North Babylon football's Jawara Keahey scores OT touchdown to beat Northport in Suffolk II quarterfinal

North Babylon owned the ball first at the opposing 20 in overtime and went up by seven points on Jawara Keahey’s 14-yard TD run and Jacob Serigano’s PAT. Now the defending Suffolk II champ needed one more stop on Northport’s turf to move on to the semifinals.

Fourth-and goal from the 1 for the Tigers.

“I was thinking this could be the last play of my high school career, but I know I wanted one more week with my family here,” Bulldogs senior outside linebacker Peter Banculli said about his team. “In order to do that, we had to make a giant stop.”

Luke Loiacono took the handoff, and Banculli was right there with some help to stuff him in the backfield. Saturday’s quarterfinal was over.

North Babylon 27, Northport 20.

“It’s the greatest thing in the world, that feeling, to know that you and your team beat a team that we previously lost to,” Banculli said.

The fifth-seeded Bulldogs lost, 20-19, during the regular season on a TD with 40 seconds left. This team is only 5-4, but it has a lot of pride over trying to defend its title in a very difficult division. North Babylon will play at No. 1 East Islip Friday night in the semifinals.

“We went into this season wanting to finish some unfinished business that we had last year, going all the way and then losing it,” Bulldogs coach John Rowland said, referencing their defeat against Garden City in the Long Island Class II championship game. “Unfortunately, we faced a lot of challenges and struggles this year.

“But I think they’re better players for it in the long run and they’re certainly better young men for it. They’ve grown a lot and come a long way.”

They came from down 14-6 at halftime to take a 20-14 advantage before the fourth-seeded Tigers (5-4) tied it in the fourth. Then Keahey capped his 22-carry, 132-yard day by turning the left corner for his winning touchdown, his second rushing score of the game.

“What I thought was I scored and the job was not finished yet,” Keahey said. “We’ve still got to go on defense and stop (them). I felt great. It was an amazing touchdown that I had because without my team I wouldn’t be able to get that touchdown.”

North Babylon faced a Northport team that really faced some adversity, yet still managed to force OT and nearly won.

Quarterback Enrique Hernandez, who had thrown for 98 yards and run for 26 and a score, got sacked with 2:25 left in the third. The senior didn’t pop right back up. He ultimately walked off with was believed to be a broken clavicle, according to coach Pat Campbell, an injury Hernandez also suffered last season.

Backup junior QB Simon Blissett broke his wrist two weeks ago. So the Tigers had to put senior receiver Christian Campoli behind center.

“That was a total emergency situation that we were in there,” Campbell said.

Rowland felt terrible for Hernandez and about the situation.

“I didn’t want to win like that,” he said.

And he almost didn’t.

Logan Baptist scored on a 2-yard run to slice Northport’s lead to 14-12 in the third, and Jordan Konig raced 22 yards for a TD and carried in the two-point conversion, good for a 20-14 Bulldogs lead.

Then Campoli hit a fourth-and-5 throw to Thomas O’Brien for 21 yards to the 21. That extended a 70-yard drive that ended with Asher Levine running the ball in from the 2, tying it at 20-all with 2:39 left in regulation.

“He did a great job,” Campbell said about Campoli. “He was very, very composed.”

But the kick for the lead was no good.

“When they missed that extra point, I knew we were still in the game,” Banculli said. “I knew that me and my team are going to win this one out.”