By Ted Waddell
LAKE HUNTINGTON — Talk about a good night on the gridiron.
Sullivan West’s Brad Reimer had an excellent evening on the football field on Friday. The senior quarterback scored seven touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs to a 56-35 win over the Millbrook Blazers in a Section IX Class C game.
With the victory, SW improved its record to 3-0 overall and 3-0 in Class C games.
Millbrook dropped to 2-1, 1-1 Class C.
“It went good, I got five [touchdowns] on rushes and two on passes,” said Reimer after the Bulldogs’ 21-point victory.
“We’re looking good so far, and I’ve got to give a lot of credit to the line, [especially] number 75 [John Whittaker] and number 56 [Tyler Wagner], they really stepped up,” Reimer added. “We’re looking to next week.”
Reimer was referring to the Bulldogs’ next game, a Class C game at Pine Plains this coming Friday night, Sept. 26.
The SW signal caller repeatedly proved he was fleet of foot, as he rushed 18 times for 152 yards and five touchdowns. Reimer’s two TD passes were caught by Mike Schmidt (10 yards) and Dan Figueroa (37 yards).
Figueroa also carried the ball seven times for 87 yards. Nick Mootz ran six times for 72 yards, including a 25-yard TD.
“It was a good game, but we gave up too many points, too many yards,” Figueroa said.
SW slowed down Millbrook’s top running threat, as they held Nick Finger to 171 yards on 24 carries, including a 2-yard TD.
At 7:48 in the first quarter, Reimer connected to Schmidt for the game’s opening score.
Artie Norden’s PAT kick was good, and SW was up 7-0.
Near the end of the quarter, the Bulldogs advanced to the Millbrook 25-yard line as Norden picked up a first down by inches, Figueroa rushed to a first down on a reverse and Reimer’s QB keeper led to another first down.
Mootz scored the home team’s second TD at 1:56, Norden’s PAT kick cleared the uprights, and SW was ahead 14-0
With 11:07 left in the second quarter, Millbrook’s Darnell Cummings took it around the left side for a score. The PAT was good, which allowed the Blazers to close to within a TD at 14-7.
Not to be outdone, Reimer scored on a 20-yard QB keeper at 9:37. The PAT was good, and the Bulldogs went ahead 21-7.
Blazers’ QB Peter Keenan completed a pass in the end zone to Matthew Buechele at 4:23, but the PAT was blocked by a fired up Bulldogs defense.
With the score now 21-13, Reimer struck again with 2:15 remaining in the half. His 23-yard touchdown run and Norden’s successful PAT gave the Bulldogs a 28-13 advantage.
But the action was far from over in the first half.
On the subsequent Millbrook possession, Keenan connected with Hollingsworth on a TD pass. The PAT was blocked, making the score 28-19.
After Reimer completed a pass to Norden on SW’s next possession, the home team fans were again howling for a score. Reimer answered the call by reaching the end zone from a yard away with 29.3 seconds remaining until halftime.
Norden’s PAT kick nicked the crossbar, but it was ruled good to give SW a 35-19 lead at intermission.
Reimer scored again at the 6:21 mark of the third quarter. The PAT kick was good, extending the Bulldogs’ lead to 42-19.
As the clock ran out in the third frame, Finger scored from the 1-yard line and followed up his TD with a two-point conversion to make it a 42-27 contest.
After SW’s Mark Tesseyman pounced on a short kickoff, Reimer scored a 38-yard TD run with 11:12 left in the fourth quarter. Norden’s PAT was good, which gave SW a 49-27 lead.
At 9:14, the Blazers replied with a 15-yard touchdown run by Cummings, who then added two more points on the conversion to make it a 49-35 game.
SW picked up a critical first down on a masterful fake punt, as Norden put on a show of missing a high snap from center. The play set the stage for Reimer’s TD pass to Figueroa with 6:14 remaining.
“It was a very good game, [but] we couldn’t stop them,” Millbrook Coach Sean Keenan said. “Our kids didn’t give up, we lost to a better team.
“They were more physical than us, better prepared and better coached,” he added. “We didn’t tackle, and they did what they had to do.”
As he huddled with his team following the win, SW Coach Ron Bauer told the players they had done “a great job offensively.
“We played a good game, and our defense improved,” he added after addressing the Bulldogs.