Porters score but fall under stampede

Heading into last Thursday night’s game against Mount Sinai, the Greenport/Southold/Mattituck/Shelter Island Porters knew the Mustangs had a couple of thoroughbreds who could run the football.


But it’s hard to imagine the Porters knew just how deep the Mount Sinai stable is.


The host Mustangs unleashed one running back after another in a 46-14 rout of the Porters in a Suffolk County Division IV game that saw Mount Sinai gain more than a quarter-mile’s worth of rushing yards — 483, to be exact.


“We like to hand the ball off and see where that takes us,” said Mount Sinai Coach Vinnie Ammirato.


Last Thursday it took them far.


That much was evident on the very first drive of the game. The Mustangs (2-0) carried the ball just two times for 61 yards before junior tailback Josh Morales stuffed it into the end zone on a 12-yard run. Morales would finish the contest with 155 yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries — all in the first half.


The question the Porters (0-2) seemed to face was not if Mount Sinai was going to run the ball, but who quarterbacks Austin Kay and, later, backup Patrick Hogan, would hand the ball off to.


“That’s what makes us so difficult to defend,” Ammirato said. “We can give it to the fullback, we can give it to the halfback, we can give it to the wingback, we can throw the ball.”


Fullback Robert Murphy carried the football 10 times for 122 yards and a score.


After the Mustangs rolled to a 34-7 halftime lead, Murphy and Morales were replaced by Eric Kogel and Richie Stein. Like Murphy and Morales before him, Kogel tried racing around the corner each time he got the ball. That strategy netted him 89 yards on eight carries, including a 32-yard touchdown scamper.


Stein picked up 32 yards and a touchdown on his eight carries, as well as an interception on defense.


Porters Coach Jim Anderson said he expected a challenge from No. 5 seed Mount Sinai, which shut out Bayport-Blue Point, 34-0, in its season opener.


“I knew Mount Sinai was going to be tough,” Anderson said. “You see them on film, you see what they can do, and we just couldn’t stop them.”


The Porters got off to a decent start offensively.


Faced with a fourth-and-one at their own 34-yard line, Anderson called a quarterback sneak for senior Dan Letteriello, who gained three yards and a first down. On the next play, the Porters unleashed a bomb down the left sideline to receiver Tremayne Hansen for a 63-yard score to tie the score at 7-7 in the first quarter.


It was practically all Mount Sinai after that, though, as the Mustangs scored 39 unanswered points to take a 46-7 lead into the fourth quarter.


Mike Mangiamele scored on a one-yard run to cap off the Porters’ scoring.


For the second straight week, Kay didn’t have to throw the ball too often for Mount Sinai. But the sophomore signal-caller was effective when he did. Kay was 4 of 4, passing for 73 yards and two touchdowns — a 49-yard strike to Joe Bongiorno and a 10-yard completion to Jesse Baldassare.


Kay passed along all the kudos to his running backs afterward.


“They’re great,” Kay said. “They work real hard and they’re getting better and better every day. They’re going to go far.”


Mount Sinai has outscored its opponents, 80-14, so far this season.


Things won’t get any easier for the Porters tomorrow night when they host No. 1 Babylon (2-0). Mount Sinai will travel to Southampton (1-1).