Bayport-Blue Point QB Cooper Fuller does it all in Phantoms' 26th straight victory
Bayport-Blue Point QB Cooper Fuller takes the keeper upfield for a big gain against host Shoreham-Wading River on Friday. Credit: George A Faella
Cooper Fuller provided plenty of ‘wow’ moments during the Bayport-Blue Point football team’s 41-7 road win over Shoreham-Wading River on Friday night. But none indicated the senior quarterback/defensive back’s worth to these Phantoms more than a sequence to end the second quarter.
On Shoreham-Wading River’s final first-half drive, Fuller picked off Noah Gregorek at the BBP 49 and returned it to the Wildcats' 32 with 19 seconds left.
After a defensive pass interference call gave BBP 15 yards on the first play of its ensuing drive, Fuller fired two big-time tosses. He found Traigh Tomassone on a 7-yard out route to set up a play from the SWR 10 with seven seconds remaining. Fuller then released a beautiful ball to Colin Most for a 10-yard touchdown pass to give the Phantoms a 27-point halftime lead — and the ultimate punctuation in their Suffolk Division IV victory.
“We’ve been stressing it all week, just playing within our game,” Fuller said. “They came out in a look we’ve seen before, our scout [team] did a great job this week. I saw that route a million times this week in practice…
“And I always got to thank my [offensive] line. I don’t think I had a pressure today. Colin Most is a dude. Traigh Tomassone is a dude. I can always just give those guys a chance. I’m always confident with those guys.”
Fuller was nearly impossible to bring down, rushing for 133 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries. He also completed all five of his passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns.
Bayport-Blue Point (3-0) extended its winning streak to 26 straight games, the longest active streak in Suffolk football. The Phantoms have not lost since the fall 2021 Suffolk IV title game, a 26-23 defeat to Shoreham-Wading River on Nov. 19.
Phantoms running back Dylan Craig opened the scoring with a 2-yard touchdown run to make it 6-0 BBP after a missed PAT with 7:43 left in the first quarter. Fuller’s 8-yard touchdown run up the middle gave the Phantoms a 13-0 advantage 4:08 later.
“I love every second of this,” Fuller said. “I really appreciate these guys.”
Shoreham-Wading River (2-1) responded when Gregorek threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Sean Casey to cap an eight-play drive and cut it to 13-7 with 9:02 left in the first half.
But Fuller’s second touchdown run, a 30-yard score, gave BBP a 20-7 lead with 6:18 remaining before halftime.
Fuller completed a 46-yard pass to Tomassone to put BBP in business again in the final few minutes of the half, and five plays later he found Most in the back of the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown to put the Phantoms up 27-7 with 1:05 remaining.
Fuller capped the scoring with his final TD run, a 5-yard rush with 7:27 left in the third quarter.
“These guys embrace it, which is part of it,” BBP coach Mike Zafonte said. “They believe. They buy in. That’s like everything in high school sports, so we’re very fortunate to have that.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
