Brandon Miller, Derek and Troy Burrell lead East Islip in rout of Kings Park
East Islip QB Brandon Miller throws a 45 yard touchdown pass against Kings Park, Saturday, September 28, 2019 at East Islip High School. Credit: George A. Faella
Derek Burrell burst over right tackle and followed a big block from East Islip teammate Jay Zimmerman and 80 yards later was in the end zone.
It was the first play from scrimmage and it took all of nine seconds.
Burrell’s last cutback across the field made two defenders miss as the Redmen set the tone for what would be a long day for the Kings Park defense.
In a 63-14 rout of the previously undefeated Kingsmen, East Islip (3-0) scored on seven first-half possessions to take a 49-7 halftime lead over Kings Park (2-1) in a Suffolk Division III football game.
The Redmen next host Sayville (3-0) on Saturday at 2 p.m.
“You couldn’t draw it up any better than this,” East Islip coach Sal J. Ciampi said. “The players executed the game plan almost to perfection and played very well. We’re very happy with the execution on both sides of the ball — it’s a very smart group of players.”
The Redmen pulled the entire starting offense before the start of the third quarter.
On the Kingsmen’s first possession, defensive back Troy Burrell tipped a third-down pass and the ball was intercepted by linebacker Tom Higgins at Kings Park’s 30-yard line. He returned the ball to the 15 to set up a Brandon Miller 7-yard touchdown run for a 14-0 lead.
East Islip extended the first-quarter lead when Miller found Anthony Carroll in the back of the end zone for an 18-yard TD pass and a 21-0 lead.
“We spread it around to a few guys,” Ciampi said. “And they genuinely care about each other and about the well-being of the team and not the individual stats.”
The Redmen kept up the pressure and capitalized on another first-quarter turnover. Troy Burrell intercepted a pass and on the ensuing play Miller found Nick Baldino for a 48-yard TD pass to make it 28-0 with 2:25 left in the period.
“It was a lot of scoring in a short period of time,” Ciampi said. “Everything was clicking.”
Halfback Dylan Rigo added a 10-yard scoring run before Kings Park got on the scoreboard in the second quarter. Mike Ingraffia hit brother Mark Ingraffia for a 4-yard scoring pass to make it 35-7.
Troy Burrell returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown and a 42-7 lead. Miller, who hit Rob Kreush with a 7-yard TD pass just before the half ended, was 7-for-9 passing for 174 yards and three scores.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
