Babylon QB Shoulders Pressure of Team’s Success

Quarterbacks routinely shoulder the burden of carrying his team’s wins and losses. And when the quarterback doubles as a starting defensive player, his impact is only magnified.

When Babylon quarterback Zach Fredericks—in his defensive role as safety—intercepted a pass in an early-season game at Amityville to stop a scoring drive, Panther fans rose to their feet in celebration. But cheers quickly faded when Fredericks fumbled the ball back to the Warriors while running up field.

“You can’t fault [Fredericks] on the fumble,” Babylon Head Coach Rick Punzone said after that game. “He was trying to make a play for us.”

It’s an occupational hazard when you’re quarterback: players, fans and coaches look to you for big plays. Even when you play defense. “I’m good at forgetting about [past plays] and moving on," Fredericks said. "But that was one of the tougher plays to move on from and forget.”

In Punzone’s ball-control game plan, Fredericks has had a solid, if not flashy season, leading the Panthers to a 3-2 record. He's completed 18-35 passes for 227 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and has rushed for 201 yards and three touchdowns.

In last week’s win at Bayport, Fredericks ran for 163 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. “I got a lot of yards, and my linemen deserve credit for their blocking,” he said.

“He had a real good game running the ball,” Punzone said.

But Fredericks has struggled at times with fumbles, something he knows has to improve. “I’ve done certain things well, but I need to do better [protecting the ball],” he said.

This week, Punzone has called up two sophomores: tailback/linebacker Luke Zappia, and quarterback/safety Nick Santorelli. Santorelli will start at safety, allowing Fredericks to focus on his quarterback responsibilities. But Fredericks also knows that his play at quarterback will be even more scrutinized with Santorelli waiting in the wings.

“There’s definitely some pressure,” Fredericks said of his responsibility as the leader of the offense. “I go into each game as calm as possible.”

Panthers Face Port Jefferson on Saturday

That next game will be against 4-1 Port Jefferson this Saturday. The Royals are a bit of a mystery, having won two one-point games (against Center Moriches and Bayport); against Amityville in their first game, the Royals lost 40 – 14. So their second-place standing might be a bit deceiving. Still, they are clearly better than the seventh-ranked squad that was mauled by Bayport 58 – 12 in the first round of last season's playoffs.

“They’re much improved from last year,” Fredericks said, noting that after last week’s near collapse against Bayport, this game holds significant meaning. “It could be devastating if we lose. Winning is very big. Confidence for everyone goes up from a win."

“[The Bayport game] was a 100 percent negative carryover,” Punzone said, reacting to his team letting a fourth quarter, 36 – 8 lead slip away as Bayport closed to 36 – 27 with just over three minutes remaining. “You can’t give them a shot of getting back into the game.”

Against Port Jefferson, Babylon will do what it tries to do every game: control the ball via the running game. “We run the same plays, we just change the formations, giving the defenses different looks,” Punzone said. “I like to think that we’ve got the hardest, most predictable offense to stop.”

And just as opposing defenses know what to expect from a Punzone offense, Fredericks knows what Punzone expects of him: mistake-free football.

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