Featured Story

Football: Injuries, Hampton Bays take their toll on Porters

Greenport/Southold/Mattituck running back Keegan Syron, playing on pain medication for an ailing shin bone, dives forward between Hampton Bays' Ben Sohtz and Travis Flynn (20) for a first down. (Credit: Daniel De Mato)

On a rough night when positives were hard to find for the Greenport/Southold/Mattituck high school football team, here was one: The scoreboard at Hampton Bays High School wasn’t functioning.

If it had been, it would have shown the Porters on the short end of a 40-0 blowout when all was said and done.

Colin Smith ran for three touchdowns and Matt Rinaldi caught two touchdown passes as Hampton Bays celebrated its homecoming game with a strong performance, blanking the injury-riddled Porters on Saturday night.

The Suffolk County Division IV game had been postponed from the night before because of inclement weather, which had disrupted other homecoming-related events in Hampton Bays. But the Baymen (2-2) were determined not to allow the Porters (3-2) to spoil their party.

Travis Flynn threw one of the touchdown passes to Rinaldi (Justin Strecker passed for the other) as well as running for a touchdown himself.

It was literally adding insult to injury. The Porters played most of the game without two of their regular starting offensive linemen. One of their guards, Chris Schwamborn, did not play at all because of a knee injury. Their starting center, Kyle Schultz, dislocated his shoulder during the second quarter and was taken to a hospital, said John Tramontana, the Porters’ line coach. Liam McShane replaced Schultz, playing center for the first time this season.

And then there was the absence of wide receiver/linebacker Zach Holmes, who was said to have a frayed anterior cruciate ligament.

If all that wasn’t enough, Keegan Syron, who did not practice all week, was cleared to play, but he manned his usual linebacker and running back positions with an ailing shin bone. He still led the Porters with 11 tackles.

Smith and Flynn couldn’t have done much for the Porters’ spirit, either, with Smith running for 102 yards and Flynn racking up 96.

Almost half of Smith’s yards came on the first play of the second quarter when the junior running back broke through the line and charged 42 yards to the end zone, with Garrett Malave pulling him down as he crossed the goal line.

Before the half ended, Rinaldi caught his two touchdown passes on successive possessions. On the first one, a 33-yard connection, he shook two tacklers before dragging a third one with him into the end zone. Then, Strecker floated a 20-yard pass that the Porters’ Myles Williams was able to tip, only to see Rinaldi corral it before it hit the ground, making the score 20-0.

By halftime, Hampton Bays held a commanding 238-74 advantage in offensive yardage.

The Baymen really pulled away in the third quarter when they tacked on two more touchdowns within three plays. Flynn ran around the right side on a quarterback keeper for a 17-yard score. A bad shotgun snap on the Porters’ next play from scrimmage was recovered by Smith at the Porters’ 3-yard line. Smith bulled his way in for the touchdown on the next play.

The next Porters series was stopped with Smith’s second fumble recovery of the night. That set up his own 8-yard touchdown run for the game’s final points.

[email protected]

Caption: Greenport/Southold/Mattituck running back Keegan Syron, playing on pain medication for an ailing shin bone, dives forward between Hampton Bays’ Ben Sohtz and Travis Flynn (20) for a first down. (Credit: Daniel De Mato)