Sports

No. 2 Top Sports Story: The surprise team of Suffolk football

BILL LANDON PHOTO | Greenport/Southold/Mattituck's Gene Allen tries to run around Mount Sinai's Griffin McGrath during Friday night's playoff game.
BILL LANDON FILE PHOTO | Greenport/Southold/Mattituck’s Gene Allen tries to run around Mount Sinai’s Griffin McGrath.

No one familiar with high school football in Suffolk County gave much credence to the Greenport/Southold/Mattituck football team coming into the 2013 season.

The Porters went winless the year before and were predicted to finish the near the bottom of the Division IV standings again. The Porters raised some eyebrows by winning their first game against Wyandanch. Then, each week, they somehow kept on winning.

They beat East Hampton, Southampton, Port Jefferson and then Stony Brook. Suddenly, the Porters were 5-0 and all the talk around town.

Greenport earned a spot in the playoffs as the No. 7 seed, where the Porters went up against one of the stalwarts of the division — Mount Sinai. The Porters put a scare into the Mustangs, eventually falling 20-14. Mike Cortese ran for three second-half touchdowns to account for the Mount Sinai scoring.

The Porters finished the season with a 6-3 record, their highest win total since 1970.

Editor’s note: We’re counting down the top 10 sports stories of 2013. Check back every day until Jan. 1 to follow along.