By Anthony Bosco
The Long Island City Bulldogs turned a competitive game into a blowout, capitalizing on numerous turnovers to rout the Bryant Owls, 36-0, Saturday at Flushing Memorial Field in a game between neighborhood rivals.
Running back Mark Satterwhite was all the offensive the Bulldogs needed, carrying the ball 15 times for 186 yards and two touchdowns, including the first score of the game — the only one which did not follow a Bryant turnover.
“It was a total replay of week one against Adams,” said Bryant coach Carl Brosnan of his team’s 40-6 loss to open the season. “I’m not taking nothing away from LIC. They’re a good a squad, a very good squad, but we can’t beat anybody if we turn the ball over that many times.”
Starting on their own 34, LIC’s running attack went right to work, utilizing three different players running the ball, Satterwhite, Ronald Whittingham and Marc Perez. Satterwhite capped the 66-yard drive with a 30-yard run off-tackle for six points.
Quarterback Jason West connected with Whittingham for the two-point conversion to make the score 8-0 with 7:02 remaining in the fira
Neither team did much with the ball on the next two possessions, but Bryant, led by senior fullback and captain Almir Pupovic, proved it could move the ball against the Bulldogs, pounding the ball down to the LIC 36 before Manuel Duran intercepted an errant pass by Owls’ signal-caller Juan Gonzalez at the 23 and returned it 10 yards.
LIC (2-0 in league play, 3-0 overall) wasted no time getting its running game back in gear, as Satterwhite ripped off a 19-yard gain into Bryant territory. Seven running plays later Satterwhite took the ball in from the 5-yard line. The two-point conversion failed, but the Bulldogs now held a 14-0 lead with 1:25 remaining in the half.
“The seniors have really stepped up this year,” said LIC assistant coach and defensive coordinator Harley Watstein. “The offensive line did a good job, too. I think Bryant’s a tough team. I think it was a lot closer than the score indicated. Defensively we still held, but offensively we got the ball in good position.”
Bryant (0-2 in league play, 0-3 overall) gave LIC a scare toward the end of the half when, on third-and-two, Gonzalez found an open receiver down the far sideline for a 38-yard gain to the Bulldogs’ 19. The Owls moved the ball to the LIC 13, but Gonzalez’s pass on fourth-and-four was incomplete, ending the threat.
The Owls turned the ball over on the first play of the third quarter when Gonzalez was intercepted for the second time, this time by Whittingham, who returned the ball five yards to the Bryant 40.
Satterwhite promptly ran for 31 yards down to the nine, setting a nine-yard scoring run by Perez. The two-point conversion failed, but LIC now had a comfortable 20-0 lead at the 10:32 mark of the third quarter.
The Owls turned it over again on the first play of the ensuing drive when Pupovic was stripped at the 35 and LIC recovered. Four plays later Perez scored his second touchdown, this time from 13 yards out. Whittingham ran in the two-point conversion to make the score 28-0 with 7:50 left in the quarter.
“I think we kind of wore them down,” Watstein said. “We only have one or two guys who go both ways, so we’re fresh. Most of the teams play a lot of guys both ways. But the second half we kind of wear the other team down.”
Bryant got the ball in good field position to start the next series, but ran only four plays before a fumbled snap gave the ball back to the Bulldogs at their own 40.
LIC needed only four plays to score its fifth touchdown of the day, a 14-yard run by Oliver West. Mahal Wiggins ran in the two-point conversion to make the score 36-0 with three seconds remaining in the third.
The Owls nearly spoiled the shutout with their final drive, moving the ball from their own 37 to the LIC 33 when, on fourth-and-four, Gonzalez’s perfectly placed pass was tipped away by an LIC defender just short of the end zone.
‘“We are an inconsistent team,” Brosnan said of the Owls, which have a bye this week. “They executed better than us this week. We got a lot of things to work on.”
Long Island City will host Erasmus Hall Saturday at 11 a.m.
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 130.
