Babylon Thumps Hampton Bays

The Babylon High School football team playing its final regular season game this past Friday tuned up for the playoffs with a 34-7 win over Hampton Bays. The third seeded Panthers and Hampton Bays will face each other once again Saturday in the opening round of the Suffolk County Division VI playoffs. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Babylon Junior/Senior High School.

Babylon finished the season 6-2 while the sixth-seeded Baymen finished the 2010 campaign at 4-4.

In the game this past Friday, Babylon's Tervor Fudim was the star for Babylon rushing for 229 yards on 22 carries. His highlight of the game was an 84-yard run in the second quarter in which he was untouched by a Hampton Bays player. He finished the regular season with 841 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns, 15 of which came via the run.

Other key players for the Panthers through the 2010 season include senior quarterback Sam Zamet, Andrew Hurst and Steve Loudon. Hurst handles the kicking duties as well as playing a key role on defense at linebacker, alongside fellow linebacker Loudon who is one of the team's leading receivers.

The winner of the Bayport/Hampton Bays matchup will advance to the Division IV semi-finals to face the winner of the Port Jefferson/Bayport-Blue Point matchup. During the regular season Babylon defeated Bayport-Blue Point 45-21 on October 15 and a week later topped Port Jefferson 42-0. The Panthers played both games on the road. 

Port Jefferson is the seventh seed while Bayport-Blue Point enters the playoffs as the second seed.