Islip Dominates Sayville, Claims First Place

In a matchup between two undefeated teams, the Islip Buccaneers claimed first place in Division III with a convincing 41-13 win over the Sayville Golden Flashes. Sayville's potent offense was kept in check throughout the game by Islip's defense and the Golden Flashes failed to contain Islip's running game.

In a game that was as important as any in the regular season, Sayville returned home 5-0 after three road wins to face rival Islip, also 5-0, with first place on the line. 

On a windy Saturday afternoon, the opening coin toss proved to be a bad omen for Sayville. Golden Flashes head coach Robert Hoss hoped to win the coin toss in order to use the wind to his team's advantage, but Islip won the toss and kicked-off to Sayville. The Buccaneers defense immediately began putting pressure on Golden Flashes All-County quarterback Steven Ferreira.

Islip's defensive strategy was to keep pressure on Ferreira, who came into the game with 16 touchdown passes for the season. "The last couple of years we felt like we have to put pressure on him," said Islip head coach Jamie Lynch. "Steven is as good a quarterback as there is on Long Island. If you let him sit back there and look at your defense, he's going to find the right guy."

When Islip got the ball following a Sayville punt, Buccaneers senior quarterback Jeffrey Craig ran 17 yards to give Islip a 7-0 lead. The Sayville defense had trouble with Craig's running ability as he later scored on a 55-yard touchdown run. In the second quarter, Buccaneers junior running back Joe Sabbatino scored on a 3-yard run to give Islip a 27-0 lead.

Sayville has played comeback before this season and the game's momentum began to shift a bit after Ferreira found junior wide receiver James Rupp over the middle for a 42-yard touchdown reception.

On Sayville's ensuing possession, Ferreira scrambled to his right and threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Thomas Hannan, pulling Sayville within two touchdowns of Islip with about a minute left in the first half. 

Islip was expected to run out the clock, but Sayville recovered a fumbled snap on the Islip 21 yard line. With an opportunity to get within a touchdown of Islip, the Bucs defense came up big, sacking Ferreira twice.

The second half was all Islip as Sayville couldn't mount any kind of attack. Craig scored his third rushing touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter to seal the Islip win.

After the game, Hoss gave credit to the Bucs, but also accepted blame for the loss. "Right now, they [Islip] are a better football team than we are. I think their kids are hungrier. I think we did a terrible job preparing the kids. We have to figure out what we're doing wrong. There's accountability with the kids and we have to hold ourselves accountable as a staff and them too," he said. "We didn't block. We didn't tackle and when you don't block and tackle in football, you're going to lose."

The Golden Flashes host Westhampton next Saturday for Sayville's homecoming.

If Sayville has an opportunity to play Islip again, it will be during the playoffs, but coach Hoss isn't looking that far ahead. "We don't deserve anything right now. We're 5-1 and we're as good as our last game and that was our last game. We have to get better next week," he said.