Justin Miles helps power Bellport football to playoff win over North Babylon
Bellport QB Justin Miles weaves his way through midfield and goes sixty five yards for the touchdown against North Babylon, in the Suffolk Division II quarterfinals, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022 at Bellport High School. Credit: George A Faella
Justin Miles moved to the quarterback position this season. The Bellport senior transitioned from wide receiver to signal caller.
There were growing pains early as Miles learned his new position. But the past few weeks Miles has come into his own.
Miles was a dual threat again Saturday in the quarterfinal round of the Suffolk Division II football playoffs. He completed seven of 11 passes for 116 yards and a score and rushed for another 90 yards on six carries and two touchdowns to lead Bellport in a 49-32 win over North Babylon.
Bellport (8-1) will host Half Hollow Hills East (6-3) in a Suffolk Division II semifinal Saturday at 1 p.m. The game is a rematch of last years’ county championship.
“You can say Justin was a work in progress but not anymore,” Bellport coach Jamie Fabian said. “He’s so athletic and we just felt that he would put it all together and we’d reap the benefits of his athleticism. He has improved every week.”
Miles looked very comfortable behind Bellport’s offensive front. He sat in the pocket and patiently allowed plays to develop — and his throws were on target and on time. And if not for a few drops, his day would have been perfect.
“I just feel like the line does such a great job and there’s no rush,” Miles said. “I get the ball out and the receivers make the plays. And when we run the ball, our wide receivers, Jesse Barnes, Tyler Burke, Michael Frankie and Nick Anderson are out on the perimeter making big blocks. This is a total team effort.”
And it all starts with Miles. He directed a seven-play, 63-yard scoring march on the opening possession. The key play came on a screen pass to Jason Hunt that went for 19 yards and a first down. Miles looked right to disguise the play and threw back left to Hunt, who broke one tackle and used a hand bounce on his way for the first down at the North Babylon 20. Two plays later halfback Donte Phillips scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 1-yard run for the 6-0 lead.
Bellport made it a two-score game on its next possession. This time, Miles followed a big block on the perimeter by Frankie for a 32-yard touchdown run for the 12-0 lead with 5:28 left in the first quarter. The score was set up by a 34-yard pass to Hunt down the middle of the field to the Bulldogs 32.
On the first play of the second quarter, Miles rolled right and lofted a perfect pass to Barnes who got beyond the defense for the 19-yard touchdown. Miles added the two-point conversion run to make it 20-0.
“The pass felt good when I let it go,” Miles said. “And I just have to give my receivers a chance and they’ll make the catch.”
North Babylon did not go without a fight. The Bulldogs went on a 13-play, 70-yard scoring drive. Nathaniel Griffith carried seven times for 40 yards to key the march before quarterback Chris Stumpf scored on a fourth down sneak to make it 20-6 with 4:53 left in the half.
The Bulldogs defense forced a three and out and a Bellport punt. Two plays later, Griffith burst over right tackle and raced 76 yards for the touchdown to make it 20-12 with 1:10 left in the half. Griffith finished with 158 yards on 21 carries.
"They’re a really good football team,” Fabian said. “And they execute that offense so well. We had to keep scoring.”
With just under a minute left in the half, Phillips ripped off a 40-yard run to the North Babylon 21. He scored on a 1-yard run with 10 seconds left to make it 28-12.
Bellport needed to keep up with the scoring pace as North Babylon found the end zone on five of their last six possessions.
“We’re upset with our defense for not tackling better,” Phillips said. “Griffith was tough and very fast, and we didn’t wrap him up.”
Phillips added a 15-yard fourth quarter scoring run and finished with 202 yards on 21 carries. Miles added a 43-yard TD run to make it 49-26.
North Babylon’s Jawara Keahey had TD runs of 70 and 42 yards — the last one a tightrope down the sideline where he broke two tackles for the final score.
“It’s never easy in this division,” Fabian said.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
