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Football: Mustangs gallop past Porters without a single pass

Greenport/Southold/Mattituck's Dominick Panetta outraces the Mount Sinai defense on the way to his second touchdown reception of the game. (Credit: Daniel De Mato)
Greenport/Southold/Mattituck’s Dominick Panetta outraces the Mount Sinai defense on the way to his second touchdown reception of the game. (Credit: Daniel De Mato)

With the nickname they have, it’s no surprise that the Mount Sinai Mustangs run so well.

Mount Sinai’s running ability was the outstanding feature of Friday night’s high school football game at Dorrie Jackson Memorial Field in Greenport. The Mustangs ran so well (they averaged a hefty 7.7 yards per carry) that they didn’t pass once. Why throw the football when you don’t have to, right?

That was Mount Sinai coach Vinnie Ammirato’s sound reasoning. The way his team’s ground game was going, it was something of a no-brainer.

Michael Carniero, Christian Knab and Jason Shlonsky broke free for touchdown runs of 51, 40 and 20 yards on Mount Sinai’s first six plays from scrimmage, setting the tone for a 35-16 defeat of Greenport/Southold/Mattituck. R. J. Maher, who came in at quarterback for R. J. Voos in the first quarter, and Jake Knab ran in two more touchdowns for a 33-8 lead by halftime.

Eight Mustangs totaled 342 rushing yards. John Paolella, Carniero and Jake Knab each ran for 70 yards or more.

The Mustangs (3-0 in Suffolk County Division IV) scored on a safety in the third quarter when a high snap flew over the head of Porters quarterback Dylan Marlborough. The Porters covered up the ball in their own end zone and Matt Lagatta got credit for the safety.

The Porters (2-1), meanwhile, went to the air for both of their touchdowns. They were both passes from Marlborough to Dominick Panetta for 34 and 65 yards.

The Marlborough-to-Panetta connection was the most successful piece of the Porters’ offense. Marlborough went 7 of 15 passing for 146 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted once, by Griffin McGrath. Panetta caught four passes for 118 yards.

Keegan Syron made a game-high 14 tackles, 10 solo, for the Porters.

During a pregame ceremony, the president of the Gridiron Parents Football Club, Bob Syron, was presented with a Porters helmet in recognition of his services to the program. The Greenport athletic director, Jim Caliendo, was joined on the 50-yard line by Bob Syron and his son, Keegan, who made the presentation.

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