The West Islip JV Football team continued its quest for a perfect season with 35-7 win over West Babylon. Sophomore quarterback Connor Smith was the offensive star running for two touchdowns and throwing for three more. Freshman Kevin DiCapua kicked all five extra points and boomed his kick-offs all day. The defense was stingy and swarmed all over the West Babylon offense.
West Islip received the opening kick-off and a good return by freshman Jake Richter set the tone. From the first play the Big Dogs went to work opening holes for Smith and sophomore running back Alex Ponce. With the ball on the West Babylon 10 yard line Smith ran right behind Big Dogs Alex Schwartz and Andrew Lyons and followed lead blocks by Alex Ponce and Captain Sean Burke pulling from the left side ran it in for the first TD of the day and after DiCapua kicked the extra point it was a quick 7-0 lead. West Babylon could not move the ball very far and for some reason went on a fourth and about five from their own 40 yard line and failed to convert giving the Lions a short field to work with. Two plays later Smith found sophomore tight end James McCorvey wide open on the sideline for a 40 yard TD pass and not even half way through the first quarter and the score was 14-0. The Lions defense forced a quick punt and Lions went back on offense. West Islip once again drove down the field with Smith running it in around the left end for TD and just before the quarter ended the score was 21-0. The second quarter was a back and forth of possessions until the Eagles found a passing rhythm and after several missed tackles the West Babylon QB found a receiver in the end zone as the half ended.
West Babylon now with a little momentum from the 2nd quarter were overwhelmed by the Lions offense and had to punt quickly after taking the 2nd half kick-off. The Lions took the ball and before anyone knew what was going on Smith found sophomore receiver Dan Mottes wide open again down the side line for 60 yard TD pass and a 28-7 lead. The ball changes hands several times in the 3rd quarter before the Lions got a drive going. Smith soon found sophomore wide receiver Sean O'Gara for a 30 yard touchdown. It should be noted that the drive that ended in the O'Gara touchdown was started by an O'Gara interception. The 3rd quarter ended with Lions driving again with a 35-7 lead.
As the 4th quarter started the 2nd team offense took over. The ball changed possession several times without any scoring. The defense was tough with O'Gara, and freshmen Drew Cestaro and Pat Mulcahy breaking up passes to stop the Eagles attempts for a 2nd touchdown. The game ended with the Lions marching to a 35-7 win.
The team was not quite as crisp as it has been in its last several games but still managed to dominate the game. The quest for an undefeated season continues with two tough games to go. The first is Saturday morning 9 AM on the Varsity Field where the JV Lions will take on Riverhead always tough. Last year, this was one of the best football games I saw at any level.
