West Islip Football Crush Copiague 28-7

Head coach Steve Mileti must have organized his gameplan around the local weather forecast, because his defense thunder-clapped the Copiague offense and his spread option attack struck as quick as lightning.  And it was junior quarterback Anthony Santo who made it rain with three touchdown passes of 8, 57 and 55 yards to lead West Islip past Copiague 28-7.  

"We were on a little low from the North Babylon game, so we wanted to make sure we came out ready to go," Mileti said.

The Lions' (1-1) defense was suffocating, holding the Eagles (0-2) to seven points; a 54-yard touchdown pass from Rolando Rowe to Terrick Simms.  No, Copiague was never able to spread their offensive wings, partly because of West Islip captain Stephen Gallante, whose name never stopped echoing through the loudspeaker.

The defense was able to pick off three of Rowe's passes on the day, including one from senior Douglas Weisbecker and one that strong safety Mike Sagl returned 20-yards to paydirt to put West Islip ahead 21-0 with 2:00 left in the third.

"The defense is still maturing," Mileti said. "We have five or six juniors out there, so it's still a transition for the young guys to varsity. But they're getting better."

"We expected them [Copiague] to come out ready. We're happy to get out of here with a win."

The offense displayed an array of weapons.  Tailbacks Danny Johnson, Ronnie Garcia and Sagl saw plenty of action on the ground, and speedy wide receiver Dan Corzier added a touchdown catch and took an end around for 27-yards. Fellow junior quarterback Matt Brady also saw playing time, rotating with Santo in the second half.

"We were looking at both quarterbacks during the week and Brady's been working hard so we wanted to give him the opportunity," Mileti said. 

But it was Santo who provided the game's most exciting plays.  On the Lions' first offensive play from scrimmage, Santo hit senior Andrew Federico in stride for a 55-yard touchdown. Then, with the score 21-7 in the fourth quarter, Santo aired one out deep down-field to 6'4" senior Rob Pescitelli who made a brilliant catch in traffic to record a 57-yard score.  It proved to be the game's last.

"Before the season, we knew that he [Santo] had a special type of arm," Mileti said.  "If he gets rolling, we'll contend with a lot of teams."

The Lions return to action in nine days when they take on West Babylon for their first home game of the season.