With the biggest victory of their lives, the Blue Waves earned a place for themselves in a Suffolk County final for the second time in six years. Their 48-14 rout of the North Babylon Bulldogs in a Division II semifinal saw to that. By winning for the 10th time in as many games, the undefeated Blue Waves nabbed a spot in the division final Saturday against the West Islip Lions (9-1) at Stony Brook University.

"We've never experienced something this great," said Blue Waves senior Jon La Gue.

News-Review photo by Peter Blasl The Riverhead Blue Waves charged out onto the field before the start of Sunday's game.

Another Riverhead senior, Tyler Gilliam, said: "This is my ultimate goal, all throughout high school ... even back to the PAL. This was our vision throughout the whole time, to get to that spot because the last two years we came up short. We finally did it this year. We finally did it, made the town proud."

After accepting postgame congratulations, Blue Waves Coach Leif Shay kept to his disciplined message that his team's work was not finished.

"To get [to the division final] is one thing," he said. "Now we have to win, so it's a little more pressure. Obviously, we're happy with where we're at, but we want to keep getting better."

News-Review photo by Peter Blasl Riverhead quarterback Tim Velys was 7 of 10, passing for 151 yards and a touchdown.

Riverhead, a team that has continually impressed this year, did so again by defeating the Bulldogs (7-3) by an even greater margin than it did during the regular season. Three touchdowns by Miguel Maysonet helped.

A pair of Maysonet touchdown runs, sandwiched around Greg Meyer's fumble recovery on North Babylon's first play from scrimmage, helped spot the Blue Waves a 14-0 lead from their first two offensive series.

Ciwan McCoy dove into the end zone from one yard away for a Bulldogs touchdown 1 minute 18 seconds into the second quarter, but Riverhead put up the next 34 points by scoring touchdowns in an assortment of ways: Meyer ran the ball in from two yards out; Maysonet notched his third touchdown of the day with a dazzling 47-yard run that was made possible by a critical block downfield by Rasheen Moore; Moore followed a wall of blockers while returning a punt 64 yards for a score; Tim Velys hooked up with Moore for a 54-yard touchdown connection; and Gilliam scored on a two-yard run.

"That fear of failure, we just wanted to completely block that out," Gilliam said. "We didn't want to be a failure to ourselves, to our community, to everybody who looked up to us. We just came out and gave it our all."

The Bulldogs didn't score again until Danny Brown rumbled in from four yards with 10:47 left to play. Realistically, the game had long been over by then.

Having the game postponed a day because of inclement weather hardly seemed to hurt Riverhead's focus. As usual, the Blue Waves looked sharp.

"When it comes to game time, everybody is focused 100 percent," Velys said. "In the locker room, the coaches don't have to give big, emotional speeches. They know we're going to come out and play."

Riverhead made good use of Velys' arm and Maysonet's legs in the first half to keep the Bulldogs off balance. Velys went 7 of 10, passing for 151 yards.

Moore was Velys' most frequent target, catching five passes for 116 yards. Maysonet ran for 96 yards on 13 first-half carries.

After the game, and after the Blue Waves had rung the victory bell, three of their seniors -- Gilliam, Nick Grefe and Velys -- laid down on the field in front of one of the goalposts, soaking up their final moments in uniform on their home field. It was their final home game, adding a bittersweet tinge to their joyous event.

"It's definitely sad and happy at the same time because we know it's our last time to ever play on this field," Maysonet, the senior who has scored 28 touchdowns and run for about 1,800 yards this year, said while standing on the team logo in the center of the field. "This is where it all started, right here."

Now, one way or another, Riverhead's season will end at Stony Brook University, which will also host the Long Island final on Nov. 29. The Blue Waves were county champions in 2003, but have never won a Long Island championship.

Whatever the future holds for them, Riverhead's seniors have bid Coach Mike McKillop Memorial Field a fond farewell.

"It brings the best memory -- that we just won today," Moore said. "We're going to Stony Brook now."

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