Carey football is back in Long Island Championship after 10-year hiatus

The year was 2014, and Carey ruled Long Island high school football in Class II — again.

The Seahawks beat Garden City to repeat in Nassau Conference II and earn a trip to an Island championship game, and then they also repeated there, beating East Islip by a 34-point spread.

The program was still strong more often than not over the next nine seasons, earning playoff tickets seven times in Nassau II and once in III. But Carey didn’t grab any county crowns, losing in the semifinals or the final on seven occasions, four times thanks to Garden City, including in the 2023 Nassau II title round.

“When you play Garden City, you have to be at your best,” said coach Mike Stanley, who has guided the Seahawks to the Nassau II championship game seven times in his 18 seasons. “And even if you’re at your best, it may not be good enough. And in certain years, it was not. That was a big factor.”

The Trojans claimed eight straight Nassau II titles before dropping to Conference III before this school year. They took first prize again Saturday, winning by 35 over Manhasset. But Carey brought an excellent team back after an offseason of sweat, and it conquered every obstacle. It also took first prize, beating Mepham 28-7 in Friday night’s Nassau II championship game.

So the wait to reach another Long Island championship game is over after 10 years. Carey is 11-0 and ready to face 10-1 Half Hollow Hills East at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium.

“I thought this group early on in the year, I thought if we stayed healthy, we could maybe do something special,” Stanley said, “and hopefully we’re on the verge of that.”

They’ve been special on both sides of the ball. The Seahawks haven’t trailed all season.

“It’s definitely an honor to be a part of the team that finally brought Carey back to the Long Island championship and is going to finish the job,” said senior co-captain Christian Todaro, a starter at receiver and cornerback.

The offense, with senior Chris Obertis at quarterback, has rolled for an average of 34.6 points per game.

It features 6-foot, 200-pound sophomore running back Justin DePietro moving behind the blocks of left tackle Howie Silverstein, left guard Ali Jouida, center Richie Metzger, right guard Sean McNamee and right tackle Mike Lucsczynski.

DePietro said he used to idolize former fullback Mike Alstott, a six-time Pro Bowl force with Tampa Bay who actually retired before DePietro was born.

“I guess he’s looking for big, physical backs,” Stanley said.

Alstott was nicknamed “A-Train.”

DePietro can be called “D-Train.”

“I think I’m pretty tough to take down,” he said after carrying 35 times for 187 yards and three TDs in the county title game.

DePietro has run for 1,019 yards and 14 touchdowns. He plays middle linebacker, too.

“The way he plays middle linebacker is the way he runs the ball,” Stanley said. “He wants to run through people. … I mean, when we’re up and you have to stop that, that’s a tough task.”

Their tough defense has allowed an average of just seven points.

“I think we all play as a unit and we all know each other’s responsibilities and we’re all doing our job individually,” Todaro said. “We’re like a well-oiled machine back there. … Defense wins championships.”

Senior outside linebacker Billy Koutsoumbaris called it “a great unit.”

Carey uses a three-man front. It’s anchored by Matt Smith. Stanley said the senior nose tackle is “very, very difficult for anyone to handle one-on-one.”

Stanley said DePietro has also been “outstanding” defensively. Then there’s junior outside linebacker Christian Anaya.

“He’s got dynamic speed out there,” Stanley said. “He plays with such a motor.”

The secondary was tested in the 15-0 semifinal win over Long Beach and then by Mepham, and it passed those tests.

Here comes another in Hills East.

“They’re a very impressive team, very talented, very great athletes,” Todaro said. “It’s going to be our biggest test definitely out of all year.”

Last year, they fell 30-6 to Garden City in the regular season and 35-7 in the county title game. The Seahawks went 9-0 against everyone else. The Trojans, who are set to return to Nassau II next season, didn’t stand in the way this time. There were challenges, though.

“It’s just like when you see the schedule, oh, yeah, you don’t see Garden City; that’s what everybody thinks,” Todaro said. “But there’s still competition out there.

“I know a lot of people think that Conference II hasn’t been a very competitive conference this year. But it has been. We’ve been tested a lot, and I think we handled it well. We obviously got the job done in the conference and now it’s time to take on the Island.”