Max Napoli, Ryan Walsh lead Northport to win over Pat-Med
At this point in the season last year, Max Napoli was making plays through the air as Northport’s junior varsity quarterback.
On Sunday afternoon, Napoli did his damage on the ground to help spur the varsity team’s second-half comeback.
Napoli rushed for 108 yards on six carries and three touchdowns to lead Northport to a 35-19 win over Patchogue-Medford in a Suffolk I football game at Half Hollow Hills East.
Northport took a 14-3 lead in the second quarter before the Red Raiders closed the first half on a 16-0 run. In the third quarter, Napoli put Northport back in front with a 10-yard run and extended the lead with a 42-yard rush later in the period.
“It feels amazing to come out here and get three touchdowns and come out with a great second half,” said Napoli, who also rushed for a 26-yard score in the second quarter. “Our captains are great, they told us to keep going and we just powered through.”
The junior did much of his damage lining up as a slotback, coming in motion before the snap and taking a pitch from quarterback Ryan Walsh. His outside running complemented the power running of fullbacks Justin and Jeremy Gerdvil and Jeff Joseph, as Northport (3-2) combined to rush for 267 yards.
“It’s a great thing to see him come in as a junior who didn’t play the position last year and do his thing,” Justin Gerdvil said of Napoli. “He was the all-star of this game.”
“If we come together as a line and as a backfield, we can do anything we want to,” Jeremy Gerdvil said.
Although the running game took center stage Sunday, Walsh made a few key plays with his arm, including a picture-perfect pass that found Curtis Lafond in the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown that made the score 7-3 in the second quarter. The senior quarterback also connected with Lafond for a 15-yard pass on third-and-8 to extend a clock-killing fourth-quarter drive, and capped the six-minute possession with a quarterback sneak for a TD that made it 35-19.
Patchogue-Medford (3-1) did not go down quietly after Napoli’s score in the second quarter. Trailing 14-3 with less than five minutes left in the first half, receiver Angelo Devito took a direct snap but dropped back to pass and found Kevin Hillman for a 47-yard gain that brought the Red Raiders to the goal line. On the next play, Joey Collins ran for a 1-yard score to cut their deficit to 14-10, and they weren’t finished scoring in the second quarter.
Two special teams plays helped give Patchogue-Medford a lead going into halftime. After Northport was held to a three-and-out on the next possession, Raymond Kircher returned the ensuing punt 65 yards for a touchdown with 1:43 left in the half. A little more than a minute later, the Red Raiders blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety and a 19-14 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Northport defense took over and did not allow another first down until the Red Raiders’ final possession of the game, allowing Napoli’s big plays on the ground to put them back on top.
“This is a win we can build off of,” Napoli said. “We feel great and we’re ready to push forward.”
