Panthers Roll Over Greenport

Babylon's first football game of the season was over early.

Led by a strong running attack and stifling defense play, the Panthers opened the 2011 campaign with a convincing 54-0 victory Friday night over the Greenport Porters at Babylon High School.

Fifteen seconds into the game Babylon set a dominating tone for what would be an offense-driven contest as the Panthers scored their first of eight touchdowns off an 84-yard run by Eric Schweitzer.

That initial score helped ease the nerves of Head Coach Rick Punzone, who admitted afterward that he was a bit wary of how his squad would do given the absence of two key defensive linemen: Harrison Dittmeier and Andrew Watson.

“That had me a bit worried,” said Punzone.

The head coach noted the "exceptional play" of Kevin Smith and Evan Max in filling their teammate’s shoes.

In fact, the Panthers’ entire defense played well, most notably in the second half, as the Porters offensive total was in the red over the game's final two quarters. Greenport’s inability to get near the end zone was due in large part to the strong play of Nahari Jenkins, Greg Dietrich and Ryan Visgauss.

“They played extremely hard,” said Punzone.

But so did Babylon’s new quarterback, Zach Fredericks, and his offense.

A fumble by Porters quarterback Ryan Malone gave Babylon the ball with 3:24 remaining in the first quarter. A 50-yard run by Frank Mankiewicz to put Babylon on Greenport’s goal line. Then it was Jeann Cruz's short run up the middle to make it 13-0 as the first quarter ended.

In the second quarter, Babylon's offense would again find the end zone, thanks in large part to its defense. Greg Dieterich recovered Greenport’s fumbled punt. Following a series of runs Babylon would extend its lead to 20-0,with seven minutes remaing in the first half.

The Porters tried to get their offense going in the second quarter but the Panthers' Sean Kelly was key in shutting down Greenport and keeping them off the scoreboard.

Before the end of the half, Babylon scored again thanks to Fredericks’ strong passing and Shannon’s nine-yard run up the middle. The teams headed to the locker room at halftime with Babylon leading 27-0.

The first minutes of the game's third quarter was déjà vu as Babylon’s Fredericks leapt into the end zone in the first 15 seconds of play and the score then stood at 34-0.

Next week, the Panthers go on the road to face Amityville Friday night and the coaching team is already gearing up on strategy given Amityville is the pre-season top ranked division team.

“It won’t be the same scenario, that’s for sure,” said Punzone.