Hampton Bays - Wrapping up their season the way that they did, that was part of the dream all along - win on Senior Day, finish strong, build momentum and book a home playoff game. Even though the Baymen of Hampton Bays were jubilant after their 28-18 triumph over Shoreham-Wading River on Saturday, the celebration was relatively subdued. Their dream of taking it deep into November has yet to be realized.

Even though Hampton Bays has its sights set on a date at Stony Brook for the county championship, there were plenty of reasons to celebrate - a turnaround from 1-7 last fall to 7-1 this year, the Baymen's first postseason appearance in five years, their first home playoff game in a quarter of a century. They're the toast of the town and they hope to keep bringing the crowd to their feet for another month.

"Our aspirations are significantly higher than just getting to the playoffs, but as I explained to them, I want them to enjoy it right now," Head Coach Mike Oestreicher said after the game. "It's been a long time. They've worked really hard. These kids have paid their dues, especially last year."

Igor Leite (44) and Dylan Flynn (21) pounce on the Wildcat ball carrier and drop him for a loss.

The victory allowed the Baymen to maintain the fourth spot in the eight-team playoff bracket. They'll face the fifth seed, Mount Sinai, on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Mustangs are coming off a 46-0 drubbing of Mercy in which all 375 yards from scrimmage came on the ground. Their only three losses have come against the division's brass – unbeaten John Glenn, No. 2 Babylon and No. 3 Amityville. It marks the first playoff home game for Hampton Bays since its 1984 team stunned Riverhead to advance to the county title game. The last time HB reached the postseason was 2004 in which it fell to eventual county champ Amityville 20-7. This weekend, the Baymen will look to become the winningest team in school history; the 1993 squad racked up eight wins as well. Saturday's victor will take on the winner of the Glenn-Greenport first-round game.

Saturday marked the first time this season that Hampton Bays successfully rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit to win a game this season. Early in the fourth, the Wildcats' Matt Schembri picked off a Robbie King pass and returned it 78 yards for a touchdown and an 18-14 lead. Hampton Bays has benefited from being a resilient bunch before and it did on Saturday as well. Shoreham-Wading River (2-6) curiously attempted an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, but Zach Catz pounced on the bounding ball to give the Baymen prime field position. Hampton Bays made good use of it, driving 55 yards and capping the surge with a Dylan Flynn 8-yard touchdown scamper.

Senior running back Oskar Ramirez put the Baymen on his shoulders from the start, carrying the ball 20 times for 141 yards. He broke a pair of massive runs late, including a 20-yard rumble that gave HB a new set of downs with just over a minute remaining in the game. A King scramble put the Baymen on the doorstep, and Aaron Besch punctuated the win by plunging in from 3 yards out with 48 ticks left.

"We win today because of Oskar Ramirez, case closed," Oestreicher said. "We're not in the playoffs without Oskar Ramirez. When push came to shove, time to run the football, Oskar's the guy."

Hampton Bays opened up a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 49-yard touchdown run by John Havens but touchdown runs of 23 and 2 yards by Dalton Crossan staked Shoreham-Wading River to a 12-7 halftime lead. Havens and King credited the team's hard work in the off-season and week in and week out for the turnaround, but expressed that they're aren't satisfied just yet. The 1993 team won a school record eight games; the Baymen take aim at their eighth this weekend.

Baymen quarterback Robbie King escapes a tackle and pushes the ball toward the end zone.

Southampton needed to spring a monumental upset on the season's final day to extend its season, but unbeaten John Glenn stayed that way, rolling to a 40-6 victory on the road.

The momentum swung heavily in favor of the Knights when Pat Pascal picked off a pass and returned it 98 yards the other way for a touchdown; that came on the heels of Glenn's first score, an 11-yard run by Austin Cohen. The game unraveled from there as the visitors ran off 20 second-quarter points to build a 33-0 halftime lead. The stretch included a pair of field goals by Reyes Guevara, another Cohen TD and a 15-yard scoring run by Jack Moorehead.

The Mariners, who came off their highest-scoring game of the season the week before, broke through in the third when Lester Pettaway hit Andrew Phillips for a 60-yard touchdown, but it proved to be too little too late. The touchdown was Phillips' sixth on the season – five via the pass and another on an interception. Five came in the final two weeks.

Glenn moves on to face No. 8 Greenport in the first round of the Division IV playoffs. The Knights have won 18 of their last 19 games, their only loss coming to Babylon in the county championship last November.

DIVISION III: EH Turns Sights To Sayville; 'Canes Win But Left Home
East Hampton knew all about Hauppauge's Zach Losco. Even so, the Bonackers couldn't do anything to stop the Eagles tailback. Losco rushed for 301 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries, powering Hauppauge to a 23-16 road victory.

Bonac's loss on Saturday sets up a meeting with defending Long Island champion Sayville (127.5 power points) in the Division III playoffs, only the first-round game will take place at 1 p.m. up-Island rather than on Long Lane. East Hampton dropped below Islip (121.25) and Kings Park (115.2), and ended up in a sixth-place tie with Comsewogue (107.7). Due to the Warriors' head-to-head victory, the Bonackers fell to seventh and thus face the second-seeded Golden Flashes. Even with the high-profile win, Hauppauge stayed put at the No. 3 spot in the rankings with 125.0 power points, a dash behind Sayville but well back of undefeated Half Hollow Hills West (148.5).

Vance Schindler and Westhampton used a steady ground game to beat Eastport-South Manor but fell just shy of the Division III playoffs.

At halftime, the teams were locked at 9 apiece until Losco sliced through the East Hampton defense for a 63-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter. The Bonackers answered with a long drive of their own and quarterback Austin Heneveld capped it with a 9-yard score. The senior QB rushed for 133 yards on the day and accounted for both East Hampton scores.

Losco quickly went back to work and with just over a minute remaining in the first half, he made it a hat trick on the afternoon, scoring from 7 yards out for a 23-16 lead. On the day, Hauppauge ran for 391 yards on the ground, gaining just 20 through the air. Much of that came on the final drive, which milked more than nine minutes off the clock.

Westhampton finished on a high note, knocking off Eastport-South Manor 23-6 on Senior Day, but it didn't receive the help it needed to squeak into the playoffs. The Hurricanes (101.45), who won on the final weekend last year to gain the eighth spot, finished up the 2009 campaign in ninth place, 2.5 points shy of eighth-place ESM.

Following a Shark touchdown, the 'Cane lead stood at just 7-6 when Westhampton answered with a perfectly executed two-minute drill that resulted in a 27-yard field goal by Anthony DiNitto. Westhampton's defense had more or less kept Eastport-South Manor, which had tallied 20 or more points in six of seven games prior, at bay. It stayed that way in the second half with Connor Raynor recording two sacks on the night, Justin LaGrasse fell on an ESM fumble, and Schulz picking off a Luke Combs pass. Meanwhile, the ground game continued to find holes in the Shark front. Freshman Brian Curry made it a two-score game with a 6-yard touchdown run in the third, and Schulz bowled his way in from the 1-yard line for good measure in the fourth.

Schulz found his favorite target, senior Cory Hubbard, six times for 76 yards, including a 20-yarder late in the second quarter that set up DiNitto's field goal. Falling short of the playoffs ended the careers for 14 seniors, including tri-captains Hubbard, LaGrasse and Bobby Garone.