Babylon's Kai Jankow leads comeback in victory over Miller Place
Kai Jankow of Babylon breaks through for a first down in a Suffolk Division IV matchup against Miller Place on Friday in Babylon. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
The ultimate back-and-forth game produced another instant classic between Miller Place and Babylon. After trailing by 14, Kai Jankow and Babylon stormed back.
Jankow ran for a 12-yard touchdown to trim the deficit to seven with under five minutes left in the game. Then a Miller Place quarterback sneak was stuffed on fourth-and-1 with 1:54 remaining.
It was time for Jankow to go to work.
He ripped off multiple big runs in a two-minute drill with no timeouts. Jankow then found Corey Dellafranca for a dump-off touchdown from eight yards out with 4.1 seconds left.
Babylon went for two, and Jankow reached across the plane for the conversion as Babylon outfought Miller Place, 49-48, in a Suffolk IV semifinal rematch Friday night.
“I had faith in everyone on my team,” Jankow said. “I knew once I was getting the ball, I was going up top and we were scoring. And in this game, you can’t draw it up — this is the greatest feeling in the world.”
“We weren’t down all season,” Babylon coach Rick Punzone said. “To come back from down 14 late just shows the character of these kids, and I’m so proud of them. And in my entire coaching career, this is one of the greatest regular-season football games I’ve ever been a part of.”
Last year, these teams met twice. The regular-season matchup was a 57-48 Babylon victory, but in the playoffs, Miller Place prevailed with a 43-14 road win in the semifinals. Shane Kiernan threw for a combined 943 yards in those two games, while Aidan Winter ran for 284 yards and two touchdowns in the first meeting before leaving the playoff game early with an injury.
Babylon wasted no time setting the tone Friday night. Joseph DiPalma returned the opening kickoff 75 yards, setting up Winter for a 7-yard touchdown on the following play just 20 seconds into the game.
Winter ripped off touchdown runs of 52 and 57 yards for the Panthers in the first quarter. He ended the opening frame with 133 rushing yards and three touchdowns as Babylon (8-0) took a 21-14 lead after one quarter.
“In all my years as a head coach and as a coach in general, I don’t know if there’s another player who dominates a game the way Aidan Winter can,” Adam St. Nicholas said. “Since he was in ninth grade, I knew he was a big-time player. He keeps you up at night trying to stop him.”
It was Kiernan’s turn in the second quarter. He connected with Camryn Hardy for touchdown passes of 59 and 56 yards. Hardy totaled three first-half touchdowns, and the game was tied at 28 at intermission. He finished with five touchdowns overall.
In the third quarter, Kiernan continued his dominance. He found Brendan Cannon for a 14-yard touchdown, then connected with Hardy for a 35-yard score to take a 40-28 lead.
Then, in the fourth quarter, Babylon pulled off the stunning comeback — and stayed undefeated as Miller Place fell to 6-2.
