East Hampton football's Alex Davis (216 yards, 4 TDs) leads team to first playoff victory since 1994
Alex Davis of East Hampton runs with the ball during a playoff game against Islip on Friday. Credit: Errol Anderson
It’s been a long time coming for the East Hampton/Bridgehampton football team. The Bonackers made sure to savor the moment.
Alex Davis had 24 carries for 216 yards and four touchdowns to lead the sixth-seeded Bonackers to a 48-7 win over third-seeded host Islip in the Suffolk Division III football quarterfinals on Friday night.
It’s the Bonackers’ first playoff win since a 36-6 victory over Half Hollow Hills West in the 1994 Suffolk III semifinals.
Their 52-6 loss to Hills West in last year’s quarterfinals marked their first playoff game since 2013.
“I don’t know if there’s ever been an East Hampton football team that made the playoffs in consecutive years,” coach Joe McKee said. “Now, to go into the second round, it’s pretty huge. And we’re playing with house money.”
East Hampton/Bridgehampton (6-3) will visit top-seeded Sayville in the semifinals at 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14.
Davis did all of his damage in the first 31 minutes of play. He suffered an ankle injury with five minutes left in the third quarter.
“I wanted to go back out there, but they said no,” Davis said. “I’ll be ready by next week. I’ve just got to ice it and rest up.”
After Jackson Ronick punched in a 3-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter, the ensuing kickoff landed in no-man’s land and took a friendly bounce for East Hampton’s Charlie Stern, who recovered the kick on Islip’s 29-yard line.
“It changed the whole game,” Davis said. “We weren’t expecting to get the ball back there.”
Davis took the first play of the drive through the left side of his offensive line for a 29-yard score. The Bonackers’ next drive went 68 yards in 11 plays and was capped by Davis’ 24-yard score to take a 20-0 lead with 3:45 left in the first half.
It wasn’t just Davis pounding away on the ground. Jackson Ronick had 10 carries for 90 yards and a TD and Jai Feaster ran seven times for 52 yards and a score.
The Bonackers’ offensive line — composed of tackles Sullivan Matthews and Kieran Brew, guards James Corwin and Jake Rivera, and center Tyler Rodgers — paved the way for the three-headed backfield.
Jack Rao threw for 101 yards and ran for 110 yards and a TD for Islip, which finished 7-2.
When the Bonackers faced Sayville (9-0) on Oct. 24, the Golden Flashes took a 28-14 win.
“After the Sayville game, even though we lost, it just felt we can really play with anybody,” McKee said. “Their focus and their energy from then on . . . They’re not afraid of anything.”
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
