Eagles Lose 33-19 in Final Regular Season Game

Hauppauge football (4-4) managed to keep the game close despite turnovers, but couldn't stop the Amityville Warriors' (4-4) run game in Saturday's 33-19 loss.

Heroes: Michael Ortalani had two rushing touchdowns in this game, including one coming from 33 yards out. Ortalani's options varied from his keeps and a couple short passes to pitches Anthony Brody-Satos to pick up some yards. Brody-Satos scored the other Hauppauge touchdown from inside the five-yard line.

Turning Point:  The first 70 minutes of play saw each team countering the other with scores. From 6-0, to 6-6, by halftime the score was 13-13 and in the fourth quarter, 19-19. With just under 10 minutes left to play, the Eagles faced a third and 15. All game long they had relied on short runs, a screen pass here, and a dump pass there to progress the ball. But, in this situation they felt necessary a change of plans. And the only long pass of the game was just too far out of reach for the Eagles to keep possession. Three plays later, they watched an Amityville back run 50 yards to break open the lead. From there, the Eagles couldn't get back in the endzone and the Warriors tacked on another score to leave the game at 33-19.

Quote: "I think we were dominant for the first three quarters. The turnovers really changed the shape of the game," head coach Joe Patrovich said after the game. "I couldn't be happier with the offensive line, but their defense seemed to tighten up and we weren't getting the kind of movement we needed. There's a lot to consider for the postseason. We'll just have to wait and see how things turn out."

Bottom Line: The Eagles started out the game strong. They took off six minutes of clock time and wore down the defense with power rushes through the middle. The pace of the game seemed in their hands. Defensively, it was only a couple breakaway runs that put up points; for the most part, the Eagle defense didn't seem to budge. But their were some issues that are hard to cover against. For one, there were strong winds, and both teams only made one of their point-after attempts; although the game ended further apart, early on those extra points could have had significant momentum swings. Another issue was fumbling. Two of the Eagles Three lost fumbles lead to scores. Both of those were inside Warrior territory, essentially turning 12 points of their own over to Amityville. Both teams are on the brink of playoff possibility; this weekend will end the regular season and the numbers will tell who continues on.