Bayport-Blue Point football's Cooper Fuller totals six TDs, lifts Phantoms to 31st win in a row
Bayport QB Cooper Fuller takes the keeper upfield for a big gain against Mt. Sinai in a Suffolk Div. IV football game, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. Credit: George A Faella
The Bayport-Blue Point football machine has printed nothing but wins the past few years. And Friday night’s regular-season finale against Mount Sinai was no different.
Senior quarterback Cooper Fuller accounted for all six touchdowns — rushing for 205 yards and four scores on 20 carries and passing for 113 yards and two scores — as the host Phantoms earned a 41-10 victory over Mount Sinai in Suffolk Division IV. Bayport-Blue Point notched its 31st consecutive win and completed an undefeated regular season.
“It’s such a pleasure,” Fuller said of playing for Bayport-Blue Point. “In these past few years, and ever since [coach Mike Zafonte] has been here, there’s just a growing expectation that we got to do what we got to do. Everyone here, we bought in, so we know what we got to do and [Zafonte] leads us pretty well.”
The Phantoms (8-0), back-to-back reigning Long Island Class IV champions, will be the No. 1 seed in the Suffolk Division IV playoffs and host a county quarterfinal game on Nov. 8. They have not lost since Nov. 19, 2021, a 26-23 defeat to Shoreham-Wading River in the Suffolk IV championship.
“Hard work and persistence, it’s the same old stuff,” Zafonte said. “Kids buy in. They put in the time and the effort. The coaches put in the time and the effort . . .
“It allows us to build consistency. We’ve been fortunate to have pretty good athletes.”
Sean Coffey blocked a punt on Mount Sinai’s first drive, setting up BBP with great field position. On the next play, Cooper Fuller fired a quick screen pass to Dylan Craig for a 22-yard touchdown to take a 6-0 lead just 1:23 into the game.
After forcing a three-and-out on the next Mount Sinai possession, BBP put together a 13-play, 62-yard drive capped by Fuller’s 1-yard TD run to grab a 13-0 lead with 1:28 left in the first quarter.
Mount Sinai kicker Arda Dincer drilled a 28-yard field goal to cut it to 13-3 with 8:46 left in the first half. BBP responded 1:44 later as Fuller found Coffey for a 58-yard touchdown pass to take a 20-3 lead.
Mount Sinai quarterback Max Sorrentino’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Filippi made it 20-10, the eventual halftime score, with 2:27 left in the first half. The Mustangs (4-4) could not capitalize with points on Marcus Magloire’s ensuing one-handed interception and 27-yard return.
Fuller extended the Phantoms’ lead to 27-10 with 8:24 left in the third quarter, evading defenders for a 56-yard touchdown run down the right sideline. He added a 24-yard score and a 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter to put BBP a ahead, 41-10.
Fuller, who got a taste of the 2022 playoffs as a sophomore but missed most of 2023 with a broken collarbone, is ready for the rest of November.
“There is no taking weeks off anymore, 8-0 doesn’t mean anything now,” Fuller said. “We are back to square one. It takes hard work, and I’m super excited for the playoffs.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.