Sports

Preview: Eagles Prepare to Face Riverhead

Hauppauge football needs to step up their game against the No. 7 seeded team.

Hauppauge Eagles have started off their season in the right foot, , but they are going to have to continue to step up their game if they want to keep winning.

The Eagles, ranked no. 11 preseason, are scheduled to host the No. 7 ranked Riverhead Blue Waves this Friday at 6 p.m. Riverhead beat the top-seeded East Islip, 38-35, last weekend.

"That no. 7 is pretty deceiving. Riverhead is one of the top four or five teams in the conference," said Joe Patrovich, Hauppauge's head coach. "By them beating the no. 1 seed, they proved they are going to be formidable challenge."

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Patrovich and the Hauppauge coaches spent eight hours Sunday watching films of Riverhead's previous games in preparation for Friday.

"We watched about six films on them from last year and this year. We don’t go into this blindly," the head coach said.

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Riverhead has a very fast squad with good speed, Patrovich said, but more worrisome is the team's throwing game, which many others are still struggling to develop.

The Eagles scored most of their points against Smithtown East based on their running game. Both Cory Wood and Dominic Confredo scored on long runs, 58 and 74 yards respectively.

"I was very happy with those two guys. I think our offensive line played really well too," Patrovich said.

The bottom line is if Hauppauge can hold Riverhead's offense and limit their throwing game, the Eagles might be able to go far.


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