Babylon football's Kai Jankow rushes for three TDs to help Panthers roll past Glenn
Babylon quarterback Kai Jankow prepares to throw a pass against Glenn in a Suffolk division IV football game on Saturday at John Glenn High School. Credit: George A. Faella
Aidan Winter is hard enough to defend. He is Babylon’s all-time leading rusher, after all.
But when quarterback Kai Jankow gets rolling, the Babylon offense is almost impossible to stop.
Jankow had 15 carries for 112 yards and three touchdowns and Winter ran 13 times for 154 yards and a touchdown in Babylon’s 42-7 win over Glenn in Suffolk IV football Saturday afternoon in Elwood. Jankow also completed two passes to Winter for 50 yards and a TD.
“Even when he’s not getting the ball, he’s doing something positive to help the team,” Jankow said. “Whether it’s lining up at receiving and the whole defense shifts towards him because they think Aidan’s gonna get the ball. It opens up a lot for everybody, not just me. It opens up the whole field for all of us.”
Facing 3rd-and-7 on the Panthers’ opening drive, Jankow found Winter on a wheel route downfield for a 41-yard TD.
Babylon’s next two drives ended with a Jankow 31-yard TD run and a 32-yard score by Winter, respectively. The Panthers forced a turnover on downs near midfield and immediately capitalized.
Babylon ran a double reverse with Winter receiving the snap. He handed the ball to Jankow, who handed it off to Keven Bonilla. Jake Ostertag was wide open down the right sideline and hauled in a 48-yard TD pass from Bonilla to give Babylon a 28-0 lead with 5:59 left in the first half.
“When we run that play in practice, I laugh because I’m like, ‘We’re never gonna run this in a game,’” Jankow said. “Then they call it and I watch Keven throw a long touchdown. I’ve never seen Keven throw a football in my life. It’s awesome.”
“I love watching everybody eat,” Winter said. “I’d rather watch the young bucks score than myself because that’s the future. It’s all about impacting the program after I leave. Of course, I love winning, but I want to see Babylon football go far in the future.”
Jankow and Winter followed the blocks of tackles Miles Varley and Shamus Cunneen, guards Kai Donnelly and Christian Seidenberg, center Joe Rubendall and tight ends JJ Reid and Jaiden Milner. Winter now has 5,150 career rushing yards.
“I’m nothing without them for sure,” Winter said. “Those guys make holes for me that I run through and it’s great. Those are my guys.”
Zack Vasquez had 11 tackles, including one for a loss for Babylon (3-0). Winter had eight tackles and Varley added six tackles.
Keith King ran in a 3-yard TD for Glenn (1-2).
After the game, Winter and the Panthers gathered at midfield and celebrated with the 231 Cup, named after Route 231, which runs from Babylon through Dix Hills and near Elwood. Babylon coach Rick Punzone and former Glenn coach Dave Shanahan started the tradition seven years ago. Babylon now leads the series, 4-3.
Even with Shanahan’s retirement after 30 years at Glenn, the tradition is still significant to Punzone.
“Me and Dave have been friends for 30 years,” Punzone said. “We get to keep the trophy for the rest of the year. It’s pretty cool.”
Winter treated the trophy like a football and sprinted straight to the end zone with his teammates. A sight the Knights were too familiar with.
“Our gameplan was to try to control Aidan, who was even better than I thought he was gonna be,” first-year Glenn coach TJ Brocking said. “You can’t just focus on Aidan, because the other guys are that good. Kai had a great game. The line blocked well… Coach Punzone is excellent at putting you in positions that make it extremely hard to stop them.”
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
