Clad in black pinnies, the offense marched north at Williams Field in a noncontact session. Griffo took the snap and roared through a big gap on the left side and into the end zone. Having fallen in the last moments of the county final in each of the last two seasons, the Babylon Panthers will approach this year with vengeance in mind.

The Suffolk County Division IV will remain at fourteen teams in 2008. Miller Place and Westhampton will move up to Division III, while Stony Brook and Wyandanch return to the group after having taken last year off. In the preseason seedings, Babylon is designated as the top entry with Glenn, Amityville, Southampton and Mount Sinai following, in that order.

Twenty Panthers have graduated from last year's club and fourteen are returning. The ball handlers will be experienced returnees. Head coach Rick Punzone approaches this year with his usual cautious optimism. He said, "Much depends upon our line. For the most part, they're inexperienced, but they come with size." Of the starting linemen from the 2007 team, offensive left tackle Pat Pietrowski is the only one back. But a number of others will return with varsity experience - Mike Augello, Matt Loskamp and Richie Smith return to the interior, joined by tight end Kevin Kelland. Among the wideouts will be Ryan Bliss, Bryan Connolly, Alex Grandal, Max Lockwood and Mike Sullivan. Each has solid time in the defensive backfield, as well. Quarterback/safety Greg Griffo returns, as do running backs Cory Rugen, Brian Schweitzer and power back Sean Melow. Rugen and Schweitzer are also experienced linebackers and Melow has proven solid on either side of the line.

Up from the JV and having been suited for the varsity during the playoffs are QB Dylan Hopkins, running backs James Ferri, Mark Panarelli and Jaquan Pate, lineman Andrew Crosby and wide receiver Jimmy Kelly. A number of players are moving up for the first time - linemen Nick Brennan, Zach Daniele and Will Dupre, tight ends Ryan Berry and Colin Greene, receivers Jordan Carlock, Justin Ciccone and Steve Loudon, and running back James Ainslie.

This year's assistant coaches will be Mike DeJoseph, Tom McNulty, Chris Morra, Bill Singleton and Brian Weitermeyer, with Paul Andrews doing the camera work. The JV coaches are Vinnie DeLapi and Tim Halvorsen. Handling the freshman team are Danny McHugh and Drew Peters.

Last year, the Panthers were third in the preseason seedings and surged to the top in the standings by season's end. It was a further indication of Babylon's long, winning tradition. In 2007, they finished 8-2 after having been nipped by Amityville in the county final. They had outscored all opponents 236-147. The offense rolled for 2642 yards from scrimmage while moving the chains for 125 first downs. The defense yielded only 98 first downs and held the opposition to 1989 yards. In turnovers, the Panthers had 25 takeaways and 14 giveaways.

Williams Field now has lights. Coach Punzone extended his gratitude for the support from Babylon's spirited community, "On behalf of the team and all of Babylon's outstanding programs, I'd like to thank Tom Reynolds, Doug Sutherland and the Babylon Turf Committee in their outstanding fundraising efforts for the field lighting. We're particularly grateful to Babylon resident Tom Natoli who volunteered the major portion of the electrical work." With the added lights at Williams Field, a number of home night games will be played.

The current regular season varsity schedule for 2008: 9/12 (Friday night) vs. Greenport 7 pm, 9/19 (Friday night) vs. Amityville 7 pm, 9/27 at Port Jefferson 1:30 pm, 10/3 (Friday night) at Mount Sinai 7 pm, 10/11 at Southampton 1:30 pm, 10/17 (Friday night) vs. Glenn 7 pm, 10/25 (Homecoming) vs. Shoreham 2 pm, 11/1 at Bayport 2 pm.