East Bounces Back, Beats Centereach, 28-14

On a day when a dramatic storm rumbled across Long Island, postponing many high school football games, Smithtown East delivered some thunder and lightning of its own in a 28-14 victory over Centereach Thursday afternoon at Centereach High School.

Alec Federico had just 10 carries in the game, but still amassed 234 yards rushing and scored two touchdowns, including a 96-yard sprint that gave the Bulls a 21-point lead in the third quarter.

Smithtown East coach Jim Saladino noted that with Centereach focused on stopping fullback Chris Vlasaty (who still managed 50 yards rushing), Federico used his speed to rip off gains of 40 and 42 yards in addition to the long scoring run.

"They really keyed on [Vlasaty] big-time," Saladino said. "Historically he's been our best rusher, and Alec just opened up on the outside. They just couldn't keep up with Alec."

Brendan Canese (62 yards rushing) opened the scoring for East with a 14-yard touchdown run in the first quarter; the point-after attempt failed. The Bulls scored again in the second quarter on Federico's first touchdown, a 15-yard run that made it 12-0. A safety put the Bulls up 14-0, but Centereach returned an interception for a touchdown to cut the margin in half by halftime.

Jake Koppelman upped the Bulls' lead to 21-7 with a one-yard plunge in the third quarter, followed by Federico's 96-yarder, which increased East's lead to 28-7. Centereach scored its second touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The Bulls' defense was stingy, and held Centereach to under 80 total yards of offense. Vlasaty had 12 tackles, two sacks and broke up two pass plays, while fellow linebacker Tim Kopiske added eight tackles.

"The kids came to play, which was nice," Saladino said. "We were definitely more physical than they were, offensively and defensively."

The victory evened both teams' record in Division II to 1-1. Saladino said the win was particularly big after East's loss last week to Smithtown West in the season opener.

"We needed that," the coach said. "Against our cross-town rivals, we kind of got beat up a little bit. We needed to show up and take a step forward."

East continues the season on Saturday, Sept. 25 at 2 p.m., with its homecoming game against Half Hollow Hills East. The game will be played at Smithtown West High School.

Smithtown West dropped a 9-6 decision on the road to West Babylon, falling to 1-1 in Division II. The game began Thursday, was postponed by weather in the third quarter with West Babylon ahead, 7-6, and was completed on Friday afternoon.

Anthony Gatto scored West's only touchdown of the day on a 64-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Keenan in the third quarter, cutting the Eagles' lead to one point. West Babylon scored a safety in the fourth quarter, and its defense stopped West on two more possession to secure the win.

Smithtown West hosts first-place North Babylon (2-0) on Friday night, Sept. 24, at 6 p.m. in the Bulls' homecoming game. North Babylon defeated Hills West on Friday, 35-21.