Penalties, Missed Opportunities Cost Bonac Football in Its Season-Opening Loss at ESM

“Watch the ball!”

It was yelled out repeatedly on Saturday afternoon in Manorville, particularly from the East Hampton/Pierson/Bridgehampton football players themselves on the field. But also by the coaches and players on the sidelines and the Bonac crowd on hand just beyond the fence on the visitor’s side. But it didn’t seem to matter.

Eastport-South Manor quarterback Matthew Beardsley repeatedly pulled Bonac players offsides on hard counts leading to multiple penalties, particularly on 3rd and 4th downs that prolonged drives, some that even led to points. The backbreaker came on the final drive of the game.

After being down 12-0 early in the second quarter, Bonac scored what had been 17 unanswered points when Bridgehampton senior Jai Feaster plunged into the end zone from 3 yards out to give it its first lead of the day. But with 4:31 remaining in the game, Brayden Huff recovered a fumble for the Sharks at midfield giving themselves a prime opportunity to stage a late comeback.

With 1:29 remaining, Beardsley scrambled for a 12-yard gain, but still, ESM faced 4th and 3 from East Hampton’s 32. A stop by the Bonac defense and the game was over. Instead, as he had done multiple times already, Beardsley pulled an East Hampton defender offsides on a hard count, giving the Sharks five yards, and more importantly, a new set of downs.

Beardsley then found Thomas Powers on a long pass-and-catch setting up ESM at the 5-yard line. He then found Jayden Durham at the goal line. He shook off one defender and scampered into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game. The Sharks took the lead, 18-17, with 29.4 seconds remaining, and that wound up being the final score.

It was a hard pill to swallow for the Bonackers, who had the Sharks number in recent years, to the point where they were favored to win the game. East Hampton will likely take a bit of a hit in the power-point based standings.

“Definitely a lot of penalties, and a lot of missed opportunities,” head coach Joe McKee said. “We had two offsides penalties on fourth down, one on 4th and 3, the last one there was 4th and 4.

“But we had a nice little comeback there of our own,” he added. “Their first two touchdowns, one was from inside the 20 after a bad punt, the other was after an interception that was brought back to the 2-yard line, so I thought we fought back great. I think at one point we even took over the game, we just couldn’t finish it. We missed opportunities to put the game away. We shot ourselves in the foot. Hats off to their team, they played well.”

Manny Morales put East Hampton on the board for the first time this season after nailing a 25-yard field goal with 6:50 remaining in the first half. Bonac got the ball back with just a few minutes left in the half, but made quick work, with senior quarterback Theo Ball finding senior wide receiver Livs Kuplins in the end zone for a 15-yard strike. After Morales’s extra point, East Hampton trailed, 12-10, but took that momentum in the second half.

Feaster scored his touchdown run in the third, Bonac being aided by a 15-yard facemask penalty on ESM. That led to everything that transpired in the fourth quarter.

Alex Davis, the Bridgehampton senior who was expected to be a real threat once again out of the backfield for the Bonackers this season, injured his hamstring early on in the game on what ended up being his longest run of the game up until that point. That left Bonac a little thin in the backfield, though Feaster filled in admirably in his absence.

On the other side, ESM lost arguably its top player in Max Ferraro to a leg injury, but he did return in the second half. Ferraro had scored the first touchdown of the game on a quick 8-yard pass from Beardsley.

Davis is expected to miss some practice time this week, but McKee said he expects him to suit up when East Hampton plays at Half Hollow Hills West this Saturday at 1 p.m.

“Alex seems to be doing okay,” McKee said. “It’s a tricky injury. He definitely felt better after treatment. We’ll take it day by day during the week and see what happens come Saturday.”

As of Monday, the loss still stung a bit for McKee.

“It is the first game,” he said. “We talk about one of our keys is no penalties and no turnovers. We had eight penalties.

“We’ll watch some film, work on some things and try to get better,” McKee added.

ESM and East Hampton stood in solidarity on Saturday for Childhood Cancer Awareness, raising funds for the Bentley Strong Foundation, created in memory of Manorville resident and ESM football player Bentley Kelley. The foundation works to provide assistance, spread awareness, and continue Bentley’s legacy of strength and courage. Over $800 was raised at the game.

After the final whistle blew on Saturday afternoon, Lorenzo Rodriguez and McKee embraced and shook hands on a good game. Rodriguez helped McKee bring back Bonac football, but is now an assistant coach at ESM.

“He spent a couple of years with me in the beginning. He was with me for five or six years after that,” McKee said of Rodriguez. “He became really close with a lot of our kids and families. It was bittersweet seeing him on the other side. We definitely miss him here, for sure.”