Riverhead football: Waves defeat Smithtown East, 39-27

The Riverhead Blue Waves scored a big victory on the home turf today in an exciting game against Smithtown East, 39-27.

Ryun Moore’s two touchdowns, a two-point conversion and a blocked punt lifted Riverhead (2-0) for the win. Steven Reid contributed two touchdowns and Mark Andrejack scored one. Kicker Nico Bossey had a 29-yard field goal.

Both teams scored on every possession in the first quarter. Smithtown gained 66 yards on its first possession, scoring on a touchdown pass in the end zone. Riverhead blocked the kick and answered with a touchdown run by Moore, who then ran it in for a 2-point conversion, giving Riverhead an 8-6 lead. The Bulls came back with an 80-yard kickoff return to reclaim the lead, 12-8. They added two more points on a conversion and went up 14-8. The Waves came right back with a touchdown pass from Simco to Reid as the clock ran out in the first quarter, tying the score at 14 all. The kick — after time expired — was good for the extra point, and the Waves took a 15-14 lead into the second quarter.

The Bulls put 7 more on the scoreboard on their first possession of the second quarter, taking back the lead 21-15. Riverhead came right back with another huge touchdown by Reid to regain the lead 22-21 with the extra point.

Moore blocked Smithtown’s punt and Riverhead took possession on Smithtown’s 11-yard line with under a minute left in the half, but couldn’t make it into the end zone. Bossey put a 29-yard kick between the uprights for field goal to expand the Waves’ lead to 25-21 with just 30 seconds left in the first half. They took that 4-point lead into the locker room at half time.

When the teams emerged for the second half, their defensive teams were finally in the game. Both teams scored only once in the third quarter. Simco hit Andrejack for a touchdown, bringing Riverhead’s lead to 32-21 with the extra point. Smithtown answered with a touchdown but missed the extra point, making the score 32-27. That’s where it stood going into the fourth quarter.

The only scoring in the fourth quarter was Moore’s carry for a touchdown with 1:15 left in the game. The kick was good and Riverhead went up 39-27, the game’s final score.

“We tightened down some things,” Shay said after the game. “We tried to slow the game down a bit… and that aided us,” he said, because the Bulls are “a team that likes to go fast.”

Shay was happy that Riverhead was hit with fewer penalties this week but said the Waves still need to work on their special teams play.

“Field position is real important. In this league, everybody’s knocking their teeth out. It’s going to be a tough row,” Shay said.

“We ran the ball and that sets up the big plays down the field,” he said. “Kenny Simco is a very, very good quarterback. As long as we can give him time and our receivers run the right routes, he can do a lot of good things for us.”

“With Andrejack and Steven Reid coming along and a couple other guys, [Curtis] Flippen and R.J. Foster, in development,” Shay said, “when those guys get ready to go, we’ll be pretty good.”

Today’s win was Riverhead’s 100th since Leif Shay became head coach 16 years ago. But the coach points out that defensive coordinator Scott Hackal coached three of those wins in 2007, when Shay was put on leave by the district administration after a controversy over Shay covering up the lens of a security camera that had been installed in the gym.

“So it’s 100 wins for my program but not for me as an individual,” Shay said. He’s got six more chances in the regular season this year to notch those three additional wins for his own 100th victory.

Next week, the Waves travel to Smithtown West (1-1) which lost 35-6 today to Half Hollow Hills West. “It’s a big game,” Shay said. “We’re going to need everybody to come out to support the Blue Waves.”

Next Saturday’s game starts at 2 p.m. at Smithtown West High School, 100 Central Road, Smithtown. Click here for map and directions. 

RiverheadLOCAL photos by Peter Blasl
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RiverheadLOCAL photos by George Faella
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