Skon's three touchdowns lead Lindenhurst
Lindenhurst High School quarterback Stephen Skon drops back for a pass in the second quarter of a Suffolk County Division I varsity football game vs. Longwood. (Sept. 11, 2010) Credit: James Escher
They huddled together at the 29-yard line and Steve Skon called the first play of his final season at Lindenhurst. The three-year starting quarterback then fired a fine 15-yard pass to wideout Dave George and set the tone for the rest of a beautiful afternoon on the south shore in Lindenhurst.
Skon dissected the Longwood defense, completing 11 of 15 passes for 165 yards and three touchdowns as the Bulldogs rolled to a 27-6 win in a Suffolk Division I opener before a crowd of more than 900.
On the first drive of 2010, Skon engineered a nine-play, 71-yard methodical march, completing all five pass attempts for 47 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown to senior Colton Haupt. Skon looked left before turning right and throwing a bullet to Haupt in the flat, who turned upfield behind a wall of blockers. Vin Valela added the extra-point kick to make it 7-0 with 7:38 left.
"It was a great start to the season," Skon said. "Our guys ran disciplined routes and when our two primary receivers were covered our doubled, I checked down to the valve routes and they were open."
The first drive featured five first downs, including a 16-yard pass to tight end Teddy Mangione.
"I'm the hot read," said Mangione, who had three catches for 37 yards. "And Steve's reads were right on all game."
Lindy tackle Evan Wildberger recovered a fumble on Longwood's first possession at the Lions 38. But Skon's first pass to his a wide open brother Kenny Skon, ricocheted off his facemask and into the arms of defensive back Victor Hickson.
"Oh, I was not happy right there," Skon laughed. "He's got great hands. I was knocked down and when I got up they had the ball. I wasn't laughing at that point."
Longwood went on a mesmerizing 15-play, 71-yard drive to the Bulldogs 1 yardline. The Lions failed to capitalize on the turnover when middle linebacker Josh Stewart, who had seven tackles, forced a fumble.
"We made big stops on defense," said Stewart. "That play was huge. They're a very physical team and we matched their intensity and then some."
Longwood wasn't done. The Lions, pinned deep in their own territory after Valela boomed a 69-yard punt to the 6, started another long drive.
The Lions went on a seven-play, 94-yard scoring drive, keyed by a 37-yard pass from Dan Farrell to Anthony Martuccio to the Lindy 27.
Junior Corey Wallace capped the march when he grabbed a 13-yard touchdown pass from Farrell with 3:13 left in the half. The two-point conversion run failed.
"We got penetration on the run and stuffed it," said Mangione, who had 10 tackles and four sacks.
Clinging to a one-point lead, Skon went to work. He completed four passes for 43 yards and scrambled for 17 yards to the Lions 11 to set up a 6-yard scoring strike with 37 seconds left. This time Kenny Skon caught the ball on the break for the score. Valela made it 14-6.
Skon was on target again the second half. He directed a long scoring drive, moving 60 yards in six plays. Skon found a diving George with a 6-yard out at the pylon for a 21-6 advantage.
"Coach [Rick] Caravaggio has us doing comeback drills and scramble drills and everything," said George. "We run our routes and Steve goes through all his reads. He was on target."
Skon had plenty to be happy about yesterday.
