Column: Underdog Victory!

Obviously the only ones who knew that Smithtown East (2-0) would win the game over Newfield (0-2) was East and their coaches.

Newsday predicted Smithtown East getting crushed by last year's #4 seed, Newfield. Like always, East went out their and showed them they were completely wrong. They kept it close in the first half, but after coming out of the locker room the second half, the team knew it was time to put them away. East would break a 7-7 tie, to lead them to a 30-13 win. The team, led by their powerful offensive line and great running backs, put 390 yards on the ground and had four-rushing touchdowns.


"The line stepped up big," said senior quarterback Michael Porter. Porter is actually one of the big reasons why East won the game. Porter was there in the final moments of the first half when Newfield was driving down field and Porter made a great interception to end the half tied.


"We were getting killed on the drive. So I knew that we needed a big play to keep the game alive, so I saw the ball and made a break on it," added Porter.


For those who have been with East for the past few years, you know that the East team has not been too spectacular. So why is our team all of a sudden great? The answer is simple: the offensive line.

"Our O-Line made huge holes... I just hit them," said senior wing-back and outside linebacker Bobby Whitmarsh. Whitmarsh had a great game on the ground racking up 171 rushing yards and three-touchdowns on only five-carries. This was a huge improvement from last week's game when Bobby fumbled the ball twice. "I told them I'd do better, so I did."

Now that the Bulls are 2-0 they are looking towards their next opponent, Half Hallow Hills East (0-2). "We can't look past them," said Whitmarsh," We have to be ticked that they chose us for their homecoming!"

If East plays with the same amount of intensity of the last two games then they shouldn't be a problem, for us at least. As senior fullback and outside linebacker, Adam Binder says: "They [Half Hallow Hills East] don't know what's coming to them."

Centereach Destroyed; Next Target Newfield!

After a huge win by the Smithtown East Football team (1-0) over rival Centereach (0-1), the focus has changed from celebration to preparation. The team knows that 1-0 is not good enough, and they want more. Tomorrow, Newfield (0-1) comes to our house and tries to get their first win and Smithtown East tries to go 2-0 for the first time in the schools re-opened history.

Now some people are very critical of Smithtown East saying that: the win was a fluke, or that Centereach is just bad. But the coaches and the players don't believe that. "It was very obvious that we were a better than Centereach," Coach Saladino said during an interview, "but this week [vs. Newfield] will tell us how the rest of the season will go."

Well how far are we going to go, are we even going to beat Newfield? Captain, and one of the players of the game, Bobby Whitmarsh knows we can win. "If we work hard in practice we should definitely win it," said Whitmarsh.

Coach Saladino could not agree more. "We definitely need to keep getting better by working hard in practice and focus on the task at hand. We have mostly senior starters and it is expected that they know their reads defensively and rules offensively. Now it is just a matter of how much they want to win."

That was no problem against Centereach. Smithtown East went out their and played like they had something to prove. Especially the player of the game, Tommy Freshour. Tommy had 9 touches for 133 yards and 1 touchdown (all together 300 total yards, 2 TD's). "Newfield is a beatable team," said Freshhour. "We are going to show the fans something."

Well he obviously showed the fans something last week because Tommy was voted to the top of the Smithtown East Male Fall Athlete Poll by his peers. An honor that is brand new at Smithtown East. "It's a great honor to be one of the top athletes for fall sports," said Tommy when I broke the news to him.

But the question still remains, what are our chances to beat Newfield? "Very good. They are a good team; not a great team. We need to learn from their offensive and defensive plays so we can be prepared the best we can. They have some good players that we need to keep in check and not let takeover the game. We need to play with the same intensity as last week, just without all the mental penalties."

After this week's practice I can personally say, "that's been squared away", and the team knows they can win.

As Pat Clancy says, "We are going to do as good as we know we're going to do."

Girls' Tennis Takes Another Close Loss

Yesterday Smithtown East's girls' tennis (2-3) took another close loss adding to their 3 gamelosing streak. The Commack team (2-2) took it to the Smithtown East team in their win 5 to 2.

Field Hockey On a TEAR!

The Smithtown East Field Hockey team (4-1) is just dominating their division! The team is now on a 3 game winning streak and yesterday's performance showed us why.

The girls' destroyed the Sachem North team (2-3) in their shutout win 3 to 0. Lily Kalata, who now has 4 shutout games, dominated the defense, as the offense of Meghan Rooney, who already has 1 goal on the season, scored twice in the game yesterday. Also, Jamie Ackerman added to the offense with her one goal.

Boys' Golf Advances to 3-0

Smithtown East's Boys' Golf (3-0) remained undefeated yesterday by beating Half Hallow Hills East (1-1) 6 to 3. The win was aided by Chris McGeough's great day. He shot 1 under par 35 in the front 9 holes and his teammate, Mariel Kurran, shot 2 over par 38 on the front 9 holes.

Smithtown East Rolls Over Centereach!

Smithtown East (1-0) destroyed Centereach (0-1) in the home opener of the season Saturday. Player of the game, Tommy Freshour, had over 300 total yards and 2 TD's in the Bulls win.

Rival History: history of the Smithtown East football team and the Centereach football team

In the short 4 years that the recently re-opened Smithtown East High School has existed, one school has quickly become a rival. The Centereach football team has a lot of history with the Smithtown East team.

Over the past three seasons Centereach and Smithtown East have faced off twice, both games being at Centereach. Both of the outcomes were almost identical, two great games going right down to the wire. Unfortunately for the Smithtown East team, both of the games did not go in their favor, as they lost the first game 23-21 and the second game 17-7.

But this year the sight of the game has been moved to Smithtown East, where the East team is itching for some revenge. The team, their captains, and the coaches know that this game is a must win and they won’t accept anything less than a “W” this Saturday.

Undefeated?

by Matt Stopsky
Some of you may not know, but our boys’ volleyball team is ranked #1 in Suffolk County! I think that’s something that we should know. But what do we not know?

That’s why we have the all intelligent John Schmid to let us in on an insight to his volleyball team’s future. Schmid, the captain of the Smithtown East volleyball team, says he has high hopes for the team this year. The team is already 3-0 with victories over Smithtown West, Westhampton, and Connetquot. Not only that, but this weekend the team is taking a trip up to Buffalo to play in one of the states hardest tournaments. The last time Smithtown won the tournament, it was six years ago, and most of us didn’t even hit puberty yet. But now the team is looking to win the tournament again and make it two times in seven years. So the fans really have something to look forward to this season because, “we are going all the way!”

Playoffs on the Horizon

by Matt Stopsky
After a disappointing last three seasons, our Smithtown East Football Team may be on their way to the playoffs. Led by the great leadership of their five captions senior Outside Linebacker and Wing-Back Bobby Whitmarsh, senior Defensive End and Offensive Tackle Derek Cyran, senior Inside Linebacker and Fullback Ryan Kopiske, senior Free Safety Michael Walling, and senior Quarterback Michael Porter, or better know as our “Porterback”, they are looking to be playoff bound.

“Last year was a disappointment, but it was a learning experience for us”, says Walling. “Most of last year’s starters are back again and that gives us the edge this season.” Porter could not agree more by saying that, “we can build off last season. We were a lot closer than we thought we were.”

When I asked about this season and their expectations for it, the one thing that kept popping up, “There is no reason why we shouldn’t make the playoffs and have a better than five-hundred average.” I understand that you are supposed to be optimistic, but no reason for not being in the playoffs? Is this the same Smithtown East team that went 2-6 last year? The answer to that question is no. The main reason is that this team is more like a family this year.
“Unlike the last three varsity football teams I’ve been on, this is the first year that the team actually feels like a family,” said Cyran.

So together, as a family, the Smithtown East football team will take on a very hard division as underdogs for most of the season. Nothing shows this better than the quote that Michael Walling stole from the movie, Any Given Sunday, “Life is a game of inches, and so is football. Together, as a family, we fight for every inch.”

But this family doesn’t have to be limited to just the team and their coaches. The players really want the student body to join their family. Some of the student body remembers our great seasons in middle school, and some may have even played for the football team at one time or another. Now they ask you to come out, and help them push for a playoff appearance.
“Expect something from us this year”, says Kopiske, “because this year, we are cracking skulls.”