Houpe, Bellport shush Newfield from opening kickoff

The buzz emanated from underneath the bleachers as the Blackshirts of Newfield marched into Nick DeCillis Field, flag flying overhead.

Newfield was new to this arena, having won the first playoff game in program history last week. Bellport, winner of more Suffolk playoff games than any other program in history, had wrecked Newfield's dream of an undefeated season just two weeks ago in a 24-point blowout. The home crowd had barely settled in when the hope of a great start was shattered by Travis Houpe on the opening kickoff.

Houpe drifted back and caught the driving kick over his shoulder at the 5-yard line, then darted up the middle of the field, untouched, 95 yards for a touchdown. Just like that, the air came out of Newfield's playoff balloon.

Houpe scored three touchdowns and Bellport cruised to a 30-15 win over Newfield in a Suffolk Division II semifinal playoff before a capacity crowd of more than 3,000, the largest to see a football game in Selden. Bellport (7-3) will meet top-seeded East Islip (9-1) for the division title Saturday at Stony Brook University.

"Eddie Carson made a key block, the lane opened and I was off to the races," said Houpe, who has nine touchdowns in his last three games. "It took the crowd right out of it."

Not quite, but close. Newfield (8-2) responded with a 10-play, 59-yard drive to the Clippers' 20. The long march ended when the Wolverines turned the ball over on downs.

After Houpe ripped off runs of 18 and 13 yards, Newfield linebacker Julian Santiago recovered a fumble at the Bellport 48.

"It was a momentum changer and we didn't do anything with it," Newfield coach Joe Piccininni said.

The Bellport defense stiffened. Ryan Sloan and Dante Johnson each made sacks of quarterback Mike Silva and on fourth down, the long snap sailed over the punter's head to the Newfield 4.

"We had simple breakdowns on special teams," Piccininni said. "And they were costly."

Bellport took over at the 4 and Houpe scored on the first play for a 12-0 lead with 3:07 left in the first quarter.

The assault on the Newfield offense continued on the next series when 1,500-yard rusher Shervon Barthelmy was thrown for an 8-yard loss and the Wolverines had to punt.

Bellport's Alejandro Morales caught a 33-yard pass to set up Kevin Schwicke's 2-yard scoring run for an 18-0 lead with 9:39 left in the half.

"We lost three games earlier this year and we pulled together," Schwicke said. "We beat a very good team today."

Newfield's Silva found Barthelmy for a 46-yard touchdown pass with 55 seconds left in the half to make it 18-7.

"We have a lot to build on," Newfield middle linebacker Ron Denig said. "There's a lot of talent here."

In the second half, Schwicke's blocked punt set up another Houpe 2-yard scoring run and quarterback Justin Honce found Burton for a 10-yard scoring pass for a 30-6 lead.

Barthelmy answered with a 28-yard touchdown reception with 8:21 left. Silva hit Santiago with the two-point conversion to get within 30-15. The ensuing onside kick was recovered by Newfield senior Sam John.

"We didn't want it to end," Barthelmy said.

Barthelmy got behind the defense again but this time he was blinded by the setting sun and a perfectly thrown pass slipped through his hands and fell incomplete.

"It was a great throw but I couldn't see it," Barthelmy said.

And the sun also set on Newfield's finest season.