Sports

Recap: Play by play from Riverhead football’s win

ROBERT O’ROURK FILE PHOTO | Rivheread halfback Jeremiah Cheatom carries the ball against West Babylon in Week 1.

No. 1 Riverhead (7-2) vs. No. 4 West Babylon (5-4)

Division II Semifinals

Coach Mike McKillop Memorial Field

The consensus on the field after Riverhead’s quarterfinal playoff victory over Walt Whitman last weekend was that the Blue Waves would be playing East Islip today in the semifinals.

Only West Babylon, the No. 8 seed going into the playoffs, had other plans. West Babylon stunned No. 1 seeded and previously unbeaten West Islip, shaking up the rest of the Division II playoffs.

Teams are reseeded after the first round, so Riverhead jumped up to the No. 1 spot for the semifinals. Instead of facing East Islip, the Blue Waves will now face the Eagles, a team the Blue Waves throttled in Week 1. Riverhead lost to East Islip in the regular season.

While the Blue Waves won handily in Week 1, the Eagles were dealing with several injuries at the time and have come a long way since. And they still have a dynamic quarterback in Clifton Melhado, who rushed for 129 yards against the Blue Waves this season.

The winner of today’s game advances to the county finals next weekend against either East Islip or North Babylon. That game is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 25 at noon at Stony Brook University.

To follow all the action from today’s game, click on the live blog below as former Blue Wave Michael Hejmej provides all the updates: