Hurricane Football Wallops Hauppauge; Set To Play Division Rival Sayville This Weekend

The first half of Friday night’s homecoming game against Hauppauge may have been the most dominate 24 minutes of football Westhampton Beach has played all season. From the offense, to the defense, to special teams — all facets of the game — the Hurricanes played flawless football. And it led to a commanding 35-0 lead over a competitive opposing team.

The lopsidedness of the game led to Westhampton Beach playing its reserves for almost the entire second half, which allowed the final score, 49-28, to be much closer than the game actually was. Hurricanes head coach Bryan Schaumloffel admitted he was expecting more out of Hauppauge leading into the game. It had ripped apart its first two opponents of the season, and played well against East Hampton/Pierson/Bridgehampton before losing to Comsewogue and Harborfields more recently.

“Honestly, I am a little surprised that we were able to control the game so early,” Schaumloffel said. “They’ve got some good coaches over there and they’ve got some skilled athletes. I’m glad that we did. I’m glad that we got to clear the benches and get all those guys who work hard every single day a lot of time. Those kids deserve to play. They work hard and they do a lot of great things for us, and I’m glad that they got a lot of playing time.”

What was a little surprising too was that the ’Canes didn’t seem to skip a beat with their starting quarterback, senior Will Gambino, unavailable due to an injury. Senior Riley Miller made his first varsity start on homecoming, and although the offense did look somewhat different, it still preformed at a high level. The first drive featured a lot of senior running back Nolan Michalowski, who rushed for 89 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries in limited action. A long run of his set up the first score of the game when junior Brody Schaffer ran the ball in from four yards out. Michalowski added his first score of the game not long after, then Miller scored in the final seconds of the first quarter, set up by an interception by senior Aidan McDermott, to make it 21-0.

Miller said he first heard that Gambino had been dealing with a knee injury last Monday, October 2, then got word he’d be starting under center on Thursday, the day before the game.

“I was a little nervous, but it wasn’t me, it was the team behind me,” Miller said of his start. “The way the team came up, it’s all on them.

“Honestly, I was the backup last year, and I didn’t get into a game then, so I figured there’s no way he’s going to get hurt,” Miller said of Gambino, with a laugh. “Coming into this year I thought there’s no way I was going to start a game.”

Despite his inexperience at quarterback, both coaches and players knew Miller had it in him to lead the team.

“Will probably could have played, but he really didn’t practice all week,” Schaumloffel said. “I’m glad it worked out the way it did. In general, the grand scheme of things, I think it was the best thing for him, the team to do that and it just happened to work out.

“We had full confidence in Riley,” he added. “Riley is a great athlete, a great kid. I didn’t think we would skip a beat offensively and he did a great job.

“It was definitely obviously different because two different style quarterbacks, Riley is more of a mobile quarterback, Gambino is more of a throw in the pocket, dice it up,” senior offensive lineman Andrew Mensch said. “But I think our team adapted very well.”

Michalowski added a 26-tun touchdown run early in the second quarter, then midway through added another. With 8:37 remaining in the first half the Hurricanes led the Eagles, 35-0.

“Ever since the East Islip game we’re on a mission — our goal is not to lose another game and go all the way to the [Long Island Championship],” Mensch, who had three sacks in the first quarter alone, said. “The defense as a whole was here to dominate tonight. We proved that in the first half. Hopefully, we’ll be able to build on that throughout the rest of the season.”

This week is perhaps the biggest Division III showdown of the season when the ’Canes play at Sayville this Saturday, October 14, for the Golden Flashes’ homecoming game at 2 p.m. Not only is it a rematch of last year’s county championship, but arguably the top two teams in the division going up against one another. Sayville is the only remaining undefeated team in the division, while aside from its 23-20 loss to East Islip, Westhampton Beach has been rolling, defeating opponents by an average of 24 points per game.

“It’s obviously a big game for us, but it’s their homecoming, so it’s a big game for them, too,” Mensch said, “But picking us as their homecoming, again, it’s a big game for us. We’re hoping to go out there and show out.

“I expect us to have a great week of practice,” Schaumloffel said. “We play them Saturday for their homecoming game, we’re looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to getting to work this weekend and preparing for that game, get our kids ready and come home with a victory.”