Homecoming night loss brings out emotions for Porters seniors

About 15 minutes after Greenport/Southold/Mattituck’s 45-12 loss to Hampton Bays on Friday night, senior Emmett Tramontana took in the moment on an emotional night at Dorrie Jackson Memorial Field.

The co-captain and lineman had just played his final home game on both Homecoming and Senior Night.

“I spent six years playing on this field,” he said. “Finishing out with a big crowd out under the lights is really special. Having my family out here to support me, and my family on the field, too. All these guys are my family. I’m going to miss them when I’m not here next year.

The Porters scored two touchdowns in a game for the first time — by junior wide receiver Jason Priebe and running back Markus Kruszeski. They also tied an opponent for the first time.

“It really reminded me of the 10th-grade playoff season,” co-captain and senior lineman Alex Felakos said. “It was just fantastic, seeing how happy the team was, seeing how up we were.”

After sitting out last season due to a lack of players, the Porters returned to varsity play this year.

Greenport (1-6, 1-5) and Hampton Bays (4-4, 4-3) played for the second time this Suffolk County League IV season, a rare occurrence in high school. That was necessitated because Port Jefferson and Amityville could not field teams. The Porters needed a game for Homecoming. The Baymen obliged, in what was considered a non-league match-up.

In both teams’ Sept. 4 season opener, Greenport lost on the road, 39-6.

But numbers can be deceiving.

“The comparison between game one and this game, it really shows our growth,” Tramontana said.

Quarterback Brayden Kruk agreed.

“We’ve improved exponentially,” he said. “It’s crazy how far we’ve come.”

After Connor Bullinger combined with Jack Holden on a 24-yard TD pass five minutes and 59 seconds into the game, the Porters came right back. Two juniors, Kruk and wide receiver Priebe, combined for a 48-yard pass play to tie it at 6-6, with six seconds left in the first quarter.

“When I saw it coming towards me, I got so nervous,” Priebe said. “My legs felt like jelly. But I powered through to score that touchdown because it’s the last game the seniors get to play on the home field.”

That TD gave Greenport much confidence.

“We usually kick it in the second half, but this is the best first half we played all year,” said Kruk, who passed for a season-high 131 yards.

“That was definitely our best start to a football game all year,” head coach Bo Olshefsky said. “Unfortunately, we’ve dealt with a lot of injuries, meaning a lot of new faces needed to step up, and they really did accordingly.”

On the game’s last play, Kruszeski scored on a one-yard run, after gaining a yard on the previous play.

“It was Homecoming and Senior Night. I didn’t want to let my teammates down,” he said. “The play before, when they tackled me right in front of the goal line, I was pretty aggravated about it.”

Olshefsky liked what he saw.

“We’re going to keep playing full throttle until there’s triple zeros on our scoreboard,” he said. “It was a strong drive that we were able to get together. Markus has been a phenomenal back. We’re happy for him.”

In between those TDs, the Baymen dominated.

Bullinger found quarterback-wide receiver Michael Single on a 39-yard TD pass. As a QB, Single added a 40-yard run for an 18-6 halftime advantage. The visitors extended their lead to 32-6 on Single scoring runs of 10 and 54 yards. They closed out their scoring on Bullinger’s 30-yard pass to Brayden Arkinson and Holden’s 40-yard interception return in the fourth period.

“We get too excited and let it slip,” Felakos said.

Seven seniors were honored before kickoff: Jacob Secaida, Thomas Arena, Aaron Solis, Omari Dyer, Zyaire Terry, Felakos, and Tramontana. Greenport has 17 underclassmen returning who gained valuable experience.

“This is step one of the building blocks,” said Olshefsky, whose team finishes its season at Shoreham-Wading River on Friday, Oct. 23. “We put a team back on the field. I believe these kids have gotten so much better throughout the year. They’re now confident that they know that they have the ability and that we can match up evenly with teams we play in League IV.

“Coming into next year with all these faces coming back, some friends now coming up from the junior high level, hopefully, we’re sparking interest in that community of getting more kids involved to brighten up our roster.”