In a year of high school football that has seen horrific acts in neighboring towns such as Mepham, some good-hearted football is all the people of Port Washington could ask for. In the hardest conference on Long Island, Port has its work cut out for it. Every game is a battle, and with a young inexperienced team, Port will have to manage to get hit and to just keep getting up and trying again. Early losses to East Meadow and Uniondale might have been discouraging, but it will take a lot more than that to ruin the spirits of this youthful and energetic football team.

The first conference game was played on Sept. 20 against a terrific team from East Meadow. It didn't get any easier when the Port team had to make the long trip to East Meadow and play before a raucous, opposing crowd. Port fell behind early, but to the surprise of East Meadow, did not totally fall apart. Even after falling behind 28-0, Port hung tough and scored their first touchdown of the year on Vince Zorskas's touchdown scamper. The game ended with the final score being 28-7 in favor of East Meadow. This was a difficult start to the season, but Port knew this was only a step in the right direction. They have seven more games to prove. Port football is back in a big way.

The second game of the season was in a much different setting, at the comfortable Carl Seeber Field, in Port Washington. The game was played last Thursday on a warm sunny afternoon, after school. The contest was against a tenacious Uniondale team, who was looking to make a big impact in Conference I this season. Port came out a little slow against this Uniondale team, and Uniondale scored a quick rushing touchdown to go up 7-0. Port followed, however, with their own touchdown drive. Using quick pitches to runningback Vince Zorskas and good blocking up front, especially by tightend James Schaefer, fullback Chris Cosolito scored first touchdown of the season and tied the score at 7-7.

Some good punting by Richie Miglietta forced Uniondale to settle for poor field position and made it difficult for Uniondale to really get any offensive plays going. After an interception toward the end of the half by Port ended another Uniondale offensive threat, the score remained close at halftime, 14-7 in favor of Uniondale. "We were feeling very confident, and still are, we weren't supposed to be playing as well as we were. This gives us hope." This quote from punter Richie Miglietta exemplified what the first half meant to this Port team. They learned that they could stay competitive with a tough opponent, and that was very important for their confidence. Coming out into the second half, Port just ran out of gas, allowing a quick touchdown by Uniondale to make the score 21-7. Even with some well played defense, Port fell short of the upset and lost 28-7 in their home opener.

The season might not have started out the way Port dreamed it would for their football team, but they didn't play very badly. They forced some turnovers, played good special teams, and played hard the entire game. Senior quarterback Fred Dumpson is playing in his first year as the starting quarterback, but is showing much poise in the pocket. All of these things give Port football hope for the rest of the season. Their next game is on Friday night, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. against Oceanside. Everyone in the community is welcome to come down and enjoy in the festivities, and watch your team play some great football. The two football games lost are now in the past. It's time to look toward the future.