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Sports

Panthers Primed For County Championship

Babylon looks to shutdown John Glenn's explosive offense in Division IV final.

Shut down one player and win a county championship. That's "all" the Babylon Panthers have to do on Saturday.

The problem is no one's been able to shut down John Glenn quarterback Ryan Rielly. And that includes the Panthers.

Coming into Saturday's Suffolk County Division IV championship game, Babylon (8-2 ) knows that in order to beat John Glenn (10-0), they're going to have to do a better job containing Rielly than they did the first time the teams faced each other, when the Panthers lost to the Knights 33 – 28. Back in week two, Rielly rushed for 240 yards and four touchdowns, while passing for 101 yards and another score.

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"Glenn's got a high-powered offense and it's twice as hard to plan against [Rielly] because he can run and throw," Babylon Coach Rick Punzone said. 

Punzone hopes to replicate the ball-control dominance the Panthers showed in last week's 21-0 win at Bayport in order to keep the Knights off the field. He'll do this by utilizing the running game that's gotten him to his 14th county final in the past 15 years. "We need to play keep away," he said.

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While Bayport's offense showed multi-back formations to support its run-first game plan, John Glenn plays a wide open offense, frequently with Rielly as the only player in the backfield.

"The problem defending them is they spread your defense by putting four or five receivers out there. Now we have to cover all of them and suddenly, it's a 6-on-5 game," Punzone said. "So if our six upfront don't stop Reilly before he breaks free, that's how he gets long gains."

In the Panthers early-season defeat to the Knights, there were five lead changes, including the game's final score, a Rielly 1-yard run with just over a half-minute remaining on the clock. "We gave up 90 yards in the last three minutes," Punzone recalled, noting that his defense was drawn offside on a fourth-and-three to keep that drive alive for John Glenn.

While the focus will be the Knight offense versus the Panther defense, Babylon can nullify some of Rielly's play with ball control, and by putting its own points on the board, something Panther running back Trevor Fudim is confident they can do.

"We can definitely move the ball on them," Fudim said. "Like last week, we just want to wear down their defense."

Teammate Stephen Loudon echoed Fudim's confidence. "The more we can control the ball and keep them off the field, the better chance we have.

"Their quarterback is a big part of their offense. He's had some ridiculous numbers. Any team that plays them has to prepare for their quarterback."

While Babylon's offensive game plan is sure to highlight Fudim, quarterback Sam Zamet could play a bigger role this week, as Punzone said that he's "definitely going to pass the ball more" in order to keep John Glenn's defense off balance.

This week, Babylon has been practicing on artificial turf fields in order to get accustomed to the Stony Brook field.

Fudim—who rushed for 161 yards and two touchdowns last week—feels comfortable playing on the turf. "I like it a lot. I can really cut on it."

"Turf helps both offenses," Punzone said. "It's faster." And is his defense fast enough to contain Rielly?

"That's the 64,000-dollar question," Punzone said.

At A Glance:

Match-up: #3 Babylon Panthers (8-2) vs. #1 John Glenn (10-0) in Division IV Final

Kickoff: 4 p.m. at Stony Brook University; Admission: $6.00

Point Differentials:

            The Babylon Panthers have outscored their opponents 306-95.

            The John Glenn Knights have outscored their opponents 370 – 111.

By The Number (Players to Watch):

            Babylon:

            #14            Sam Zamet, quarterback

            #43             Trevor Fudim, running back

            #85            Stephen Loudon, wide receiver/safety

            John Glenn:

            #3            Ryan Rielly, quarterback

            #2            Nick Wagner, wide receiver/cornerback

            #51            Joseph Giaramita, linebacker/defensive end

 

Last Time They Played:

Date: September 17, 2010 at Babylon

Final Score: John Glenn 33, Babylon 28

Key Stat: John Glenn QB Ryan Rielly: 240 yards rushing, 4 TDs; 101 yards passing, 1 TD 

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