East Islip’s buses were shaking, and all that could be heard across the Westhampton Beach High School campus were chants of “SCC! SCC!”
That’s because with a 42-27 win over the Hurricanes, the Redmen are heading back to the Division III Suffolk County final game for the first time since 2016.
“This is definitely a statement,” East Islip senior Nick Baldino said. “No one thought we were going to win this game, but we showed them up.”
East Islip (8-2) set the tone early. After the defense held the Hurricanes (8-2) at midfield on their first drive, the team needed just three plays, and two encroachment calls, to help senior running back Dylan Rigo (three touchdowns) into the end zone with 5:02 left in the quarter.
But it wasn’t so easy to stop Westhampton senior running back Jaden AlfanoStJohn, who answered each of Rigo’s first two touchdowns for East Islip to make it a new game heading into the second half.
Senior quarterback Brandon Miller, who completed 67 percent of his passes (104-for-170) entering the semifinal game, connected with classmate Rob Kreush for back-to-back touchdowns of 28 and 20 yards to go up by two scores early in the third. Miller finished 12-for-19 for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and carried the ball 16 times for an additional 80 yards.
“We wanted to shut this place down,” Miller said. “And it feels amazing, because we played as one. It was all confidence.”
Baldino carried the ball to the 50-yard line on the opening kickoff of the half, and made a huge catch to put the ball on the 49-yard line with seven minutes left in the third to set up Kreush’s two scoring plays.
“They have a good offense,” Baldino said. “We wanted to win on the defensive side of the ball‚ shut them down and then do our thing on offense. Brandon Miller did a great job, and we all backed him up.”
The touchdown with 5:27 left in the third gave East Islip, ahead then 28-14, the lead for good.
After the Redmen almost intercepted a pass in the end zone on Westhampton’s next drive, senior linebacker Troy Burrell came up with a pick on the very next play, and carried the ball to Westhampton’s 42. It led to Derek Burrell’s 28-yard touchdown catch from Miller with 32 seconds left in the third to put the game out of reach heading into the final quarter.
“To finally get here is an amazing feeling,” Baldino said. “We’ve worked so hard for this.” AlfanoStJohn scored all four of Westhampton’s touchdowns, tacking on the final two back to back after the Hurricanes successfully completed an onside kick. The ball was recovered by senior middle linebacker Shavar Coffey. East Islip blocked junior Jackson Hulse’s final extra-point kick attempt.
In 2016, the Redmen won the Suffolk County final before falling 21-14 to Wantagh in the Long Island championship to end the season 9-3. That year, East Islip edged Westhampton 39-29 in the semifinals before topping Sayville 42-35 in what was at the time the Redmen’s ninth trip to the Division III title game in 11 years. With No. 1 Sayville’s (10-0) win over No. 4 Kings Park to put the two into the Thursday, November 21 finals at Stony Brook University at 7 p.m., could this win be foreshadowing another title and 9-2 Suffolk County season?
“I haven’t felt this before — it’s the best feeling ever,” Baldino said. “I’ve been dreaming about this since I was a little kid, and whoever it is, we’re going to be ready for them.”
