Hurricanes Get Back To Their Brand Of Football, Clobber Comsewogue 35-9

Although playoffs are a few weeks away, the Westhampton Beach football team is prepared to make its run now.

Coming off a thrilling 34-27 victory at home over Deer Park on October 8, the Hurricanes got back to the brand of football they have become accustomed to seeing over the years and defeated Comsewogue, 35-9, at home on Friday night. The victory improved Westhampton Beach to 2-3 with 110.33 power points, good enough for fifth place in Division III, well within the top eight placements that garner postseason berths.

Whether or not the ’Canes can finish within the top four to earn a home playoff game is still to be decided. They will host Hauppauge this Friday night at 6 p.m. for their final home game of the season and will finish the regular season the following week, October 29, at Rocky Point.

Westhampton Beach is taking things one week at a time and Friday night’s game was enjoyed by all involved.

“We’re treating every game like a playoff game,” senior Frankie Noto said after the game. “We can’t back down ever. We got to keep fighting and fighting. This week, 35-9, against a good Comsewogue team, we’re 2-3 now, we’re going to shoot our way into the playoffs — hopefully beat Hauppauge next week and then we have Rocky Point after. We have to take it one week at a time.”

The ’Canes got to work right away Friday night. After forcing a quick three and out for Comsewogue, Westhampton Beach drove down the field and scored when sophomore quarterback Will Gambino hit senior wide receiver Owen Spizuoco on a slant route, who then quickly headed upfield and into the end zone for the touchdown not even five minutes into the game.

After another Comsewogue three-and-out, senior co-captain Deegan Laube’s long punt return set up Westhampton Beach deep into Warrior territory, and just a few plays later, Gambino and senior receiver Christian Killoran connected for a 29-yard touchdown pass, with Killoran making a strong effort to cross the goal line to make it a 14-0 game.

Comsewogue outscored Westhampton Beach, 6-3, in the second quarter to make it a bit of a game by halftime, with the ’Canes only leading 17-6, but they came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders. Gambino hit Spizuoco in stride for a 57-yard touchdown strike and it was all ’Canes from that point forward.

Gambino threw his fourth and final touchdown pass of the game to Laube later in the third quarter and junior Shane O’Brien hit his second 29-yard field goal of the night in the fourth quarter to finish the scoring attack. Gambino completed 11 of his 18 passes for 250 yards, Spizuoco caught six passes for 132 yards and Killoran caught three for 66 yards. Senior co-captain Robert Moreland paced the rushing attack with 97 yards on 16 carries. Senior Zach Furhmann paced the defense with three sacks.

Westhampton Beach head coach Bryan Schaumloffel said after a good week of practice, particularly on Wednesday of Thursday of last week, the results were not surprising.

“I’m really proud of our guys. Our guys deserve it,” he said. “Losing stinks, and as Rob Moreland said at the beginning of the season, winning is fun. Winning cures everything. There’s no better feeling in the world than winning. We got two in a row, we got to keep on going, and I’m proud of our seniors. They worked hard, they had to come through a lot of adversity. We made some changes this week. We really tried to focus in and tried to improve our diet and our hydration because we cramped a little bit, and I think we did that.”

Friday night was a big night for Gambino, the sophomore quarterback. Schaumloffel said he liked what he saw from him and that he has an experienced and skilled group surrounding him, which helps.

“​He had a great day. I think some of his strengths are accuracy, his knowledge of the offense and I think he did a really nice job and I think he’s getting a little more confidence each week,” he said. “We have some really talented wide receivers and we have some really talented skill players and that’s one of the reasons why we went to the spread [offense] this year. We thought we had some kids who could be playmakers who could do well with the ball in space.”

This season didn’t get off to a great start for Westhampton Beach when its season and home opener was canceled after its opponent, Harborfields, came down with a COVID case. What was expected to be a win for the Hurricanes instead turned into a no contest — nor a win, loss or tie — and then they had to play three of the strongest teams in the division in Kings Park, East Islip and Sayville. That’s what led the team one of its worst starts in recent memory, but its ready to put all of that behind it now, Noto and senior lineman Erich Schaumloffel, who is the son of head coach Bryan Schaumloffel, said after Friday night’s victory.

“The offense is clicking. Quarterbacks are clicking with the offensive line, receivers are just running great routes, blocking,” Noto said. “I mean, we’re all just bonding together and connecting as a team. We just got to keep going and keep putting our foot on the gas and grinding.”