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.”