Mt. Sinai Runs Past Bayport-Blue Point in Season Opener

Mt. Sinai controlled the ball early and forced Bayport-Blue Point into key mistakes en route to a 33-6 win in the season opener for both teams Friday night.

Senior quarterback Austin Kay went 7/7 for 133 yards and two touchdowns and halfback Pete Natale ran for 134 yards on 13 carries to pace the Mustang offense.

Mt. Sinai jumped out to a 6-0 lead after their first drive led them into the end zone. Patrick Hogan, who had three receptions for 45 yards, went up for the ball in the end zone with a Phantoms defender. It looked like the defense came away with the ball but after a tussle on the ground it was ruled a touchdown for Hogan and the Mustangs.

“That's all about heart,” Hogan said. “The guy had it and all of a sudden I just wanted the ball bad and ripped it out.”

Kay hooked up with Sal Abbondanza on a 30-yard touchdown strike in the second quarter to put the Mustangs up 13-0.

“Sal and I have been working hard all summer and throwing with Kay,” Hogan said. “We've been doing a great job practicing our routes and that helped our timing a lot.”

The Phantoms then went on a long drive on their own, converting two fourth downs along the way. But on a third down play in the red zone Hogan broke on a pass by Phantoms quarterback Brian Wright and intercepted it in the end zone. He brought it out 30-yards and the Mustangs quickly turned that into another six points after a one-yard David Smokler touchdown run.

“The most upsetting thing is that when presented the opportunity to makes plays, we just didn't make plays,” Phantoms head coach Eric Iberger said.

Iberger praised the play of his first year starting quarterback Wright but lamented the fact that his team dropped key passes and turned the ball over at the most inopportune times. Wright finished the game 10/23 for 110 yards.

“You get a couple of guys that drop a couple of balls and then they start to questions themselves and tighten up instead of playing free and easy which is what we're talking about,” Iberger said. “And then the quarterback tries to make a couple of plays that aren't really there, tries to force the issue, and that kind of compounds the situation. You just can't do those types of things against a quality team like Mt. Sinai.”

Wright had another interception in the third quarter. Mt. Sinai took all of two plays to cover the 58 yards to the end zone and went up 26-0, putting the game away for good.

“I think we played well at times," Mt. Sinai coach Vin Ammirato said. “I don't think the score was indicative of how close the game actually was. We have a lot of work to do but it's better to correct the mistakes after a win than after a loss.”