Sayville escapes again to reach Division III final
Sayville's John Haggert celebrates his go-ahead touchdown which put Sayville in the lead for good during the Suffolk Division III semifinals against Westhampton. (Nov. 13, 2010) Credit: Alan J. Schaefer
The Sayville football team has been living on the edge all season and Saturday was no different.
Tied at 14 going into the fourth quarter, John Haggart's 11-yard touchdown run on third-and-8 with 7 minutes remaining capped a 49-yard drive and gave top seed Sayville (9-1) the lead for good in a 28-14 win over No. 5 Westhampton (6-4) in a Suffolk Division III semifinal.
Anticipating the pass, Westhampton showed blitz before dropping back into coverage, but Sayville ran a draw and Josh Tordik's key block from the slot sprung Haggart for the score.
"We're a throwing team," coach Golden Flashes coach Richard Hoss said. "They thought we'd go for the pass."
Westhampton threatened on fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line with two minutes left in the third, but Matt Ali's blitz stuffed the running play for no gain.
Tordik intercepted a screen pass and returned it for a 67-yard TD to ice the game in the waning minutes.
Quarterback Stephen Ferreira paced Sayville's offense. He was 10-for-18 passing for 159 yards and a TD, and he gained 28 yards on five carries. Haggart led the charge on the ground with 188 yards and two TDs on 24 carries.
Ali, the weakside linebacker, led the defense with 15 tackles.
Sayville will play play No. 2 Islip (9-1) in the Division III final at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Stony Brook University.
Islip dealt Sayville its only loss this season, a 41-13 defeat at Sayville on Oct. 16.
"We can play in tight games," Hoss said, noting that his team has come from behind in all but two of its contests. "It's not what you want to do, but I know we can come back and win . . . These kids have a never say die attitude."
