Brock Murtha is a standout shortstop, but he’s also a quality quarterback.
The junior field general rushed for two touchdowns, and threw for another, in Sayville’s 28-14 first-round Division III playoff win over No. 6 Eastport-South Manor at Depot Road Field Nov. 2.
“All week we were fired up — every single day practicing hard and it showed here today,” he said. “I’ve gotta give it all to my line. They blocked great today — everyone ran perfect routs — and it was a team effort.”
While the University of Notre Dame-commit already has a baseball scholarship under his belt, there’s something that continues to bring him back to the gridiron, and it has to do with the “getting fired up” part.
“It’s the hype before the game,” he said. “It’s a huge crowd out here. It’s just a great feeling.”
Murtha, who finished with 210 rushing yards on 23 carries, scored on runs of 3 and 2 yards. He broke the plane for the game’s first score, and worked with the other half of Sayville’s M&M duo to gain a sweet 14-0 advantage. Sophomore C.J. Messina, a wide receiver who ran for 143 yards on 14 carries, caught Murtha’s 23-yard pass high above his blockers. Messina also managed a 52-yard touchdown run to break the game wide open, 28-7.
“He’s so confident, he has so much trust in his receivers and he’s just great, I love him,” Messina said of working with Murtha. “Our defense executed and the offense did what we have to do. Any time you get into the end zone it’s a great feeling.”
The win was Sayville’s (5-3) fourth straight win after flip-flopping with losses to start the season. That’s in part due to head coach Reade Sands shifts. After a 7-6 loss to Miller Place (3-5) Oct. 5, he placed sophomore Max Llewellyn at center, which allowed Murtha to move from wideout to quarterback.
“We had a shaky start, but this team is coming together, and I can’t wait to see what we can do,” Murtha said. “We’re not taking anyone lightly — it’s the playoffs — from here on out anything can happen, so we have the same mentality for every team we face, which is just to work hard and do our jobs.”
He said the team will take the mentality into next weekend’s playoff game, when the No. 3 Golden Knights face off against the winner of the Nov. 3 matchup between No. 2 Half Hollow Hills West and No. 7 Miller Place. The semifinal match will be held Nov. 10 at the higher seed at a time to be announced.
“We started out slow this season, but we turned it around and it doesn’t stop here,” Messina said. “I think we’re going to be playing Hills West. We played them once and they beat us, but we’re a different team now.”
