Olivia Moynihan sparks Sayville offense; defense holds off North Babylon
Sayville's Olivia Moynihan looks to evade the Northport defense. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
After starting the season with two road losses, a win in its home opener is exactly what Sayville was looking for.
It found it on Saturday.
Quarterback Olivia Moynihan ran for two first-half touchdowns of 23 and 25 yards and threw for a 7-yard scoring strike to Faith Cummings midway through the second half as Sayville beat North Babylon, 19-12, in a Suffolk flag football game. Moynihan accounted for 157 all-purpose yards in the win.
“We found some plays that really worked to our strengths,” said Sayville coach Reade Sands. “Olivia had some nice breakaway runs. We had an outstanding defensive effort. I thought our flag pulling was the best it’s been all season.”
Ella Trama and Briana Linss led all defenders with eight flag pulls each. Trama sealed the outside and never allowed the speedy North Babylon backs to get outside the edge.
“It feels really good to get that first flag football win in school history,” said Sayville senior Calla Kolar, who had five flag pulls. “Our defense was all on the same page and working well together. Our coaches put us in a great position to win.”
Moynihan opened the scoring with an athletic scramble on a third-and-eight play. Moynihan broke down the middle of the field and eluded three would-be tacklers in the open field, cut back against the defensive flow, and went 23 yards for the score. She threw a short pass to Mia DeSimone for the one-point conversion and the 7-0 lead with 15:50 left.
“I saw an open lane and took off,” said Moynihan, who plays goalie for the school’s soccer team. “I don’t play a spring sport and I love football at our school. This is just great.”
Moynihan added a 25-yard touchdown run when she dashed around right end with 1:17 left in the half for a 13-0 lead. The one-point conversion run was stopped by a nice flag pull by Lauren Granchi.
Sayville (1-2) extended the lead when Linss ran around left end for a 23-yard gain to set up a Moynihan-to-Faith Cummings 7-yard touchdown pass for a 19-0 lead with 16:18 left in the game.
“We weren’t giving them much,” said junior Ava Rueb, who had five flag pulls. “It’s my first time playing flag football and I’m getting used to grabbing the flags.”
North Babylon (2-2) scored when quarterback Jenna Biondo broke a 51-yard touchdown run to make it 19-6 with 6:04 left in the game. Linss stopped the two-point conversion at the 2-yard line.
The Bulldogs made it a one-score game when Biondo fired a 16-yard scoring pass to Kaitlyn Nunziato to get within 19-12 with 1:13 left.
“I love our defense,” Sands said. “They’ll keep us in games.”
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
