hauppauge halfback, following two blockers, goes to the outside with Babylon defensive end Jack Faccibene and linebacker Steven Schweitzer in close pursuit. Faccibene and Schweitzer break through the blockers beginning to bring him down when roving Panther back Zack Carmody cleans up with a hard hit forcing Hauppauge back to their 14- yard line, ending the game.

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