Sports
Kings Park Football Falls 31-7 to Islip
The Kingsmen had a rough day offensively against the Islip Buccaneers on Saturday afternoon. The defense held its own but Kings Park was not able to overcome a slew of turnovers.
From the first time Kings Park quarterback Joe Guercio dropped back to throw the ball it was apparent that it was going to be a rough day.
Guercio was forced out of the pocket due to pressure from the Islip defense. He rolled out to his left and threw the ball across his body just as he was about to run out of bounds. The ball was intercepted and two plays later Islip quarterback Joe Sabbatino connected on a long touchdown pass that put the Buccaneers up 7-0. Islip went on to win 31-7.
“We gave up too many big plays and we let them play on a short field and that’s what they do,” Kings Park head coach Mark O’Brien said. “You can’t give them big plays because you need to get off the field on third down, you can’t get the ball thrown over your head.”
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The Kings Park defense did its part picking up an interception and recovering a fumble to go along with a blocked punt. But the offense was just never able to move the ball, even when given great field position after the turnovers.
“Turnovers are great, we’ve always been good at that but we’re just in a funk the last year and a half now,” O’Brien said. “We can’t seem to do anything with the ball when we get it.”
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Guercio finished the day with four interceptions and a lost fumble. It wasn’t all the quarterbacks fault though, as he seemed out of sync at times with his receivers.
“Considering the fact that all we’ve done since May it’s a little disheartening that our passing game looked the way it did today,” O’Brien said. “We have some work to do.”
Tom Milich scored the only Kings Park touchdown on a 31-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Coach O’Brien wasn’t happy with the performance of his offense but was certain that the Kingsmen will play better in upcoming weeks.
“Joey will be fine,” O’Brien said. “We’ll get him straightened out.”
There were a few bright spots for Kings Park and O’Brien singled them out, but also said changes are imminent.
“Luke Toscano was terrific, which we knew, and Don Montemurro played well like usual,” O’Brien said. “We need to make some changes with personnel at a couple of spots but we’ll be better.
The Kingsmen will travel to East Hampton next Saturday at 2:00pm.
