It wasn’t pretty — but it was a win.
The Riverhead Blue Waves snatched a win from the jaws of the West Islip Lions today in the final seconds of their season opener. With less than 16 seconds left on the clock, down by a score of 25-20, quarterback Kenneth Simco found Steven Reid in the end zone. The Waves followed it with a 2-point conversion and held on for a 28-25 win.
The finish had die-hard Waves fans — who stayed till the bitter end despite a drenching rain — screaming and jumping up and down. But it didn’t do much to ease an agitated Coach Leif Shay.
“I’m not going to sleep tonight,” Shay said after the game.
“We did not play well. We made a lot of mistakes and we have a lot of work to do — a lot,” Shay said.
Riverhead finished the first quarter with a 6-0 lead on a touchdown run by Ryun Moore. After a West Islip field goal, Moore ran for another touchdown in the second quarter and with the 2-point conversion took a 14-3 lead into halftime.
The second half started with a safety, as Reid, who caught the kickoff, was tackled in the end zone, trimming Riverhead’s lead to 14-5. West Islip took possession of the ball on its own 34-yard line and later scored, narrowing Riverhead’s lead to 14-12 with the extra point. A second touchdown in the 3rd quarter put the Lions on top 19-14. That was the score going into the 4th quarter.
As a light rain began to fall, Riverhead opened the 4th with another touchdown carry by Moore to regain the lead, 20-19.
West Islip returned the kick to Riverhead’s 7 yard line — and the rain became steady and hard.
The Lions went back on top 25-20 on a touchdown run by their quarterback.
Simco’s touchdown pass to Reid put the Waves back on top, 26-25. Riverhead followed it up with the 2-pointer for a final score of 28-25.
Riverhead hosts Smithtown East next Saturday. The Bulls notched a big win over North Babylon today 35-7.
RiverheadLOCAL photos by Emil Breitenbach Jr.
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RiverheadLOCAL photos by Peter Blasl
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