"A signature win" for Babylon

That's what Panthers coach Rick Punzone called his team's 45-21 win at Bayport-Blue Point last night, especially for his seniors.

After all, they aren't used to having two regular season losses in a season — the last time that happened was in 2005. And before last season, the Panthers had played in 13 straight county title games.

Last night, it was shocking Babylon was able to put up 40+ points for the third time this season. Not because the Panthers' offense was sluggish, but because they ran just three plays in the second quarter. But they had two scoring drives of just two plays and another of only one — Sam Zamet's 69-yard quick strike to Stephen Loudon.

The Phantoms' 19-play, 87-yard drive that started with 51.6 seconds left in the first quarter, ate up 10:14 on the clock and consisted of 16 running plays. The one completion gained the most yardage on the drive, as Corey Picone hit Gary Farley for 21 yards along the right sideline on a third-and-9. BBP also benefited from a 15-yard pass interference call on a third-and-11 that gave them the ball on the 15. 

On the eighth play of the march, Ryan McCoy was hit in the back. He sat out the rest of the game with back spasms. To that point, he had 55 yards on nine carries and was the focal point of the BBP offense. But Phantoms coach Eric Iberger didn't make excuses. 

"I have full confidence in Jack Sheehan and Zach Flood to get the job done," he said after the game.

Flood's second carry of the game went for BBP's first score. He and Sheehan combined for 105 yards on the ground on 22 carries with two touchdowns, but the Phantoms couldn't overcome three lost fumbles, including two inside their own 15.

After the teams combined for 20 first-half points, they exploded for 46 in the second, including 32 for the Panthers. A turnover on the opening kickoff led to a quick three points on Andrew Hurst's 22-yard field goal that made it 16-7. (Hurst was 4-for-4 on extra points as well.) 

Babylon never looked back from there. BBP went three-and-out on the ensuing drive, and Trevor Fudim (pictured), who finished with 140 yards (most coming in the second half) and four touchdowns on 28 carries, took an inside counter untouched 30 yards to make it 23-7, and the route was on. The TD capped a seven-play, 71-yard drive that took 3:19 off the clock. 

It was the most number of plays on a Babylon scoring drive until its final score came on a 10-play drive with 1:44 left in the game. One could argue it wasn't very sportsmanlike to score at that juncture. Babylon had just converted a fourth-and-inches with Fudim's 8-yard run and could have taken three kneel downs to run out the clock.

Fudim matched his season-high with four touchdowns. He had two receiving and two rushing in a Week 1 win over Greenport. But this was his first career game with four rushing TDs.

Said Punzone: "This game was a step in the right direction. It was a signature win for our seniors."