Lessons learned: Tigers football remains undefeated after win against an underestimated Centereach team

Tiger dad and on-the-field contributor John Mohlmann is back, covering the varsity boys in their October 1 game against Centereach.

Last Friday afternoon, after a long week of school and practices, the Tigers varsity football team packed up the buses and headed east to Centereach – right in the middle of rush hour traffic on the worst day of the week to do so. “You can have excuses, or you can have successes, but you can’t have them both,” said head coach Pat Campbell.

On paper, the Northport/Centereach game had mismatch written all over it. The Tigers were 3-0 and the Cougars 1-2. The Tigers had let up a combined 21 points in three games and the Cougars let up over 100 points in the same amount of games. Many Northport players were aware of this heading into the game and the Cougars may have been underestimated.

“We didn’t play to our level. We took them too lightly,” said quarterback and team captain Owen Johansen. Fellow captain JJ Ahlstrand and senior Dylan McNaughton agreed. “We definitely underestimated this team,” said Dylan. In doing so, the Tigers learned a very valuable lesson, and the players knew it.

On the Cougars’ second possession of the game, John DeCeglia made a big stop to get the ball back in the hands of the offense. On a third and long, Johansen threw a perfect spiral to Jack Sandrib for a 40-yard reception. Sandrib ran 20 yards out on the following play for a touchdown and the Tigers took a 7-0 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, the Cougars returner was greeted with a booming hit by Thomas Butler, stopping him in his tracks. This fired up the Tiger faithful who always do a great job of traveling to away games.

The Cougars had the ball to start the second quarter. A long, methodical drive resulted in a touchdown and tied the game up. The Tigers were being outplayed at this point of the game and needed someone to step up and connect.

On offense, Johansen dropped back to pass on third down and Jack Helrigel came down with the ball in the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown reception. The Tigers were now up 14-7 with time dwindling in the first half. The Cougars had a huge kickoff return and almost ran it back all the way but a beautiful play by kicker JJ Ahlstrand prevented that. The Cougars drove to the 11-yard line but time was expiring so they settled for a field goal attempt, which was missed.

Heading into halftime the Tigers had a 14-7 lead, but were being outplayed by the Cougars.

The third quarter yielded no points by either team – the Tigers D had arrived. Big plays by Dylan McNaughton, Jackson Campbell, Tim Cleary, and Ryan McEnroe kept the Cougars at bay.

The Tigers had the ball to start the fourth quarter; the offense got down to the 17-yard line and faced a fourth-and-2. Coach Campbell decided to send the kicking team out there instead of going for it. “I wanted the two-possession lead,” he said. “If they stop us on fourth down they get a huge momentum change, more so than a missed field goal.”

Ahlstrand split the uprights and nailed a 34-yard field goal. On defense now, the Tigers were looking to shut the Cougars down. A huge hit by Dylan McNaughton on third down set up a fourth-down play. An incomplete pass gave the Tigers offense possession again. On first down, JJ Ahlstrand ran a seam route (basically a go/fly route up the middle of the field) and Johansen delivered a strike right into his hands. JJ was off to the races. “I saw the end zone and the open field and I found another gear,” he said. A Cougar defender could not catch him and JJ had a 50-yard touchdown reception.

The Cougars added to their point total with another touchdown late in the fourth quarter but it was too late for them to come back. The Tigers ran out the clock on their next possession and escaped with a 24-14 victory.

The Tigers improved to 4-0 on the season and host Lindenhurst (3-1, after losing to Bellport on October 2) next Saturday, October 9 at 1pm.