Shoreham Powerless In Loss To Babylon

Against a team known for a ball-control attack, Shoreham-Wading River’s offense could not give its defense a lot of time off the field Friday night. And with the Wildcats’ defense generating the only points of the game, Shoreham’s postseason came to a quick end, losing to Babylon 27–2.

“We made some mistakes and they capitalized on them,” Shoreham’s Dylan Gorman said.

Babylon jumped out to a 6–0 lead midway through the first quarter. But early in the second quarter the Wildcat defense stripped Panther running back Frank Mankiewicz of the ball, which, with players from both teams scrambling for possession, went through the end zone for a safety. It was as close as Shoreham would get.

“Babylon’s defense was pretty much what we expected,” quarterback Kevin Kelley said. “We just couldn’t execute our plays.”

Adding to Shoreham’s challenge was the loss of  guard/linebacker Mike Savino. The senior injured his leg in last week’s loss at Mount Sinai.

“Did it make a difference not having him in there?” coach Matthew Millheiser said. “We lost 27-2. If Mike played, it would have helped a lot.”

Shoreham, which went winless last season, finishes 6-3, and while no coach wants to lose the last game of the season, for Millheiser, the year will be one he believes he’ll look back on for many years.

“I said to someone, ‘I could have had no better group to turn this program around than this team.’ They’re a great group. I’ll be talking about them years from now.”

Twelve seniors played their last game for Shoreham on Friday night.

“It’s sad not playing any more,” Gorman said. “We played our hearts out tonight.”

Added Kelley, who will return for his senior season next year, “I’m looking forward to next year, but we’re losing a lot of guys that have played a lot together.”