Westhampton Beach Football Loses at Islip but Still Manages To Qualify for Postseason

A 21-7 loss at Islip on Saturday afternoon put the Westhampton Beach football team in the unfamiliar territory of backing into the Suffolk County Division III playoffs, but the Hurricanes’ long streak of making it to the post-season remained intact.

Now comes the tall task of taking down top-seed and undefeated Sayville at its Greeley Avenue Field this Friday, November 7, at 6 p.m.

The Hurricanes, having lost their last four games to finish with a 2-6 record, had just enough power points (106.95) to nab the eighth and final seed. That was ahead of three teams that finished with better records — Rocky Point (4-4, 105.70), Eastport-South Manor (4-4, 103.95) and Harborfields (3-5, 90.65) — but with fewer power points.

Westhampton Beach head coach Bryan Schaumloffel said after Saturday’s loss that he thought the 13 additional points his team would receive for being ranked second going into the season, and with it a harsher schedule than most, that would give his team the edge, and that proved to be correct. And to the ’Canes credit, they did defeat one of those three bubble teams in ESM, while having not played Rocky Point nor Harborfields. Schaumloffel said he realizes the tough task ahead for him and his players, but they’re going to take it head on.

The Sayville Golden Flashes scored 20 unanswered second-half points on Saturday afternoon to come-from-behind and defeat host West Islip, 27-24, to remain undefeated.

“I enjoy going to Sayville and playing Sayville,” Schaumloffel said. “I think the kids enjoy going to Sayville and playing Sayville. We’re going to prepare to win. We’re going to go in there — we’re not going to be intimidated — and we’re going to play Hurricane football.”

Islip’s opening drive of the game was really a microcosm of how the game went all day on Saturday. After Westhampton Beach senior Patrick Fay deflected a pass to bring up 3rd and 8 on the Hurricanes’ 27, the Buccaneers completed a pass play that appeared to get the first down, but a holding call negated it and pushed them back 10 yards. On the reset, Islip still managed to convert the first down when quarterback Jack Rao found Jake DeGennaro. A few plays later, Rao scrambled right, heaved a pass to the back corner of the end zone that Alex Morales caught over a Westhampton Beach defender for the first touchdown of the game. Brody Deutsch kicked the ensuing extra point, and the Bucs led, 7-0.

The ’Canes began their first drive in similar fashion. Senior Nate LoGelfo had a good gain on a wide receiver screen pass but that was called back on a holding penalty. Despite multiple penalties on the drive, Westhampton Beach still managed to march down the field and eventually score when junior running back Nic Simone plunged into the end zone from a yard out with 2:01 remaining in the first quarter, and after senior Riley Maire’s extra point the game was tied, 7-7.

Midway through the second quarter and the ’Canes driving on offense, Fay faked the handoff to Simone and rolled right and threw a pass that was tipped high in the air by Elijah Lewis, high enough where Louis Tuorto intercepted it like a centerfielder catching a pop fly. On a drive that they started on their own 10-yard line, the Bucs drove all the way down the field, converting at least one 4th and 3 play, with Rao capping it with a 1-yard dive across the goal line. Deutsch’s extra point made it 14-7, which was the score at halftime.

Early on in the third quarter Westhampton Beach tried to convert a 4th and 1 that Simone was stuffed by the Islip defense, turning the ball over on its own 43. The Bucs then drove down less than half the field, converting a 4th and 7 along the way, capitalizing on a Rao-to-Morales slant in at the goal line. Another successful extra point by Deutsch made it 21-7 with 5:56 remaining in the third, and that was really all that was needed, as neither team managed to put together anymore scoring drives the rest of the game.

Rao was impressive under center for Islip, completing 28 of 39 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns. Morales was his favorite target all game. He finished with nine catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns. Simone was fed the rock early and often for the ’Canes. He ran for 124 yards.

Schaumloffel said he was disappointed with the loss because he really thought his team could upset Islip, which finished the regular season 7-1, to earn the three seed and will host East Hampton/Pierson/Bridgehampton this Friday night at 6 p.m.

“They’re a good team. They’ve got a lot of athletes,” Schaumloffel said of Islip. “Their quarterback is a heck of a player, but I’m proud of our guys. We battled. We didn’t back down. We’re just young, and we make some mistakes that kind of hurt us at times.

“I just think we didn’t capitalize on the opportunities that we had,” he added. “I think the interception near the end of the second quarter kind of hurt. If we go into halftime, 14-14, get the ball in the second half … but they’ve got good players over there.”