Tigers football suffers its first loss at the hands of Lindenhurst

The first game after the halfway point in the season is usually where the cooler weather starts creeping in and the playoff picture starts to become clear. Or in the case of last Saturday’s game against Lindenhurst, a little less clear.

Lindenhurst was coming off a big loss at the hands of the Bellport Clippers and were in desperation mode as the game’s underdogs.The Tigers won the pregame coin toss and elected to kick off. The team’s defense shut the Bulldog offense down, forcing a punt on fourth down.

The Tigers offense came onto the field and they were humming. A 40-yard run ended up getting fumbled and the ball bounced out of bounds in the end zone, resulting in a turnover that gave the Bulldogs the ball back at their own 20. The game was a defensive battle early on, with the teams exchanging possessions to begin, and not much in terms of offense happening in the first quarter.

This trend, however, started to change in the second quarter. The Tigers offense drove down the field and got to the 3-yard line but just couldn’t punch it in the end zone. On fourth down, Owen Johansen dropped back to pass and got hit behind the line of scrimmage. Somehow, someway he got rid of the ball with an underhanded pass that ended up in Christian Raio’s hands – for a touchdown. This was a definite highlight reel play by the Captain.

The Bulldogs got right back into the game with a touchdown that tied the game late in the quarter. The Tigers had a chance to add some points toward the very end of the half but penalties kept pushing the ball back and they were forced to punt, closing the half at 7-7.

The Tiger offensive unit came onto the field to start the third quarter and again it would be self-inflicted wounds with bad penalties that negated positive plays, putting the team in a position to have to make big gains just to get back to the original line of scrimmage.

The Bulldogs and the Tigers were locked into a great game – penalties are magnified in games like these. The D was up to the task and kept bending a little but didn’t break. Big plays were made by the Tigers but it was only a matter of time until they did break, especially against a team like Lindenhurst. And in the fourth quarter it happened. The Bulldogs connected for an 80-yard touchdown pass and went on to take the lead. The Tigers offense came back onto the field and sputtered. After a run for a loss and yet another penalty, the Tigers had to punt it away again.

With the defense back on the field and time starting to become a factor, the Tigers needed a play. And that happened, too. Aidan Campbell had an interception on the Tiger 30-yard line to give the offense another shot. The offense delivered. Johansen dropped back to pass and hit a wide open Drew Miller cutting across the field in stride. Miller turned on the afterburners, raced toward the sideline and cut upfield for a 70-yard touchdown reception. The Tigers tied the game up and the capacity crowd went wild.

But the tie was short-lived.

Lindenhurst marched up the field and punched it in the end zone with time dwindling down – just 25 ticks left on the clock. The Tigers offense valiantly gave it their best shot to score again but it wasn’t meant to be today. The final score was 20-14. The Tigers were in a great position to secure home field advantage throughout the playoffs with a win against the Bulldogs, but now it has become very crowded at the top of the standings. Division 2 football is thriving, and quite competitive. I predict Northport will get another shot at Lindy and, next time, I believe the results will be different.

The Tigers were scheduled to play West Babylon this Friday but as of press time it appeared most likely the game would not be held as the West Babylon team is quarantined.