Rocky Point Football's plan to rebound from a disappointing 1-7 season in 2010 was momentarily derailed as the Eagles fell to Eastport-South Manor (ESM) on Friday night, 48-28.
In the early going, the Rocky Point offense was stagnant and lacked fluidity, and their defense was lacking of the gate. The lone bright spot of the first half for the Eagles was a 15-yard touchdown run for senior Nick Lasalla that cut the ESM lead to 22-7. Unfortunately, the Sharks were able to navigate to the end zone twice more before the end of the half, making the score 35-7 at halftime.
After a first half to forget, the Eagles stormed out of the halftime huddle looking like a completely different team. The change in attitude was apparent and was spurred on by a brilliant performance on the ground from Eagles quarterback, Joe Kingston, who was all over the field and ran for three touchdowns on the night.
Find out what's happening in Miller Place-Rocky Pointfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
After the Rocky Point defense held ESM scoreless in the third and struck early in the fourth with a touchdown to bring the score to 35-28, it looked as though the Rocky Point faithful in strong attendance would be treated to an unprecedented comeback.
Unfortunately, the Eagles effort was too little too late as the Sharks were able to take advantage of poor field position for Rocky Point to tack on two touchdowns in the final minutes to ice the game.
Find out what's happening in Miller Place-Rocky Pointfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Rocky Point head coach, Anthony DiLorenzo, was not one to make excuses for his team's lack of performance and gave credit to his poised opponents.
"ESM and their coaching staff did a great job preparing for the match up this week," he said. "They played for four quarters while we only played for two."
DiLorenzo did not feel like the adjustment to a fast-paced no huddle offense was to blame for their first half struggles.
"I don't think [the no huddle transition] was a problem," he said "We just did not play up to the level we had to in order to win, and that's on me."
Despite the lopsiided score, DiLorenzo saw things in the second half worth building on going forward.
"Our guys showed a lot of character playing the way they did in the second half," he said. "You know, life is hard and so is football. We'll be ready to go Week 2."
The Eagles travel to Westhampton for their next game on Sept. 16.
