Running back Bryan Schweitzer, No.44, gaining ground over Mercy defender. Schweitzer rushed for 111 yards in the 1st half alone. Photo by Garret Meade Tenacity was the word. There was no letup. The Babylon Panthers tapped their future stars going deeper and deeper into the bench and ripped the Mercy Monarchs 47-6 at Williams Field last Friday night. They presented Rick Punzone with his fiftieth victory as a head coach and marched another step in the 2008 playoffs.

The combined efforts of the Big Cats up front on offense and the Black D on defense were far too much for the Monarchs (5-4), now eliminated from further post season consideration. In 56 plays from scrimmage, the Panthers went for 448 yards. Quarterback Greg Griffo was 4 of 6 in the air for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Twelve running backs had 335 yards on 50 carries, led by tailback Bryan Schweitzer (11 carries for 111 yards and a TD). Playing only the first half on offense, Griffo totaled 146 yards in all-purpose yardage and Schweitzer 118.

The Black D was particularly effective. Relentless, they chalked up seven sacks and a pair of turnovers, holding the Mercy ground game to a net 20 yards on 24 carries. The heralded Mercy passing attack completed 8 passes for 171 yards. The Babylon defensive line has been super all year - Colin Greene, Nick Brennan, Andrew Cosby, Richie Smith, Cody Graham, Mike Augello, Zach Daniele, Pat Pietrowski, Sean Melow - they just keep on charging. Greene and Smith had a sack apiece. Linebacker Ryan Bliss was a thorn in the backfield of the Monarchs. He had a sack and a half, one to stop an extra point attempt and the other shared with Graham. Linebacker Mark Panarelli had a pick. And the Smurf defense was just as effective. Drew Allagio moved in for a sack and Mike Owens, up from the JV in his varsity debut, had a pair of sacks on two straight plays. The Dbacks harassed the Monarch receivers, swatting passes from sideline to sideline - JT Pate, Alex Grandal, Steve Loudon, Mike Sullivan, Max Lockwood. A super D.

Mercy opened with an onside kick, recovered by Patrick Lowth. The Black D killed the attempt, limiting them to a three-and-out. Lowth's punt pushed the Panthers back to their own 2-yard line. From there, the Big Cats led them down the field going 98 yards on eleven plays. The keys were a 16-yard pass from Griffo to JT Pate and a 40-yard blast up the middle by Schweitzer, who then capped the drive from the 5 on a slash through left guard. Grandal added the first of his five extra point kicks. Following another three-and-out, Griffo gunned deep down the right side to Grandal in the end zone for a 38-yard scoring pass play.

The second quarter opened with a 90-yard Panther drive on nine plays. Griffo slashed off right tackle on a keeper for a 30-yard run and the TD. Loudon's kickoff was recovered by Grandal at the Mercy 16. Two plays later, Jaquan Pate raced around left end, followed the blocks of his brother JT and Grandal and ran for pay dirt. The play went for 15 yards. This time, the Monarchs were able to answer. Quarterback Ryan Olson hit Andrew LaGrasse on a deep fly for a 52-yard TD scoring pass. Griffo hit JT on a left hitch and the fleet receiver zipped down the left side line, 55 yards for the score. Bing, bang, bing. The last four TDs (by both teams) came within two minutes and six seconds.

Babylon basked in a 40-6 halftime lead and the Smurfs took it from there. On their first possession, they went 91 yards on thirteen plays. Captain Cory Rugen banged over right tackle from the 1 to cap the drive.

Other stuff: The Babylon Chordettes gave a beautiful rendition of our National Anthem to start the evening off. Babylon still leads the Island with 364 points in nine games (265 in the first half). They've held the opponents to 94 points (only 40 in the first half). In addition to Owens, Greg McEnroe and Brian Bonovolia made their varsity debuts. For the Monarchs, Olson was 7 of 20 passing for 159 yards, four to LaGrasse for 77 yards and the TD.

Next, the Panthers (8-1) will host the Division Semifinal on Saturday, 1 pm, at Williams Field. Their long time rival, the Amityville Warriors (7-2) will oppose the Panthers. The winner goes on to the County Final. Amityville eliminated Mt. Sinai 28-0, last Saturday. The Warriors are the defending Level IV 2007 Long Island Champions. Last year, they edged the Panthers in the closing seconds of the County Final at Stony Brook. This year, the Panthers beat the Warriors 33-14 in their regular season meeting. Both will be up and sky high for this one.

In the other Division IV playoff games, top ranked Glenn blanked Shoreham 14-0 and Bayport beat Port Jefferson 21-10. So the Division Semifinal there will have Glenn (9-0) hosting Bayport (7-2).