Sharks can’t swim in the eye of the Hurricane.
Rivalries are a huge part of sports everywhere. Our biggest rivalry is with Eastport-South Manor; every game against the Sharks is a must win.
The rivalry has been going on ever since South Manor merged with Eastport in 2000, before South Manor students had the option to choose between Eastport and Westhampton. Most would choose to go to WHB so when that choice was taken away a rivalry was born.
ESM’s starting varsity soccer goalie Danielle Senecal said, “Competition is just natural when it comes to sports and since we are not that far away from each other we both feel we should be the best in the area, and with that people like to talk a lot of trash.” She also feels, “Bigger is better and we have better resources.”
ESM sophomore Vinny Stumpo agreed with Danielle, saying, “ESM is a better school due to the fact it’s a brand new school. It has prestigious architecture, and we have a great football field.”
Naturally, WHB has a very different opinion on what makes WHB better. Athletic Director Ms. Masterson replied with a simple, “Westhampton is Westhampton.” Coach Parry said, “Westhampton has more to offer and the night football games are like no other.” He also thinks that we have an exceptional off-season program for our football team, which makes them so good.
One of the leaders of the varsity football team, Joe DiBenedetto had a very strong opinion on what makes WHB better. “The last lacrosse game was nuts and the fans were so crazy last spring that their coach had to ask the referees for us to stop; that shows school spirit and how much pride we have.” He continued, “ESM doesn’t have school spirit like we do, trust me have you ever been to one of their football games… pretty embarrassing if you ask me.”
Joe also stated, “ All around our athletes are better and we have a lot more heart in every sport. We train a lot more in our off seasons and our programs are better; especially our coaching, I also think that being called a Shark is pretty lame, but being a Hurricane is a lot cooler.”
Zoe Recchion had a similar opinion on what made WHB better, “I think WHB is better in so many ways; we just work harder and play harder. We support everybody in the school, whether it’s working hard for the food drives or cheering on the football team.
Although the schools have different opinions on most things, everybody agreed that the rivalry was strongest between the two football Danielle Senecal said, “Since the rivalry is so big it really depends on who shows up to play that day but Ill go with ESM because it’s my school.”
Vinny Stumpo once again agreed, by saying “It’ll be a hard fought game but at the end of the day the home team will pull out the win.”
WHB does not think the game will be close at all. Joe’s prediction is for “a bloodbath. I don’t even have to tell you who is going to win the battle. We’ve got more school spirit and we’re a better overall team that will take care of business 34-12 Westhampton.” Zoe followed up by saying “They are going to kill the other team, and have a great win. They work so hard and it’s going to show.”
Before game on Friday, October 26, the game time was changed twice; in the end, kick off was at 3 pm on ESM’s home turf. The scoring started early when the Sharks couldn’t convert on a fourth down. Senior QB Jack Murphy scored the first touchdown on a second and goal at the one-yard line. With seven minutes left in the half, junior Evan Gagne scored his first touchdown of the day from the two-yard line. With a minute left in the half, Murphy scored his second touchdown on a 31 yard run which put the Canes up 20-0 at halftime.
The Sharks got their first score when Tom Mauriello scored six minutes into the third quarter. The Canes quickly answered when senior Brian Corrigan scored a one-yard touchdown. Mauriello then returned a kickoff 70 yards and scored. The Sharks second touchdown came a few plays later. Sophomore Patrick Dean scored the last touchdown for the Hurricanes and ESM responded with one last touchdown by Stephen Hanlon. The Canes finally secured a 41-20 win over the Sharks.
After that huge victory, Westhampton football proved to be the better team and secured a spot in the playoffs. At press time, the Canes beat Comsewogue in Round 1 of the playoffs 6-0. The Canes then beat second seeded Miller Place in Round 2 of the playoffs 19-4. They will face Sayville in the championship game for the second year in a row.
