With one more win, the Blue Waves will find themselves in familiar territory — Stony Brook University — for the Suffolk County Championship.
But before we get ahead of ourselves and make travel plans, a victory still needs to be secured.
After the Blue Waves (8-1) beat Half Hollow Hills West last Saturday, head coach Leif Shay said that the Colts were just one of the walls they needed to get over as they continued their journey to the promise land. This Saturday, another wall stands before the Blue Waves — the Newfield Wolverines.
The Wolverines (6-3) finished fifth in the league and defeated No. 4 West Islip last week, 18-14. Shay said that he had a feeling Newfield would win the game because West Islip was without their star quarterback Sam Ilario. That marks two consecutive years West Islip was knocked out in the first round. Last year they were the No. 1 seed.
In the final game of the regular season on Nov. 2, the Blue Waves upended Newfield in Selden, 21-8. Newfield will now try to get its revenge at Coach Mike Mckillop Memorial Field.
Nobody has won back-to-back Division II Suffolk County championships since Bellport in ’05-06.
Kenny Simco will again quarterback the Blue Waves, in this his third consecutive start in place of injured starter Cody Smith. Many players, including Simco, have been hoping for a healthy return from Cody Smith, who is nursing an eye injury. In his final season as a Blue Wave, the only thing the team can do, Shay said, is keep winning and give Smith a chance to return.
But in Smith’s place, Simco has done a stellar job. Shay said that he’s taking advantage of an opportunity and handling it well.
Thus far, he’s completed 30-42 passes for 324 yards. In three games, he’s scored five touchdowns and thrown only one interception.
Newfield comes into the game scoring 28.44 point per game while allowing 17.22. The Blue Waves on the other hand, average 34.0 points on offense and give up only 14.66.
Halfback Jeremiah Cheatom enters the day 7th in rushing yards on Long Island with 1,434. He has also taken the most carries on Long Island with 256 — a sign how highly the Blue Waves coaching staff relies on him. Cheatom loves the ball in his hands and he wouldn’t want it any other way.
“This is my last game every playing on this field,” Cheatom said. “We are going into the game looking for a big win.”
Quarterly updates will be posted on the RiverheadLOCAL Facebook page.
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