WEEK 6 FOOTBALL: Baymen Roll To 6-0 With Thrilling Win Over Bayport; EH, WH Jockey For Playoffs

By Brett Mauser

Robbie King (left) and the Baymen of Hampton Bays improved their record to 6-0 this season with a 21-18 victory over Bayport-Blue Point on Saturday. Photos by Bret Mauser

Hampton Bays - The Hampton Bays football team plays a black 'n' blue collar brand of ball - physical football with a dash of finesse to keep defenses honest. They've lined up across from six opponents this year and run straight at and around each and every one, the latest victim being Bayport-Blue Point in a 21-18 victory that included more than 300 yards rushing and kept Hampton Bays' record perfect.

Saturday's victory propelled the 6-0 Baymen to the third spot in the Division IV rankings with 125.2 power points, trailing only unbeaten John Glenn (141.66) and 5-1 Babylon (133.33). Amityville is currently in position for the fourth home playoff game, having accumulated 120 power points. Bayport-Blue Point (2-4) is hanging on to the eighth and final postseason spot with Port Jefferson and Shoreham-Wading River on its tail.

Hampton Bays running back Oskar Ramirez pounded on the Phantom defense to the tune of 77 yards on 19 carries.

"It was a very good win," Oestreicher said. "It's getting to the point where we're - I don't want to say cocky because that's not accurate - but I think we're becoming confident in our ability to win football games. That's something that's been missing here for a long time."

The Baymen clung to a three-point advantage with 9:10 showing on the clock in the fourth quarter. Their power running game began to string together first down after first down until, finally, they could assemble in victory formation. They'd bled more than three-quarters of the fourth to secure their sixth win of the year.

"As long as I've been at Hampton Bays, I don't remember us being able to hold the ball for nine minutes," Oestreicher said. "That's just vital to winning a football game, and for us to win, we have to be able to establish the running game. For six games, we've been able to run the football."

The surge began just before intermission. Trailing by a touchdown, Hampton Bays got just the break it needed late in the second quarter. Dylan Flynn, who scored three short touchdowns in the Baymen's romp of Wyandanch two weeks ago, broke free for an 80-yard touchdown run to give the Baymen a 13-12 lead late in an otherwise turnover-ridden first half. The burst contributed to Flynn's season-high 110 yards rushing, which led Hampton Bays against Bayport.

"The Flynn run right before the half was crucial to us winning," Oestreicher said. "I thought that was the magic moment when the kids said 'OK, here we go, we're right where we should be.' In the second half, we pounded the ball, played good defense and did what we were supposed to do."

The defenses held their opponents at bay for the third quarter until Hampton Bays finally scored early in the fourth. Robbie King, who threw for just 22 yards on the day, bolted into the end zone from 7 yards out to put his team up 19-12. It was his second TD run of the day, and an all important two-point conversion - a throw from King to Oskar Ramirez - made it a two-possession game momentarily. However, Bayport trimmed it to one when Corey Picone found Pat Wenz for a 15-yard touchdown pass with just over nine minutes to play. The Phantoms kicked the ball away in anticipation of retaking possession but Hampton Bays' ground game prevented that.

Duke Pettaway and Southampton will try their luck this weekend against McGann-Mercy.

Ramirez was the Baymen's horse, carrying the ball 19 times for 77 yards, while King contributed 89 yards to Hampton Bays' 320-yard day on the ground.

Elsewhere in Division IV, Southampton went on the road and was upended by Amityville 40-7. The Warriors ran up a 27-0 halftime lead, bumped it to 40 at the end of three quarters to win their second straight game and improve to 4-2 on the year.

Southampton broke up the shutout in the fourth quarter when Teague Florio threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Conal Wood. The Mariners slipped to 2-4 on the season and face an uphill climb to the playoffs. They currently rank 11th out of 14 teams in Division IV and trail eighth place Bayport-Blue Point as well as Port Jefferson and Shoreham-Wading River. They face Mercy on Saturday in Southampton (2 p.m.). A victory there and in the regular season finale against unbeaten John Glenn on October 31 would catapult Southampton up the standings.

Bonac Continues To Roll; Westhampton Rebounds
Leading into the season, East Hampton had combined to win five games over the previous three years combined. Barely past the halfway point of the 2009 campaign, the Bonackers are already there, a near certainty for the Division III playoffs and hardly satisfied as they pursue an elusive regular season title.

On Saturday against Deer Park, Bonac quarterback Austin Heneveld did the job through the air and on the ground, racking up 125 yards passing and 112 more rushing, factoring into three of the Bonackers' scores in their 35-14 win. He got the scoring started midway through the second quarter by plunging in from a yard out to even the score at 7 apiece. East Hampton then beat the clock and thus took a seven-point lead into the locker room. Heneveld found his favorite target, Brendan Mott, for a 64-yard touchdown strike.

Austin Heneveld rushed for three touchdowns to help the Bonackers log their largest margin of victory since 2004.

Mott wasn't finished either. He scampered in for a 13-yard touchdown in the third, and Nick Jarboe completed Bonac's four-score splurge with a 9-yard TD run later in the period. After Deer Park sliced the lead to 14 in the fourth, Heneveld punctuated the win with a 31-yard scoring run.

As they had in their previous two home games, East Hampton built itself a deficit in the first half. Deer Park QB James Taylor put the Falcons ahead 7-0 in the early going with a 10-yard touchdown scamper. The Bonackers all but put the game away over the next two quarters, scoring 28 straight. The 21-point margin of victory was their largest since beating Eastport-South Manor 45-7 in October 2004.

The Bonackers (121.86 power points) are in prime position to qualify for the Division III playoffs, currently sitting second in the rankings behind unbeaten Half Hollow Hills West (141.68). Hauppauge (4-2), which East Hampton will face in the regular season finale, is ranked third with 120.01. Before then, though, Bonac must dispose of 1-5 Rocky Point on the road on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.

Also in Division III, Westhampton kept its own playoff hopes alive with a thrilling 22-17 victory at Hauppauge, bringing the Hurricanes' record back to even at 3-3.

Destiny is in the Hurricanes' hands the next two weeks. In ninth place, one spot out of the Division III playoffs, they host sixth-ranked Comsewogue (3-3) on Friday night and seventh-ranked Eastport-South Manor (4-2) on Friday, October 30. Last year, Westhampton beat the teams at their home fields by a combined score of 97-14.

In defeating Hauppauge, the Hurricane defense came up with a stellar second half, keeping the Eagles out of the end zone and allowing the offense to strike for the winning score. Westhampton (3-3; 100.2 power points) trailed 17-14 at the break and after three quarters before 'Cane quarterback Cory Schulz raced in from the 10-yard line to put his team ahead by three. It was Schulz' third on the night, joining a 2-yarder in the first quarter and a 4-yarder in the second. He was also 9 for 11 through the air for 105 yards

The defense, pitching a shutout in the latter half, got on the board itself late in the fourth when sophomore Connor Raynor hauled down Hauppauge's Anthony Bonaventura in the end zone for a safety with 2:12 remaining. After the free kick, Westhampton was able to run out the clock and secure its third win this season. The victory avenged last year's heartbreaking 23-20 loss at the same site.