Canes win battle but Sharks win the big prize

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There was plenty of support from the Westhampton Beach students at the football game on Friday night.
Photos by Tim Laube

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In the latest chapter of what is fast becoming one of the area’s newest and best rivalries in high school sports—Westhampton Beach won the battle, but Eastport South Manor won the war.

Behind a rock-solid defense that shut out a potent Sharks offense in the second half, the Westhampton Beach High School football team turned a narrow 10-6 halftime lead into an authoritative 23-6 Division III victory at home during homecoming festivities on Friday night. It was the regular season finale for both teams and it happened in front of a boisterous standing room only crowd at Carl A. Hansen Memorial Field.

However, when the dust settled from the weekend’s action and the power points that determine the division standings were finally calculated, it was Eastport South Manor (5-3) with just enough gas in the tank to qualify for the postseason’s eighth and final spot while the Hurricanes (4-4) will finish just out of the playoffs, a few scant points short in ninth place right behind the Sharks. It’s the first-ever trip to the postseason for the Eastport South Manor team in its sixth season as a varsity squad.

“The kids really worked hard and deserve to be there,” second-year ESM coach Brian Sacks said. “The kids are real excited to be in the playoffs, but they really wanted to beat Westhampton. It’s their rival and the biggest game of the year.” Eastport South Manor went 0-8 last season.

With the eighth seed in the playoffs, Eastport South Manor has earned a date with the number one seed, Half Hollow Hills West, which finished on top of the division at 8-0 and a top power point rating of 148.75. The Sharks finished with 103.95 power points while the Hurricanes came in at 101.45. Hills West will host Eastport South Manor on Saturday.

For the Hurricanes, it was a bittersweet weekend in which they saved one of their better games for last to no avail. And like they did when they upset the higher ranked Hauppauge Eagles earlier in the season and in their loss to Comsewogue two weeks ago, the Hurricanes’ defense locked it down in the second half with a smothering defense that all but shut down one of the division’s top-running backs, the Sharks’ Alan Henderson.

The Hurricanes held Eastport South Manor to 76 yards of offense in the second half and only 142 for the game. For the Sharks, it was the first time all year they were held to just one touchdown. Eastport South Manor entered the game averaging almost 25 points per game. The loss also snapped the Sharks’ three-game winning streak.

“(Henderson) is a great running back,” said senior Hurricane captain Justin LaGrasse. “I know him and he’s a great athlete. But all week we prepared for him. We knew we had to shut him down.”

Westhampton Beach scored first in this one and never trailed. The Hurricanes were up 7-6 right before the half when Anthony DiNitto boomed a 27-yard field goal that would have been good from 40.

The Hurricanes’ defense went right to work in the third quarter. With Eastport South Manor opening the half at its own 20-yard line, Henderson was stopped for a 1-yard loss, before Shark quarterback Luke Combs threw an incomplete pass on second down. He was then thrown for a 7-yard loss by sophomore Hurricane linebacker Connor Raynor. It was the first of two sacks for the 10th-grader on the evening. That forced the Sharks to punt.

“We were fired up for this game,” Raynor said. “Everybody has been talking about it. Our line played great and we were ready for (Henderson).”

Eastport had only three other possessions in the half—two of them went for a little more than 40 yards and another, a golden opportunity to score from inside the Westhampton Beach 30, failing to gain a yard due to the Westhampton Beach defense.

After a penalty and short Westhampton Beach punt set the Sharks up at the Hurricanes’ 29-yard line with 4:41 left in the game, the Hurricane defense came to the rescue. Combs had his 20-yard pass attempt to Pat Fabian broken up by juniors Cory Schulz and Kyle Cobb before another pass found the turf first. A toss to Henderson came up empty when Westhampton Beach defensive tackle Edwin Vargas stopped the junior Shark at the line of scrimmage. Westhampton Beach’s Danny Gomez then batted away another 20-yard pass attempt to give the Hurricanes back the ball on downs with 3:38 left in the game. From there all Westhampton Beach had to do was run out the clock.

The Sharks got on the board early in the second quarter thanks to an 11-play drive that covered 55 yards and it was Henderson shouldering most of the load. Henderson carried eight plays on the drive including a big run at the end when he shook off a tackle attempt by Scott Martin for a near loss and instead danced for a 4-yard touchdown. The kick failed and Westhampton Beach held tight to a 7-6 advantage.