Westhampton Sees Ways To Grow After Lopsided Loss to Hills West

Westhampton Beach football players say there’s a lot to learn from a season-opening 45-7 loss to Half Hollow Hills West on Saturday, and the Hurricanes are ready to get to work.

“This was definitely not the outcome we were hoping for,” said senior middle linebacker Aidan Arrasate. “As a young team, we have a lot to improve upon, but we are using this game as motivation to work even harder.”

The run game was solid, especially between senior running back and kicker Brody Schaffer and sophomore quarterback Jake Calloway’s carries, but mental mistakes proved costly. On the Colts’ first drive of the game, they marched 80 yards in 10 plays and capped it with an 18-yard Christian Alfaro run with 8:01 on the clock. Hills West quarterback Joseph Filardi rushed for 190 yards on eight carries and two touchdowns and threw for 168 yards on five passes and three touchdowns, while Jesse Brooks had two catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns and an interception on defense. Jade Diaz had nine tackles — two for a loss and one sack — and Jayden Smith had six tackles — one for a loss and a strip fumble recovery.

“We will improve,” said Calloway, who played in his first varsity game on the road September 14. “I was nervous to start, but I became calm and composed after the first few plays. Brody and I have been working in practice a lot and we have good chemistry together. He did a nice job breaking some good runs for big first downs.”

Schaffer said he felt the offensive line did a good job of creating gaps for the backs to get through, and added while there’s always room for improvement, there were positives, like with what he’s seen from his young field general.

“It’s always a lot of fun to be in the backfield with Jake. He has a lot to offer this team,” Schaffer said. “Although he’s just a sophomore, he will be a very good player for this year’s team and years to come. The kid’s a stud. I think that for his age, he performs at a very high level mentally and physically. He can throw the ball, and can also get you a first down with his legs.”

Calloway also credited Arrasate for his tackles on defense, while creating holes at the fullback position, but added he feels the secondary could tighten up to not allow as many big plays, and the Hurricanes could be more physical overall. Filardi, for instance, emerged from the middle of a pile late in the second for a 98-yard touchdown scramble that put the Colts out front 28-0.

Arrasate said the positive is that the errors made are fixable moving forward.

“We were running the ball well, but we made numerous mental mistakes that cost us yards,” the senior said. “Our main takeaways are to clean up our mental mistakes and to execute the game plan more effectively. Repetition is key.”

Sophomore running back Nicholas Simone scored the lone touchdown for Westhampton Beach, on a 17-yard run, late in the fourth. Schaffer’s extra point kick was good. Arrasate said he himself was impressed by the sophomore, who also plays outside backer.

“He felt super comfortable and had a good feel for everything going on and definitely has some potential,” the linebacker said. “But what I really like is we are a family. We play for each other and what matters to us isn’t our individual stats or plays, it’s our team’s performance as a whole. I feel confident in our ability to really make a run. I think we have something special.”

While he called Hills West some of the best competition the Hurricanes will see this season, he said he believes Westhampton Beach’s game on Friday night at Comsewogue at 7 p.m. will be big test for the Hurricanes’ standing this season. Westhampton Beach will close out the month hosting Islip next Friday, September 27, at 6 p.m.

“The mistakes we made are 100 percent fixable, and we will fix them,” Schaffer said. “We will continue to get better and better week by week because our team has something special to offer. We definitely still have a lot to work on, but I’m very confident that the group of guys we have will continue to progress and get better. This team still has a lot to show. We will continue to work hard and prove people wrong.”