The Suffolk County High School football season kicked off this year in one of the most anticipated games that will be on the schedule all season.
The National Football Foundation Kickoff Classic Game took place on Friday night and was streamed live as #3 seeded Longwood took on top seeded Ward Melville under the lights in East Setauket.
These two battled to a classic game last year where Ward Melville eliminated Longwood in the Division I semifinal, in a defensive effort and a 14-7 final. The two teams have split their last 12 games coming into this season and they figure to both be battling into the playoffs again this year.
Ward Melville once again came away the winner at home on opening night winning 35-7.
Early on it seemed like this would be another back-and-forth affair as they traded touchdowns, but that is when Ward Melville's athletes took over. During media day Head Coach Chris Boltrek told us about Joey Karpowicz and how electric this offense can be, but it was his special teams play that began the onslaught of scoring.
Karpowicz returned a kick nearly 90 yards for the score and then Ward Melville scored four more unanswered touchdowns to make the final score look lopsided. Over the summer Boltrek said it was the first time he had a QB for two years in a row starting and Hudson Philbrick looked poised in the pocket all night and made the most of his chances with 140 yards through the air and two TDs.
He was also second on the team with almost 50 yards on the ground while Joe Benedetto paced the team with 85 yards and a TD. Benedetto also had one catch but stretched the field for a 70+ yard score as he was an all-everything back on the evening.
For Longwood they can take solace in the fact they allowed just 7 points in the second half and most of the scoring came on big plays. Coach Kluber has stressed that he wanted to slow the game down and own the line of scrimmage, so it looks like better days are ahead for his squad.
Next up for Ward Melville will be traveling to Bay Shore this weekend, while Longwood will try to get in the win column as they are on the road again against Sachem East.