Colin Clark, Bayport-Blue Point take care of business against Glenn to keep control of playoff destiny
Colin Clark of Bayport-Blue Point rushes against Glenn during a Suffolk Division IV football game at Bayport-Blue Point on Friday. Credit: David Meisenholder
It feels good to not need any help.
In a game that may decide its postseason fate, Bayport-Blue Point dominated Glenn, 27-7, on Friday night in Bayport. The victory gives the Phantoms (6-2) the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Knights (5-3) heading into the final week of the Suffolk Division IV regular season.
BBP won the old-fashioned way, rushing for 368 yards and controlling the clock. Its offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage, creating several openings for quarterback Colin Clark and running backs Collin Reyer and Josh Franchak to run through. As a team, the Phantoms averaged 8.6 yards per carry and had only one run for negative yardage, which was a loss of only a yard by Reyer late in the fourth quarter when the game was already out of reach.
Clark led the way with 156 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. He started the scoring on the first play of the second quarter when he drove right through the middle and bounced off multiple would-be tacklers like a pinball for a 14-yard touchdown.
“We can’t get it done without the offensive line up front,” Clark said. “Those guys came to play. They were being physical. It was a great team win. Nothing individual or anything like that.”
Due to the folding of both the Southampton/Ross and Greenport/Southold/Mattituck programs before the season began, Suffolk IV’s schedule and playoff format needed to be redone. The conference added a ninth regular-season game for the first week of November and cut its playoff field in half, meaning only four teams would make the division’s postseason.
BBP had lost its previous two games to Babylon and Mount Sinai, dropping it into a fourth-place tie with Glenn. Now, with both the win and tiebreaker over the Knights, BBP controls its own playoff destiny heading into the regular-season finale at Miller Place.
Two playoff spots are still open in Suffolk IV. Babylon already secured one and Miller Place secured another once Glenn lost. Both Mount Sinai and BBP would clinch the final two spots with wins and no other outside help next week.
“It was a great win after two tough losses, and we’re looking to keep it going from here,” Clark said. “It feels great, but we can’t be satisfied with this.”
With 6:45 remaining in the second quarter, Franchak hit the hole between right guard Blake Romano and right tackle Chuck Crisera and turned upfield around the right corner for a 32-yard touchdown to make it 13-0. On the Phantoms’ next first-half possession, Reyer bursted through the middle and raced 56 yards to the end zone to go up 20-0.
On the opening drive of the third quarter, BBP went 71 yards in 10 plays, ending with a 1-yard touchdown run by Reyer. He finished with 14 carries for 112 yards and two touchdowns.
“It definitely feels great to contribute, but all I can attribute my performance to is my teammates,” Reyer said. “Coming in, I knew we had guys who could run the ball. Franchak is an animal, Clark’s an animal. We’ve all shown it throughout the season. Everybody just got at it and believed we could do this.”
Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.
