With the loss to East Islip still fresh in their minds, the Blue Waves’ defense came out against Central Islip to send a message in the form of embarrassment.
The final score: 48-8.
Protecting their home turf, Riverhead (2-1) had no trouble stoping the run, the pass, or anything else for that matter. But it wasn’t just the defense that put in some serious work, Cody Smith put on a performance that may have cemented his spot as the starting quarterback.
Smith, who only played the first half because of the lopsided score, completed 13 of 15 pass attempts for 217 yards. A far cry from his previous start. He put on a passing clinic, completing passes to five different receivers.
After the loss to East Islip, coach Leif Shay mentioned the quarterback position as a question mark going forward.
“He just needed more experience,” Shay said. “He’s learning when certain things aren’t open, others will be. He did a great job throwing the ball today.”
The first two drives, which the Blue Waves scored on, revolved around passing the ball. Dan Czelatka was the recipient on both touchdowns, though the first wasn’t credited to him.
After hauling in a pass, Czelatka ran the ball for 30 yards before fumbling it on the 5-yard line and into the end zone where right tackle Ryan Harkin fell on it for the Blue Waves first touchdown. After halfback Jeremiah Cheatom’s 46-yard scamper was called back on the Blue Waves’ second possession because of a holding call, Czelatka caught a screen pass the following play and took it 63 yards to the house.
“The play was supposed to be on the other side but Cody saw that I was one-on-one,” Czelatka said, speaking of his touchdown grab. “He gave me the nod so I knew it was going to me. I just had to beat one guy and once I did it, I was off to the races; I knew I was going to score.”
Czelatka finished with three catches for 106 yards.
Cheatom hurt his shoulder diving into the end zone but gave it a go for another two drives before calling it a game. His shoulder was wrapped with ice as he watched on from the sidelines until the conclusion.
When asked about Cheatom’s injury and whether he expects to see him back on the field next week, Shay said: “No comment.”
“I wanted to go back in,” Cheatom said. “Coach wouldn’t let me.”
“If it comes down to it, I can still run; I can still play with it for the rest of the season.”
The non-reliance on the run early on surprised Cheatom, bringing a smile to his face.
“I wasn’t used to that,” he said. “It was a great day for our offense, everyone was connecting.”
Sophomore Ryun Moore was a steady contributor playing for Cheatom; he tallied 69 yards on 12 carries. Moore also recorded six tackles on defense.
Mike Van Bommel showed up with a vengeance, hearing his name called time after time from the press box. He registered eight tackles and with a cut on his lip following the game he said: “The coaches has been on us all week for giving up 50 points. We didn’t get the shutout we wanted but we played and the defense played great today.”
But his play today was a little more personal.
“Coach Hackal has been on me hard, man,” Van Bommel said. “He’s tough on me but I know it’s because he wants me to be great. He got me a little amp’d up this week, ragging on me because we gave up 50 points. I just wanted to make up for our performance last week.”
He also caught five passes for 48 yards and one touchdown.
Jaron Greenidge, Ryan Harkin and Raheem Brown had five tackles each, with Harkin also recording a sack. Czelatka intercepted a pass in the third quarter and brought it 40 yards back for a touchdown to make the score 41-0.
“It was a huge win for the team,” Smith said.
The Blue Waves face Bay Shore next week in an away game.
Because they’re from Division I, Coach Shay says he knows “nothing” about Bay Shore, just like he knew nothing of Central Islip before this week.
“I’ll get the film tonight and I’ll probably be up until three or four in the morning breaking it down and we’ll have a plan on Monday,” Shay said.
Correction: A previously published version of this story credited Mikey Curtis with the first touchdown; corrected to Ryan Harkin.
Contact Michael Hejmej: michael@riverheadlocal.com
RiverheadLOCAL photos by George Faella
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