Jawara Keahey carries North Babylon football to win over West Babylon
Jawara Keahey #22 of North Babylon reacts after scoring his fourth touchdown of the afternoon in the fourth quarter of a Suffolk Division III football game against West Babylon on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023. Credit: James Escher
Jawara Keahey runs the football like he’s in a pinball machine. He never gives a defender a clean hit, bounces off tackles, and always finds positive yardage.
It’s no surprise that Keahey is Long Island’s leading rusher. He has gained more than 200 yards in seven of eight regular season games.
Keahey rushed for 220 yards on 22 carries and scored four touchdowns as North Babylon beat West Babylon, 35-28, in a pivotal Suffolk Division III football game. His final touchdown came on a 14-yard run to give the Bulldogs a comfortable 35-14 lead with 2:48 left.
The key play in what proved to be the winning drive came on a fourth-and-four play, when punter Tristan Garcia faked the kick and threw a 9-yard completion to Isaiah Gutierrez for the first down at West Babylon’s 45.
“None of this happens without the great blocking of our offensive line and the backs,” Keahey said. “I just follow the blocks and get into open space and take off. And that fake punt was something we practiced this week.”
It was the first meeting of these crosstown rivals in 10 years. The win moved North Babylon to 7-1 and earned the Bulldogs the top seed headed into the playoffs. They will meet Deer Park in a quarterfinal game next week. The loss dropped West Babylon to 6-2 and the four seed. The Eagles will host Northport in a. quarterfinal.
“This was a big game for seeding and playoff positioning,” North Babylon quarterback Chris Stumpf said. “We all understand that this is a team game, and we all need each other. We were rolling through the first three quarters and built a big lead.”
Keahey got it all started on the Bulldogs second possession. He followed a block from Stumpf over the right side and burst down the home sideline for a 78-yard touchdown run. Jacob Serigano added the kick, and it was 7-0 with 5:17 left in the first quarter.
As Keahey bounced outside from behind Stumpf’s block he had another downfield block from Alexander Griffith to pave the way to the end zone.
"He’s a very good player and thrives in their system,” West Babylon coach Kevin Delaney said of Keahey. “He’s not an especially big kid and can hide behind the blockers before he finds a lane and takes off into the secondary. Our problem was we were allowing them to get into our linebackers and create space for him to run.”
Keahey, a speedy 5-foot-7, 155-pounder, is Long Island’s rushing and touchdown leader with 1,896 yards and 26 touchdowns.
“We think we can run on any opponent when our backs block for each other,” North Babylon coach John Rowland said. “Jawara ran the ball like Jawara can today. But he also blocked very well, and we loved it.”
North Babylon halfback Jordan Konig was the beneficiary of the Keahey blocking. Konig rushed for 108 yards on 17 carries, including five first down runs, and caught a 37-yard TD pass from Stumpf for a 21-7 halftime lead.
West Babylon’s junior quarterback Elijah Outlaw went 30 yards for a second quarter score to tie the game at 7 and threw for three fourth-quarter touchdowns in the final 6:57 to get the Eagles within a score with 16 seconds left.
He hit Jace Alvino on a cross for a 13-yard TD and then found Triston Trellis for a 50-yard TD with 46 seconds left. After a successful onside kick, Outlaw hit Thomas Raccomandato on a 5-yard slant to make it 35-28.
Outlaw completed 17 of 30 passes for 216 yards.
West Babylon’s chance for an improbable comeback ended when a second onside kick was recovered by North Babylon junior Joe Kalhorn.
“I saw the ball ricochet off my teammate’s shoulder, and I dove over a few bodies to recover it,” said Kalhorn, who serves as an ocean lifeguard in the Town of Babylon.
Saturday he was a game saver.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
