Panthers Open Season Vs. Greenport Friday

Tonight’s Babylon High School varsity football opener against Greenport marks the start of Rick Punzone’s ninth year as head coach and the christening of a new starting quarterback.

“Our team looks very good this year though league competition is strong,” said Punzone, noting that Amityville and Shoreham-Wading River are now among Division 4’s 14 teams.

The 7 p.m. home game is expected to be competitive given each teams' Porters’ Ryan Malone, last year’s all-county running back, will face off against the Panthers', Zach Fredericks, who played defense last season.

“He’s [Fredericks] is a great athlete. Our team has the attitude that we're here to play and everyone will just have to try and stop us,” said Punzone.

Both teams have also lost some star players from last year. Babylon's graduated Stephen Loudon, Trevor Fudim and Nick Brennan. Loudon was honored as one of the county's top scholar athletes last year, and received several awards including the National Football Foundation Golden 11 honor, was named the Division IV MVP and chosen as an All-County player, along with Brennan and Fudim.

Yet facing off against the division's powerhouse squads, including John Glenn, which beat the Panthers in the 2010 Suffolk County Division IV championship game 34-26, without the trio doesn’t faze Punzone who’s been a coach at Babylon for a total of 21 years.

“Our challenge this season will be defending against Amityville and John Glenn as they’re strong, fast and have really good athletes. But if we stay injury free we’ll be hard to stop,” said Punzone who plans to keep the course on what has been a longtime winning strategy.

A big part of that success, said Punzone, is tied to a consistent coaching staff featuring Chris Morra  (defensive coordinator), Vin DeLapi (offensive line), Bill Singleton (receivers and special teams) and Steve Fasciani (quarterback/linebackers).

“We have a big physical running team,” said Punzone, and that bodes well for Fredericks, who is one of four captains along with Ryan Visgauss, Nehari Jenkins and Greg Dietrich.

Jeann Cruz, a junior fullback, will likely be carrying the ball on a regular basis, as will senior running backs Frank Mankiewicz and Grant Shannon.

Punzone has every right to feel confident of the Panthers' abilities given its champion legacy and the sole ‘losing’ season in the team’s 30 years of play.

“And that’s only if you consider the year, back in the 1990s, when our record was just shy of .500,” Punzone said with a smile.