Turnovers Doom Colts in Football Finale

Needing a victory to keep its Division II playoff hopes alive, the Half Hollow Hills West football team fumbled away its opportunity, turning the ball over five times in a 42-14 loss to Smithtown West Friday night at Smithtown West High School.

The Colts entered the game in ninth place in the division standings at 3-4, while the Bulls were in seventh at 5-2. And while the Colts grabbed the early lead and only trailed at halftime by seven, the giveaways were too much to overcome.

"You can't overcome turnovers," said Colts coach Kyle Madden. "You can't give good teams more opportunities than they're supposed to have. It was a tough game."

Colts quarterback Chris Busuttil completed six passes for 52 yards with two interceptions, and rushed for 11 yards and one touchdown. Devante McFarlane ran for 34 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown. JaQuese Jones added 20 yards rushing and Deven Williams caught three passes for 39 yards.

Smithtown West was led by running back James Pannell, who had 134 yards on 22 carries and three touchdowns. Anthony Gatto had 78 yards rushing and scored two touchdowns, one defensively. The Bulls rushed for 236 yards in the game.

Hills West took the opening kickoff to midfield and, running into a stiff wind from the north, marched 54 yards in nine plays, capped off by a two-yard touchdown run by McFarlane. The extra point gave the Colts a 7-0 lead.

"We started the game out real nice, we controlled the ball, we went right up and down the field and felt real good about ourselves up 7-0," Madden said. "And then, the turnovers."

The Bulls went three-and-out on the ensuing possession, but got the ball right back when the Colts fumbled the snap at their own 22. Two plays later, Pannell scored on a 13-yard run.

The teams exchanged punts, but the Bulls' kick pinned the Colts back at their own two. On third-and-eight, Busuttil rolled to his right and threw a pass that was batted into the air by Gatto, who caught his own deflection in the end zone for an unusual pick-six touchdown and a 14-7 Bulls lead.

There was another exchange of punts, and then Busuttil fumbled to put the ball at the Hills West 36. Five plays later, Pannell scored a touchdown from four yards out and the Smithtown lead grew to 21-7.

Hills West, however, rallied to score a touchdown in the final minute of the second quarter. A 32-yard pass over the middle from Busuttil to Deven Williams set up Busuttil's four-yard scoring run that cut the Bulls' lead to seven with 49 seconds left in the half.

"We felt good going into halftime," Madden said. "The kids were actually very fired up in the locker room, and I was proud of them. I thought we were going to come out and give a better effort in the second half."

Another Colts fumble, this one by Jones, led to the fourth Bulls touchdown midway through the third quarter. The Bulls recovered the ball at their own 42 yard-line. A 32-yard run by Gatto and a nine-yard run by Pannell led to Gatto's 16-yard touchdown run. The missed PAT made the score 27-14.

The Colts went three-and-out, and the short punt gave the Bulls possession at the 50. Smithtown scored five plays later on a nine-yard keep by Keenan. Gatto's two-point conversion upped the Bulls' lead to 35-14.

The Bulls tacked on a final touchdown after another short Colts punt. Pannell busted through the middle of the line for a 29-yard run, his third score of the night.

A season after winning Suffolk Division III and Long Island Class III, the Colts-- starting a number of sophomores and juniors--just didn't have the horses to continue that kind of success in the move up to Division II.

"With all respect in the world to Division II, I really believe it's all about players making plays, and this year I think we didn't have enough players making plays, regardless of division," Madden said. "Like I said, no disrespect to Division II at all, it has great coaches and great teams, but there are a lot of great teams on Long Island. I think if you want to take this year as a learning experience, and between last year's great season and this year's tough season, we'll see what the difference was and get back to what we're supposed to do."