Quite appropriately, Greenport/Southold/Mattituck’s big football win over Port Jefferson on Friday night was punctuated with many big plays and moments.
Let us count the ways.
Defensive end/tight end Taiquan Brumsey had the first and last words. He caused and recovered a fumble that led to the Porters’ first touchdown, registered two sacks and added a safety for the Porters final points in a 22-13 Suffolk County League IV home victory.
Quarterback/safety Michael DeNicola had two impressive long runs, a TD and an interception.
Defensive end Brady Woods made a vital fourth-down sack and added a fumble recovery.
And running back Matt McGunningle ran for two TDs.
“I thought the game was awesome,” Greenport head coach Tim McArdle said. “It had ups and downs. We dominated at times, and then we crumbled at times. The game ebbed and flowed like crazy.”
The win broke a streak going back 11 years. According to football annals, Friday marked the Porters’ first victory over the Royals since a 33-0 triumph in 2013.
Port Jefferson was ranked above Greenport.
“It sets us up at end of season,” Brumsey said. “Our postseason pretty much was on the line with the start of the season. There’s a lot of good teams in our league. This is one of the teams we had to beat to try to get us in there in November.”
Winning also did wonders for the team spirit.
“This pushes our confidence through the roof,” McArdle said. “We’re beating a team that we haven’t beat in many years. This is basically our playoff opponent. If we don’t beat them, they go to playoffs. If we beat them, we’re more likely to get to the playoffs.”
Added Woods: “It gives us a great confidence boost and gets us all hyped up and ready for the next game. We’re going to take this and bring it to Hampton Bays,” for Greenport’s Homecoming game on Friday, Sept. 20 at 6 p.m.
Two fumble recoveries and a fourth-down sack helped lift the hosts to a 20-0 halftime advantage.
Brumsey recovered a first quarter fumble by quarterback Chris Diot at the Port Jefferson 43-yard line. Aided by senior Kenny McGunnigle’s (5 carries, 76 yards) 43-yard run, junior Matt McGunningle (12 carries, 64 yards) powered six yards for the TD just over 5 minutes into the game.
“It was probably one of the biggest points of the game for us to get an edge,” said DeNicola, who rushed for 98 yards on five carries.
After the Royals reached the Porters’ 35, Woods sacked Diot for a 14-yard loss on fourth down. Four plays later, Greenport, helped by DeNicola’s 52-yard scamper down the left side, scored on Matt McGunningle’s one-yard plunge. DeNicola found Luke Weir on a two-point pass conversion for a 14-0 margin with 4:06 remaining in the second.
Woods set up the third TD, recovering a fumble at the Port Jefferson 25. DeNicola then turned what could have been a broken play in a shotgun formation into a 29-yard TD. The ball hit the ground on the snap, before picking it up and racing into the end zone for that halftime lead. James Felakos also had a sack.
“Brumsey was a monster. Brady Woods was a monster,” McArdle said. “The linebackers played great in every role they needed to play. The corners did their job. Everyone did their job on defense.”
Penalties, an inconsistent offense and several players cramping up, including DeNicola, plagued the Porters in the second half.
“Definitely got to drink some more pickle juice,” DeNicola said.
Port Jefferson finally hit paydirt on Diot’s three-yard run and Tomas Qepuri’s PAT, to slice the lead to 20-7 with 5:50 remaining in the third. Brumsey stunted the Royals’ momentum by tackling Diot for a safety with 2:13 remaining in the quarter.
The visitors made it interesting on Diot’s 67-yard TD pass to Brandon Verruto with 1:19 left.
“I know things got a little crazy near the end and whatnot,” Brumsey said. “We were concerned that maybe they’d be able to pull it off coming back.”
Given that it was the first game of the season, both teams experienced problems getting their timing down. The contest was highlighted by many penalties, often false starts. Greenport was penalized 11 times for 77 yards, the Royals drew eight flags for 45 yards.
“We need to clean up our game a little bit and capitalize on their mistakes,” McGunnigle said. “And we’ve got to limit our mistakes.”
The bottom line was an opening win.
“Sad it’s my last [season],” said Woods, a senior. “But I’m glad we started off with a bang.”