Westhampton Beach Football Drops Season Opener At Kings Park, 21-6

Wide receiver Owen Spizuoco had one word to describe how he felt Friday night: Frustrated.

Unfulfilled after his three big fourth quarter catch-and-runs helped his Westhampton Beach football team to the 4-yard line, knocking on the door down 7-6, but missing the conversion and a fourth down field goal attempt in what was ultimately a 21-6 loss on the road at Kings Park.

“We definitely did not play as well as we could have — we all played pretty sloppy,” said the senior, who finished with 83 yards on four receptions. He believes missing out on playing last week due to Harborfields’ COVID-19-related shutdown hurt his Hurricanes. “This is our first taste of action,” Spizuoco said, “and we didn’t step up to the challenge.”

But Westhampton senior quarterback Geoff Arrasate showed some signs of promise early when he secured all three first downs. That was, before senior running back Rob Moreland’s 6-yard loss and a false start made it third-and-22. After a quick three downs, Westhampton was back at it and Arrasate connected with senior Ethan Faralan, but another false start thwarted any forward progress.

“I felt pretty good out on the field. I did my game-planning and knew what to look for from Kings Park, but I think that we didn’t play up to our expectations, and I know that we are better than that performance,” Arrasate said. “I also think that our week off hurt us in our preparation. This was our first game of the year, and not having any scrimmages beforehand made this game the first time we saw game-speed football. Harborfields was an opportunity for us to knock off the rust and gain confidence in our game. However, the loss is out of our control, and it’s on us to overcome this hurdle and any others we may face throughout the season.”

The Hurricanes called timeout, and at 2:55 Arrasate found an open Nick Waszkelewicz, and the senior booked downfield 38 yards for the score. The extra-point kick attempt was just wide and left for a 6-0 lead.

“We caught them off guard a little bit early, but we just made too many mistakes,” head coach Bryan Schaumloffel said. “If we ran 60 plays, we probably made 30. And when one person makes a mistake it shuts down the play, and we didn’t capitalize on the opportunities we had. It wasn’t a great start.”

After punting on fourth-and-14 Kings Park got the ball back at the 8:29 mark of the second quarter, and the Kingsmen began their march. They slowly moved the chains over the next four minutes before Nico Laviano punched it in from one yard out, for his first of two scores. The extra-point kick gave Kings Park a lead it would not relinquish.

“We haven’t had many games like this. A lot of Westhampton teams haven’t faced a lot of adversity,” Schaumloffel said. “So, we’re going to see what we’re made of.”

Arrasate finished with 55 yards on 3-for-7 passing, while sophomore quarterback Will Gambino went 7-for-12 for 97 yards. Each threw one interception, but Arrasate also caught an interception on defense. Moreland carried the ball 41 yards on nine carries and caught a 17-yard pass. Waszkelewicz traveled 54 yards on two carries and senior running back Deegan Laube caught four receptions for 24 yards. Junior defensive end Noah Hebberd finished with a team-high seven tackles.

Regardless of the outcome, Schaumloffel said his team played hard, and always does.

“We’re still playing high school football. We’re still playing the sport that we love,” the coach said. “As I told the guys, nobody should point fingers because everybody, even the coaching staff, has to do a better job. We’re going to get back to work on Monday, we’re going to regroup, we’re going to show our pride and we’re going to get better from this. It’s the only thing we can do.”

Spizuoco also saw the loss as a good learning experience, and is excited to be back out on the field.

“I love football so much. And it just feels so great to be back out here,” the senior said. “We’ve got to pick our heads up, come back to practice and get back to work.”