Deer Park spoiled West’s homecoming festivities Saturday afternoon by defeating the Bulls 14-9. West is now 0-3 on the season.
Deer Park was first to capitalize with a four-yard touchdown run by Damien Lugo to open the scoring at 7-0, but West quickly answered with a long drive that ended with a 32-yard field goal by Dylan Rieckehoff. The Falcons added another touchdown on a 60-yard run by Lance Rose with about two minutes remaining in the half to extend the lead to 14-3 going into halftime.
The Bulls put the first and only points of the second half on the scoreboard with an eight-yard touchdown run by senior fullback James Pannell to make the score 14-9. West tried to pull to within a field goal of Deer Park and went for a two-point conversion, but the attempt failed.
The Bulls had two final drives in the fourth quarter to try to bring the game home but were forced to do so without quarterback Matt Heldberg, who was knocked out of the game on a hard hit, which brought in senior quarterback Craig Madarasz.
Madarasz completed a long pass and then led the team to inside the 10-yard line with two minutes remaining. The drive was cut short when Lance Rose of the Falcons stripped the ball on the four-yard line, which was recovered by Joe Gimeli for Deer Park.
West is set to take on North Babylon on Saturday at 2 p.m.
