Knights nip Panthers 37-34 in overtime thriller

It was a huge crowd at Williams Field on Saturday night, October 18, to see a battle between two unbeaten teams fighting for the top spot in Suffolk's Division IV standings. They expected a beauty and they got more than they expected. The contest went to overtime, with the Glenn Knights edging the Babylon Panthers 37-34 on Reyes Guevara's field goal from 32 yards out. Glenn took over first place, pushing Babylon to a tie for second.

The throng came from near and far with the Babylon stands clogged and the folks from Elwood overflowing their side, standing two or three deep from end line to end line in the crisp October evening. The game flowed back and forth. Highlights were numerous. Any one of many plays bore significance to the outcome.

Glenn struck early, going 65 yards on six plays. Quarterback Mike Massa hit fullback Austin Cohen on a deep circle pass over the middle, getting the Knights to the Babylon 26-yard line. Three plays later, Massa capped it, firing 21 yards to Randal Exantus on a right post for the touchdown. Guevara kicked the first of his two extra points. Babylon's ensuing drive was stopped at the Glenn 4.

The second quarter was a tug of war. After a sack by Glenn's Malcolm Eugene to end a Panther drive, the Knights went up by two TDs as they again went 65 yards on six plays. Again, it was Massa to Exantus for the score. This one was a 45-yard deep flag to the left side. The Panthers clawed back immediately with a six-play, 55 yard drive. Tailback Bryan Schweitzer lugged the ball 54 of those yards, blasting inside on five straight carries. Fullback Sean Melow crashed over left guard for the TD. But immediately following the score, Babylon was called for unsportsmanlike conduct (apparently exuberance) and a fifteen yard penalty was assessed for the extra point attempt. This one was a killer which Babylon would later rue. A pass attempt failed at that point and Glenn led 14-6. Steve Loudon's kickoff was taken at the Glenn 14 by John Cinnante who followed key blocks up the middle and took it to the house, an 86-yard TD gallop.

Behind again by a pair of scores, the Panthers had a task in front of them. Alex Grandal's punt to the Glenn 15 and a penalty for an illegal block backed the Knights to their own 8. The Black D contained them and Schweitzer picked off a Glenn pass at the 16, raced left and went in for the score. Grandal added the first of his four extra point kicks. Mike Sullivan stifled the next Knight drive with an interception and the Panthers took over on their own 32.

With less than a buck and a half left on the first half clock, quarterback Greg Griffo led them back going four of six in the air. A shared sack by Phil Ammirato and Nick Terdick slowed things a bit. With a few ticks remaining and out of timeouts, Griffo took it from the 6. He dove forward and into the end zone, but it was ruled that his knee hit the ground just before his stretch and the half ended inside the 1-yard line. Bummer.

Glenn took a 20-13 lead into the second half. Their first possession began at their own 27. The Knights marched it deep into Panther turf. But the Black D stopped them at the 18 and Guevara's 35-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Pat Pietrowski. The ball squibbled down to the 3 (in effect, a punt) pushing Babylon way back. But Griffo gunned a deep left fly to Loudon who caught it before midfield and raced it down to the Glenn 10. Schweitzer ran it in from there over the right side between Pietrowski and Andrew Cosby. That tied it at 20-20. The Panthers then went 60 yards on six plays, capped with an 11-yard burst through the right side by Cory Rugen.

Now they entered the final quarter with the Panthers up by 7 and the Knights had their work cut out for them. A recovery by Ammirato at the Babylon 32 led to a fourplay drive with Cohen taking it around the left side from the 4 for a TD. The extra point kick was wide right and the Knights were still a point short. Seeking to pad their lead, the Panthers went 63 yards on nine plays. Griffo fired 21 yards to Loudon under the goal post for the score and the Cats were up by eight. JT Pate stopped the next Knight thrust with a pick at the Bab 18 and a run back to the 30. The task for the Panthers was to run out the clock. But with less than two minutes to go, Ammirato made his second key recovery of the period at the Panther 44. On the first play, Massa gunned deep down the left side and hit DJ Brown, who galloped it in for the score. They tied it with a 2-point conversion run by Cohen off the left side. A shared sack by Glenn's Eugene and Nick Capobianco ended regulation with the score tied 34-34.

In overtime, Babylon was stopped on a recovery by Capobianco. The Panthers stopped the Knights in three plays at the 15. And then, Guevara drilled the gamer, right through the uprights. No genuflects to end this one. Super slugfest.

Elated Glenn coach Dave Shanahan summed it up. "It was one of the greatest high school football games, ever. I'm so proud of our guys - strips, catches, and that kickoff return. I must credit Babylon. It takes an awful lot to beat them. Both teams had so much heart! We're looking forward to the playoffs and hope to play them again."

Other stuff: For Babylon, Schweitzer had 28 carries for 154 yards rushing, 186 all-purpose yards and two TDs (one on defense). Griffo was 7 of 11 in the air for 174 yards. He also had 20 carries for 54 yards and a total 228 all-purpose yards. Loudon snared 3 passes for 132 yards. The offense went for 459 yards on a season high 74 plays from scrimmage and 23 first downs. Glenn went 331 yards on 54 plays from scrimmage and had 8 first downs. Massa was 12 of 27 passing for 249 yards and three TDs. Cohen had 16 carries for 78 yards and Exantus caught 3 for 90 yards and a pair of TDs. By coincidence, each team was penalized eight times for 62 yards.

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Last Saturday was Homecoming for Babylon and the Panthers celebrated with a 40-0 shutout over the Shoreham Wildcats. Up front, Babylon's Big Cats led the way as eleven different running backs rushed for 320 yards on 55 carries. The Panthers added 36 yards in the air for a total 356 yards from scrimmage with 21 first downs. Meanwhile, the Black D clamped down on Shoreham's offense, holding the Wildcats to three first downs and a net 44 yards on offense.

The crowd was treated to a fine Homecoming with a range of festivities. The Junior Class produced the winning float, "It's Gonna Be A Meltdown." Michele Janaszak and Harry Newman were selected as homecoming Queen and King. The beautiful candidates for Queen were Laurie Busch, Philicia Frasson, Liz Jedrlinic, Erin Khan and Donovan Longo. The candidates for King included Jesse Carbonaro, Greg Griffo, Patrick Johnsen, Cameron Kluesener, Mike Lum and Kyle Yantz. The marching band performed and the cheerleaders were super. The Babylon Panther (Geoffrey Ermert) did his thing, occasionally on a unicycle.

In the game, the Panthers scored early and often. They opened with a 62-yard, six play drive, mostly from a power I. Mark Panarelli blasted through right guard from the 20-yard line for the TD. Bryan Schweitzer scraped off left tackle from the 6 for the second score. Alex Grandal added the first of his four extra point kicks. Then on defense, Schweitzer recovered a Shoreham misplay in the end zone for the third TD. The three TDs were scored in a span of four minutes and 21 seconds.

The Panthers got two more in the second quarter. They went 65 yards on nine plays with Sean Melow plowing in over left guard from the 1. Schweitzer scored his third TD crashing over right guard from the 1, following a block by Jose Feliciano and the Panthers carried a 33-0 lead into halftime.

Babylon's last tally came in the final period. With quarterback Dylan Hopkins at the helm, the Smurfs led the way on a 95-yard drive on thirteen plays. The ball carriers were Jaquan Pate, Satchel Holder, James Ainslie and James Ferri. The touchdown was scored on a loose ball covered in the end zone by James O'Rourke. Ainslie and Bryan Connolly ate up the final minutes on another drive.

Satisfied with the victory, coach Rick Punzone said, "This was a good bounce back game. We dominated on both sides of the ball. I'm proud of both our offense and defense."

Other stuff: On defense, Jaquan Pate had a batted pass in the Shoreham backfield, Schweitzer had a fumble recovery and a sack and a half, Cody Graham had a sack and a half, Ferri and Mike Augello had a half sack each, Steve Loudon intercepted a pass. Loudon also boomed four long kickoffs to pin the Wildcats back - one into the end zone, two to the 1-yard line and one to the 4.

Saturday, Babylon will play the Bayport Phantoms at Bayport. Both teams are 6-1 and both will be up. Game time is scheduled for 2 pm.