West Islip wins a thriller over Bellport for Suffolk II title
West Islip TE Nolan Walters celebrates his game winning touchdown pass against Bellport in the Suffolk II championship game on Saturday at West Islip. Credit: George A Faella
Punch, counterpunch, Bellport and West Islip played a game for the ages.
West Islip drove 92 yards in typical Lions fashion to take a three-point lead with 6:19 left only to watch Bellport march 60 yards for a touchdown and retake the lead by four.
And then this. West Islip drove from its 34 to the Bellport 22 and faced fourth-and-3 with 47 seconds left. Quarterback Joe Costantino has been the go-to guy all season. So why not in the biggest moment of the Lions’ season?
Costantino followed a wall of blockers around right end and gained 6 yards for the first down at the Bellport 16. Two plays later, Costantino play-faked and lofted a 14-yard touchdown strike to a wide-open Nolan Walters with 27 seconds remaining to deliver a 24-21 come-from-behind win and the Suffolk Conference II championship.
The pass sent the West Islip sideline and its huge crowd into bedlam. "It’s about tradition and believing in each other," West Islip coach Steve Mileti said. "This group is so special. We are never out. We have warriors."
West Islip fullback Konrad Maciejny opened the scoring with a 20-yard run through the middle of the Bellport defense with 5:04 left in the first quarter. The run capped a six-play, 65-yard drive, keyed by a Costantino 10-yard run for a first down to the Bellport 21.
Bellport answered with a long drive but came up empty when the West Islip defense stiffened in the red zone. Maciejny sacked Jack Halpin for a 6-yard loss to the 19, forcing a fourth-down play. Bellport passed on the field-goal attempt and Halpin’s pass intended for Calvin Pedatella was broken up by Costantino to turn the ball over on downs.
The Clippers got on the scoreboard in the second quarter when Halpin capped a 55-yard drive with a 7-yard scoring run. Riley Murphy added the kick to make it 7-7 with 6:58 left in the half.
The Clippers forced a punt and scored on the next possession to take the lead. Halpin hit Pedatella down the middle of the field for 31 yards to the West Islip 24 and three plays later, Ka’Shaun Parrish went around right end for a 15-yard touchdown. Murphy’s PAT made it 14-7 with 2:25 left in the half.
The Lions weren’t finished. They drove 49 yards and Tobias Wefering nailed a 37-yard field goal as time expired to make it 14-10 at the half. "We knew this one would be a one-score game," Bellport coach Jamie Fabian said. "The game was everything we thought it would be. Both teams made the big plays and left it all on the field."
West Islip’s electric Ryan Behrens capped an eight-play, 92-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run with 6:19 left to give the Lions a 17-14 lead. Bellport came right back with a Donte Phillips 7-yard scoring run with 3:36 left to take the 21-17 lead.
And 3:36 was too long to contain Costantino and the Lions offense. He engineered an 11-play, 66-yard scoring drive, using all but 27 seconds. And that wasn’t enough for Bellport.
It was vintage West Islip football.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
