Lindenhurst Bulldogs Eliminated in Playoff Action

This week Lindenhurst football finished up the 2011 on the same field they began it -- the home field of the Colonials in Mastic Beach -- and with approximately the same result.

This week’s 35-3 loss to number four seed Floyd put an end to further playoff ambitions for Lindenhurst in a 5-3 that - following a disappointing 41-7 loss in the opener - had some  in the , and the reward of a in the .

However, for the second time this season, the Bulldogs had no answer for William Floyd, and the talented Stacey Bedell’s running game.

With two key offensive players out of the picture - David Fowler recovering from an illness and Keny Skon out after a first quarter leg injury - the odds of a surprise upset win for Lindenhurst were slim enough.

And true to form William Floyd, bouncing back from a lackluster outing in the against Bay Shore in the regular season , offered up an offense that was pumping on all cylinders in the first half.

Translation: Bedell got the hand-off on 80 percent of the plays, racked up plenty of yards and scored three times on TD runs of 45, 33 and 38 yards, respectively.

In contrast Lindenhurst’s roster of runners - Peter Mangione, Joe Lukralle, Keith Meisner, Nick Mayers and Nick Franco - ate up a mere 53 net yards all day.

And while QB Brad Witkowski was able to connect on passes to Joe Morhardt, Alex Wreith and Meisner, he was only seven for 15 in the first half, and didn't complete a pass in the second.

In fact, the only points for Lindenhurst came from the foot of Vin Valela, who knocked a field goal through the uprights from the 30-yard line with time nearly expired in the first half.

To their credit the never quit. In the second half they to put together a decent series or two - but in each case the offense sputtered and Floyd - working its starting offense until late in the fourth - scored twice more to seal the win.

“Our boys played with emotion, and they left everything on the field,” said Head Coach after the game on . “But you have to block and tackle to win a game. We didn’t do that consistently all year, and we didn‘t do that today.”

With nearly two dozen seniors graduating from the team this year, but an eye on a 2012 season that will likely see a number of key performers returning, working on those kinds of fundamentals in 2012 will be a primary task for the Bulldogs coach and his staff.