Liam Reisinger's pick-6 sparks victory for Rocky Point
Rocky Point QB Cody Miller takes the keeper 50 yards for the touchdown against host Deer Park on Sept. 3. Credit: George A Faella
The opening night for any football season is special, and on Long Island, it was especially sweet on Friday. After a 2020-21 season displaced, compressed and often in front of few because of the coronavirus pandemic, the gridiron action commenced on a perfect evening with fans from both sides in the stands.
And all that were there for Rocky Point and Deer Park to kick off the Suffolk III season got to see a doozy, with the Eagles meeting a big night with a bunch of big plays.
Rocky Point used five long scoring plays to defeat the host Falcons, 33-26, after seeing Deer Park erase its early 14-point lead and knot the score at 20 in the third quarter.
"The question never is whether there will be adversity — it’s when will there be adversity," Rocky Point coach Anthony DiLorenzo said. "It’s how are you going to rise up to meet it. Our guys did a really good job of it."
By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the Eagles were hampered because two-way star Cody Miller was experiencing cramps and playing only sparingly. That’s when Liam Reisinger stepped in front of a pass by Deer Park quarterback Logan Rhodes and took it 46 yards for the go-ahead pick-6.
"The momentum had started to go their way, so that proved pivotal," Reisinger said.
Miller returned to quarterback Rocky Point’s next offensive series and connected with Trevor Lamoureaux behind the Falcons’ defense for a 65-yard score.
Miller had a 48-yard scoring run, an 87-yard interception return for a TD and that scoring pass to Lamoureaux. He also passed for a two-point conversion. He threw for 101 yards and rushed for 48.
The other Eagles touchdown was a 45-yard run by A.J. Walker.
"After all that we went through last year with the football season — playing with no fans or only our own fans — this was awesome," Miller said. "The environment we played in here really made a difference."
"There is nothing that compares with a Friday night football game," DiLorenzo said. "We have a lot of three-sport athletes, but this is where you want to be on a Friday night."
Rhodes threw for three scores — 10- and 22-yarders to Samuel Adolphe and a 68-yard strike to Hayden Lovinsky — but also threw three interceptions, two of which ended up in the end zone behind him.
Rocky Point’s triple-option offense was at its most deceptive in the early going. The Eagles got a pair of huge plays off of it to open a 14-point lead at the end of a quarter.
On the third play of the game, Miller faked a handoff to the inside that almost all of the Falcons bit on before rolling to the left and sprinting down the sideline for a 48-yard TD. He threw to Lamoreaux for the conversion and an 8-0 lead.
The Eagles’ third possession began after James Dowd made a big tackle-for-loss on a fourth-and-2 to get the ball turned over on downs at the Falcons’ 45. On Rocky Point’s first play of the possession, it was time for more slight of hand. Walker took a pitch from Miller on a reverse and went 45 yards down the right side for a 14-0 lead after the conversion failed.
"We can do some things that confuse a defense," Miller said. "You saw some of it tonight."
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
