Riverhead falls short at homecoming, still in search of first win

Homecoming brought crowds, floats, Hall of Fame inductees, kings and queens and, almost, the Riverhead football team’s first win of the season. The community came out in vast numbers, filling the stands to max capacity to cheer on Riverhead’s varsity football team. But when the final buzzer sounded at Mike McKillop Memorial Field, the final score read: Patchogue-Medford 26, Riverhead 12.

After Patchogue-Medford (3-3) got on the board first with a field goal, Riverhead (0-6) quickly answered back, taking the lead on a Josiah Rodney 38-yard touchdown pass to William Stackevicius to bring the raucous crowd to their feet. It was an answer that Riverhead struggled to make all season long – showing the fight that everyone knew they had.

The Raiders were able to knock through another field goal before half to make the score 6-6 at halftime. The 6-6 score was the closest they’ve been against an opponent since week two in Central Islip when they went into halftime leading 6-0 before losing that game, 13-12.

In the second half, Riverhead’s resolve was challenged again when Patchogue-Medford’s Brett Rupolo connected on a 20-yard touchdown pass with Andrew Johnstone to take the lead 12-6 following a failed extra point. 

Behind the legs of Kavion Hobbs, Riverhead had an instant response the following drive. The shifty running back came in motion and took a reverse handoff crossfield and outran the entire defense before just stepping out of bounds on the five yard line. Hobbs collected 124 yards over the course of the game. Rodney then connected with Billy Healy on a crossing route to tie the game at 12-12 with just 1:45 remaining in the third quarter.

“We played our hearts out,” Riverhead head coach Don Nelson said. “I truly believe we played 48 minutes of football out there. We knew that we were about the same in terms of talent. Our mistakes have hurt us all year and I felt like for the first time we were able to minimize them. There were just a few things here and there. They didn’t beat us up or anything.”

The fourth quarter, however, was all Patchogue-Medford. After bottling up Aidyn Modeste most of the game, the Patchogue-Medford running back ripped off a 80-yard touchdown on the opening play of the fourth quarter. But this time Riverhead didn’t have an answer. Modeste scored again late in the fourth to put the game away.

“We really wanted this one for the kids, the fans, the parents, the coaches and for the program as a whole, but we just fell a little short,” Nelson said. “I thought we played one of our best games this season. We’re doing our best with the depth that we have. Take away a few of their big plays and it’s a different ball game. We’re going to keep working, though.”

Riverhead has two games remaining on the schedule in search of their first win of the season. On Oct. 25 they will travel to Walt Whitman (4-2) and they will close out their season with a home game against Bay Shore (0-6) on Nov. 1.

“We’re building a program again,” Nelson said. “We’re not going to fix this overnight. We all know that. Sure, getting some wins would have been nice but the main part is we haven’t stopped fighting. Each week we are actively trying to get better and I think it’s showing in our games. We’re going to keep recruiting, keep building up these kids in strength and fitness and most importantly raising their confidence. We’ll be fine. It’s just going to take some time.”