Defense shines in Riverhead’s 12-6 victory over Half Hollow Hills East

A punishing defense will always bail out an erratic offense.

Riverhead (1-2 Division II) forced four turnovers on defense en route to a 12-6 victory over Half Hollow Hills East (0-3 Division II) at Coach Mike McKillop Memorial Field on Saturday afternoon.

Three forced fumbles ended with defensive recoveries and middle linebacker Kyle Pipczynski brought down an interception while the Blue Waves limited Hills East to just one score late in the fourth quarter.

The Thunderbirds did have a chance late to win the game after recovering an onside kick following their first score of the game. But on fourth down and six inside the 20-yard line with less than two minutes left to play, the defense came up with a stop, sending a wave of collective exhalation throughout the stadium. Defensive captain Tyrese Kerr was the first out of the scrum and beat his chest while screaming at the top of his lungs.

“Victory,” Kerr said. “That’s the only thing that was going through my head. To start the season 0-2 was rough and we needed that win. We really did.”

Kerr has taken it upon himself to stay vocal throughout the game to keep the intensity level high.

“We need to stay vocal to get on this winning track,” Kerr said. “We can’t let up at any point.”

Sharron Trent transitioned from quarterback to wide receiver for the first week and looked as if he’d been there all year.

“He has upgraded our wide receiver position tremendously,” head coach Leif Shay said. “I give that kid a lot of credit, he said ‘I just want to help the team, coach’.”

“I’m an athlete,” Trent said. “I’m just doing what I need to do for us to get wins.”

Halfback Marcus Reid scored the only two touchdowns for the Blue Waves as he continues to pound the rock at a high level.

“Marcus is running extremely hard and when you see him grind out those 6-yard and 7-yard runs, you can tell he really has the ability to be a great back,” Shay said.

One win means the world to the Blue Waves at this point in the season.

“It sets us up to say OK now we can win and now we know what we have to do to win so we can build on that,” Shay said.

But perhaps the best news of all is that Nikolas Visco, the junior who collapsed during practice in the preseason is back at home after an extensive stay in the hospital.

The Blue Waves will travel to Smithtown West on Friday for a 6pm kickoff.

RiverheadLOCAL photos by Emil Breitenbach.

RiverheadLOCAL photos by Michael Hejmej