Top seed Sayville beats No. 6 Westhampton, 56-27
Sayville's Jake Kolar (#1) makes a catch as West Hampton's Dylan Laube (#40) brings him down during the Suffolk Conference III semifinal game held at Sayville High School on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015. Credit: Enrique C. Mendez
For the Sayville offense, the forecast always calls for points.
The weather forecast, which called for low temperatures and blustering wind, was not as favorable Saturday for the top-seeded Golden Flashes and strong-armed quarterback Jack Coan.
It made no difference as Sayville defeated No. 6 Westhampton, 56-27, in a Suffolk III football semifinal.
Sayville will meet No. 2 East Islip at 4 p.m. next Sunday at Stony Brook in the final.
The Golden Flashes relied on the legs of junior Ashton Bradley, who carried the ball 20 times for 139 yards and three touchdowns and scored on a 32-yard screen pass.
"I just follow the game plan and tried to do what I'm supposed to do," Bradley said. "If Coach wants to rely on me to run, it makes me excited because I just love to run."
Bradley's 1-yard run with 5:30 remaining in the first half capped a 12-play, 74-yard drive and put Sayville ahead 14-13. After the Sayville defense forced a three-and-out, the Golden Flashes (10-0) put together a 71-yard drive that ended with Bradley's touchdown reception.
When Westhampton fumbled on its next play from scrimmage, Seamus Burns scooped it and returned it 15 yards for a score. Sayville took advantage of another fumble by Westhampton on its next drive as Bradley capped the first-half scoring with another 1-yard run.
"Those touchdowns at the end of the half were so important because everything was going wrong early on," Bradley said. "I was a little scared but we knew we had to come back quickly and finish out the game."
Dylan Laube scored all four touchdowns for Westhampton (5-5) on the ground, including runs of 75 and 60 yards in the second half.
"This was one of the most satisfying wins we've had this year because all year we've relied on Jack and put the pressure on him," Sayville coach Rob Hoss said. "We saw Tuesday that the weather wasn't going to be great, and the fact that we were able to win with our offensive line and our running backs is a huge confidence boost for us."
Gene Morris joined Newsday's sports department in September 2012 and covers high school sports. He earned a journalism degree from Stony Brook University in 2010.
