Gatto, Pannell lead Smithtown West past Hills West

In the battle of West vs. West, only one school showcased a defense that came from all four compass points.

Smithtown West forced five turnovers, four of them leading to touchdowns, and blitzed Half Hollow Hills West, 42-14, Friday night in a Suffolk Division II game at Smithtown West. Hills West (3-5) was eliminated from a playoff spot.

"We are very physical. Our defense takes control and wins games for us," linebacker Anthony Gatto said. "We get our point across."

In Gatto's case, it was six points. Early in the second quarter, Gatto tipped a pass from Colts quarterback Chris Busuttil, who was rolling out in the shadow of his own goalpost. The ball went straight up into the brisk night air, hung there, tantalizingly, for a moment, then came down in Gatto's arms in the end zone for a touchdown that broke a tie at 7.

"It was zone coverage and when I saw the rollout, I came up to make a play," said Gatto, who also rushed for 77 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown in the third quarter. "I got my fingers on the ball and it happened to come down in my hands. It felt like it was taking days to come down. That was a turning point for us. To get a defensive touchdown is the best feeling in the world."

The next-best feeling has to be a clean shot at a quarterback. That's a specialty for Bulls defensive end Zack Naja. He hit Busuttil once to cause a fumble and another time to cause an incomplete pass. He also stripped a running back of the ball and made 10 tackles. "I'm usually the weak-side end so I can hit the quarterback from the blind side," Naja said. "What defensive end doesn't like that? It's a dream to see the back of his jersey when you're rushing in."

Naja had two defensive touchdowns earlier this season for Smithtown West (6-2) in a victory over North Babylon. "He's got a motor that never stops," Smithtown West coach Pete Cerullo said. "He's very disruptive. He's a very physical kid."

SEE PHOTOSSmithtown West 42, Hills West 14

So is running back/defensive back James Pannell. He broke tackles and ran over people time and again, gaining 136 yards on 23 carries, including touchdown runs of 13, 4 and 29 yards. "We knew if we played our physical game - ground and pound 'em - we'd wear them down," said Pannell of the Bulls' 21-0 advantage in the second half.

Pannell, a junior, recently made a verbal commitment to play lacrosse at national power Virginia, and doesn't play football as if he's worried about saving his body for lacrosse. "I didn't realize just how physical he was," Cerullo said. "He doesn't go down on the first hit."

Pannell even showed one of his lacrosse moves, using a nice stutter-step move to avoid tacklers on a big run up the middle. "Lacrosse came in handy on that one," Pannell said with a grin. "But I love playing football and coach [Dom] Starsia [of Virginia] loves that I play it. He loves athletes."

The Bulls have plenty of those, and they come at you from all directions.