Glenn wins thriller on Orkiszewski’s field goal
Glenn kicker Greg Orkiszewski #6 kcks the winning field goal against Bayport to give Glenn a 9-6 victory in the closing seconds of the 4th quarter. (Oct. 2, 2010) Credit: GEORGE A. FAELLA
Long ride, short field goal. One loss, one win. Early disappointment, late heroics. What a day for a Knight. That’s the kind of day it was for Glenn’s Greg Orkiszewski.
The junior defender for Glenn’s soccer team played yesterday morning in a 1-0 loss at East Hampton. He was driven to Bayport for the team’s afternoon football game against the Phantoms, arriving in the second quarter. In the third quarter, the Glenn placekicker missed a 27-yard field goal wide right with his team trailing by a point.
But Orkiszewski’s day wasn’t over. The Knights used a fourth-down run for a first down by Tom Forsberg on a fake punt from their own 20 to keep a late drive alive. They reached the Phantoms’ 8 with 11.4 seconds left. Bayport-Blue Point called timeout to ice the kicker.
“Right before the kick, my whole body was shaking,” Orkiszewski said. But then he took a deep breath and “pictured the ball going right between the pipes.”
That’s exactly what happened, despite a leaping try from a sharp angle by Ryan McCoy, who played a terrific all-around game and made three huge defensive stops in the second half.
The 25-yard field goal with 7.9 seconds remaining allowed Glenn (4-0) to win yesterday’s Suffolk Division IV battle of unbeaten teams, 9-7, before a homecoming crowd of more than 1,400 fans at Bayport (3-1).
Orkiszewski’s day might not have turned out so well if not for coach Dave Shanahan’s daring call on fourth-and-8 from his own 20. To that point, with 2:47 left, a 36-yard scoring run by Bayport-Blue Point quarterback Corey Picone (111 yards rushing) in the third quarter and the succeeding extra point appeared to be enough for the Phantoms to hang on.
“On the previous punt, I saw they were not honoring the right flank,” Shanahan said. “So I told assistant] coach Lauri to tell Tom to run right. He’s one of the best athletes in the county and he made a guy miss and got the first down.”
Lauri told only Forsberg. “We didn’t even know the fake punt was called,” said guard Joe Giaramita (11 tackles). “He pulled me aside and said run as fast as I can to the right side,” said Forsberg, who gained nine yards on the play.
Then quarterback Ryan Rielly took over. Unstoppable all day with 113 yards rushing and 177 yards passing, including a 66-yard TD pass to Nick Wagner in the first quarter, Rielly avoided pressure and hit Wagner for a big 29-yard gain that moved the ball to the Bayport 41.
Rielly ran for 24 more yards on the drive and threw the ball away on third down, knowing the Knights had no more timeouts left. The game was in the hands of Orkiszewski’s feet. “I couldn’t even watch,” Rielly said. “I just listened for the crowd noise.” Rielly missed it, but Orkiszewski did not.
“I’ve never had a game-winner before,” Orkiszewski said. Bad start, good ending. What a day. What a Knight.
