Madison Brown's TD run puts Patchogue-Medford in Suffolk final
Madison Brown of the Patchogue-Medford Raiders is mobbed by her teammates after her touchdown late in the second half against the Walt Whitman Wildcats at Patchogue-Medford on Monday in Medford. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Madison Brown motioned in from the right side of the formation and took a direct snap, dodging and weaving down the left sideline for a 12-yard gain to give Patchogue-Medford a second-and-goal from the 8-yard line.
It worked so well that the Raiders ran the exact same play again. Only this time, Brown maneuvered her way into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown with 2:37 remaining in second-seeded and host Patchogue-Medford’s 13-6 win over No. 6 Whitman, last year’s inaugural champions, in the semifinals of the Suffolk flag football playoffs on Monday.
“It works well because the defense doesn’t realize it’s going to be a direct snap to me,” Brown said. “They have a bit of a delayed reaction, so it makes it easier to get past them.”
The Raiders had been held scoreless in their first six possessions but were millimeters away from several big plays, as Diamond Pertillar and quarterback Alexis Buslon-Cuozzo just couldn’t connect on the deep ball.
Trailing 6-0 with 7:41 left and starting from their own 12-yard line, they changed their approach.
Bulson-Cuozzo hit Pertillar for a screen pass that went for 19 yards and a first down. After Bulson-Cuozzo darted for 16 yards and another first down, she dumped another screen to Pertillar, who ran 27 yards for a touchdown to tie the score at 6 with 4:43 remaining.
“We just had to relax,” Pertillar said. “Having my team by my side helped me stay in the moment.”
On Whitman’s ensuing drive, a pass was tipped off the outstretched hands of Iris Hoffman and intercepted by a diving Isabelle DeNeve at the 21-yard line. That helped set up Brown and the Raiders for the winning score.
“We were so close to the end zone, so I trusted the girls to get in,” DeNeve said. “I was just in shock that I caught it.”
It was the second interception of the game for DeNeve, who also pulled 13 flags.
Hoffman scored the lone touchdown for Whitman (10-3-1) on a 3-yard run in the first half.
In the program’s first season, Patchogue-Medford (10-0-3) will face No. 4 Half Hollow Hills in the county championship at 4 p.m. Thursday at Sachem East High School.
“It’s very exciting,” Brown said. “We just keep getting better and better every game.”
