Thunder Maroon 7s vs. Bellmore

The Thunder Maroon 7s squared off against undefeated Bellmore Sunday. With 10 Bellmore players bigger then the biggest Thunder player, Bellmore had a huge size advantage. The Thunder, however, played BIG all day and Bellmore left the field with a lot of respect for the maroon 7s. Bellmore jumped out to a 14-0 behind their talented running back and that's when the Thunder started to mount their come-back. Playing with a lot of heart the Thunder started to move the ball effectively behind running backs, Matt Desimplicis, Keiran Paskewitz and Michael Liberopolous. The offensive line behind Jack Dignam, Eli Pagonis, Will Honan and Liam Widell started to open holes. On one play, big blocks by Mark Michon, Tommy Siler and Teddy Dolan opened a lane and Andrew DeSantis sprinted in for the TD but Andrew had stepped on the sideline and the ball came back. Great call by the ref but we could have used that TD!

The 2nd half saw some great plays by both teams. Defensively, the Thunder cornerbacks, Aidan Griffin and George Cognard refused to let Bellmore pick up a first down around end. The middle was closed by Quinn Heslin, Joey Ostapow and Michael Schwantner.

The thunder hit pay dirt when James Buckley ran a sweep 37 yds for the score behind blocking by Joey Perrini, Sean and Patrick Leggett. Down one touchdown the Thunder held Bellmore and started to move the ball again. A big run by Kieran Paskewitz and a big first down pickup by Michael Liberopolous had the crowd roaring. The highlight of the drive saw the first completed pass by the 7s as Cole Dutton fired a strike to Andrew DeSantis for a 10 yard gain and a first down. Even though the drive stalled at the Bellmore 10 the 7s played a great game and showed that they can compete with even the biggest of teams. Few would say the Thunder was outplayed this day.