Brady Clark keeps his promise: Throws 3 TD passes to lead Bayport-Blue Point to Suffolk IV title
Bayport-Blue Point QB Brady Clark gets the pass off against Glenn in the Suffolk Division IV final, Friday, November 18, 2022 at LaValle Stadium. Credit: George A Faella
Bayport-Blue Point quarterback Brady Clark was less than a season removed from a last-second loss in the Suffolk Division IV football championship.
Before this season began, he promised to lead the Phantoms back to LaValle Stadium for another shot at the school’s first Suffolk title since the inception of the Long Island Championships in 1992.
Promise kept!
JJ Aiello scored four touchdowns and Clark passed for three TDs, two to Aiello, as Bayport-Blue Point beat Glenn, 35-6, to capture the Suffolk Division IV crown before a crowd of more than 1,600 on Friday afternoon at Stony Brook University.
It’s the third Suffolk title in school history.
“It’s an awesome feeling to come back here and get the job done,” Clark said. “This whole team deserves the credit. We put in the time to win.”
Bayport-Blue Point (10-0) will meet North Shore (11-0) for the Long Island Class IV championship at noon Friday at Hofstra University.
Dan Aiello ran for 109 yards on 12 carries and caught a touchdown pass for Bayport-Blue Point.
Glenn (7-3) opened the game with an eight-play, 50-yard drive capped by Chris Franzese’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Matt Triolo with 7:27 left in the first quarter. The two-point conversion run failed, leaving the Knights with a 6-0 lead.
“Glenn came out and punched us in the mouth,” Bayport-Blue Point linebacker Sean Druckenmiller said. “And my job is to make sure the defense responds. I thought we played tough defense from there.”
Bayport-Blue Point responded with a 12-play, 80-yard march. The Phantoms, playing into a heavy wind, kept it on the ground until Clark unleashed a 46-yard pass to a wide-open JJ Aiello for the touchdown. Sean Anglim’s extra point made it 7-6 with 1:37 left in the first quarter.
“We came out slow and Brady brought us right back,” JJ Aiello said. “We had some drops tonight and Brady just was on point. He was great.”
Glenn moved the ball on its next possession to the Bayport 34, but a fourth-down pass fell incomplete, and the Phantoms took over on downs.
Clark then engineered a seven-play, 65-yard drive that culminated with a 32-yard TD pass to Dan Aiello for a 14-6 lead with 7:41 left in the half.
“There was wind, but you have to play through it and trust your throws,” said Clark, who completed 6 of 12 passes for 139 yards and rushed for 52 yards. “Our guys were getting open.”
Glenn took advantage of a muffed punt and drove to the Phantoms’ 3-yard line late in the first half. On fourth-and-1, Franzese tried to leap over a defender and into the end zone but was tackled while airborne. As he reached to put the ball over the goal line, he lost control and the ball bounced through the end zone for a touchback.
Clark opened the second half with another methodical march to the end zone. This one went nine plays and covered 72 yards, with Clark finding JJ Aiello with a 28-yard TD pass for a 21-6 lead with 7:12 left in the third quarter.
“We came out at the half with momentum,” JJ Aiello said. “It just felt different. We were running the ball well.”
The Phantoms forced a turnover on Glenn’s next possession. The Knights had the ball at the Bayport 29 when the ball was stripped by Ryan Bachmore and recovered by Eric Grahn. Glenn’s first three possessions of the second half went 16 plays for 47 yards.
“Our defense can be so nasty,” Druckenmiller said. “They come hard for four quarters.”
JJ Aiello added two short TD runs in the fourth quarter. The first was set up by Dan Aiello’s 60-yard run to the 2.
“We weren’t letting another title slip away,” Clark said. “This is our year.”
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
