McCoy scores 3 TDs to lead North Babylon
North Babylon went on to beat West Babylon 27 - 14, with the help of Preshod McCoy #14 who ran a 53 yard touch down in the 4th quarter and had a total of 128 yards running. (Oct. 2, 2010) Credit: Uli Seit
This was the high school version of Separation Saturday, where the winning team could optimistically remain in contention for the Suffok Division II lead, while the losing one significantly reduced its margin of error over the remaining four regular season games.
Add the ingredient of a built-in rivalry between defending division champion North Babylon and West Babylon and the stage was set.
It took some doing, but visiting North Babylon won, 27-14, Saturday spearheaded by a running game that succeeded largely on its own inertia. The blocks were not always there to open the holes for Preshod McCoy and Adam Amin, but the two talented seniors created enough of their own daylight.
Sometimes, it just takes a lucky break - or bounce - and the game turned on such a play. With North Babylon (3-1) trailing 14-13 with just over six minutes to play, Amin found a hole and started running down the left side, but the ball squirted loose and dropped to the ground. It bounced right back up into Amin's hands.
"Luckily, the ball had a nice bounce to it,'' Amin said. "I picked it up, put my head down and kept going.''
Given a reprive, Amin tucked the ball and raced all the way to the four-yard line, a 54-yard run, before he was hauled down by West Babylon defensive back Michael Richardson. McCoy later scored on a three-yard run, his second of three in the game.
"I think my heart might have stopped,'' North Babylon coach Terry Manning said of Amin's momentary fumble. "It ended up being a pretty big break . . . It's West Babylon-North Babylon. I'm a North Babylon kid myself. I played against their fathers, now they are playing against their kids.''
Yards have been hard to come by for the North Babylon running backs. Amin totaled 66 yards, all but 12 coming on that one big run. McCoy, who put the game away on a 53-yard touchdown run with 3:50 left, tallied 128 yards.
Those aren't exactly North Babylon-like rushing stats. Former Bulldogs' star Jason Gwaltney used to just about compile those numbers before everyone was seated. "We can't run without the blockers,'' McCoy said.
North Babylon did not attempt a pass in the game - quarterback Brian Kennedy ran in a two-point conversion after McCoy's go-ahead touchdown - but that is nothing unusual with this run-orientated team.
"We've always been a team to run the ball," Amin said. "[Teams] all know what we do. We keep going and see if they can stop us.''
West Babylon (2-2) was having a good day on defense, highlighted earlier in the fourth quarter when it stopped the Bulldogs cold on a fourth-and-1 play on the Eagles' five-yard line.
"It was real frustrating,'' North Babylon lineman Golden Ukonu said. "The first half they stopped us with their blitzes, but we had to suck it up and find a way to beat them. We took practice 10 times harder this week; it's rivalry week we couldn't have anything less than a win.''
