Three takeaways from the Long Island high school football county finals
The Bayport-Blue Point Phantoms pose with their championship plaque after defeating Miller Place in the Suffolk Division IV championship game on Thursday at LaValle Stadium. Credit: George A Faella
1. Same feel for two dominant programs
Garden City and Bayport-Blue Point continue to roll. Can anyone stop them?
The Trojans extended their Long Island-record winning streak to 53 games with a 49-14 victory over Manhasset in the Nassau Conference III championship game on Saturday at Hofstra University.
It was the ninth straight Nassau title for the Trojans, who are in search of the program’s fourth consecutive Long Island title — something that’s never been done.
Garden City (11-0) will meet Suffolk Division III champion Sayville (11-0) at noon Saturday at Stony Brook University.
The Trojans disposed of a very athletic Manhasset team that had a terrific season and would have been poised to capture the school’s second Nassau crown since 1996 if Garden City had not stepped down in enrollment into Conference III.
Manhasset finished 9-2. Both losses were to Garden City.
The Trojans left Conference II, where they had won five of the last six Long Island Class II titles.
“We’ll play anyone,” Garden City coach Dave Ettinger said. “We don’t decide the schedule or the alignment.”
He wasn’t being arrogant about it. He was being honest.
“We prepare every week and treat every opponent with the same respect,” Ettinger said. “Our program from the youth levels through the high school is consistent with coaching and work ethic.”
Everyone would agree. Garden City has been the model of consistency.
Winning also has become the norm with Bayport-Blue Point (11-0). The Phantoms own Suffolk’s longest current winning streak at 34 games after beating Miller Place, 49-21, to capture a third straight Division IV title Thursday night at Stony Brook University. The two-time defending Long Island Class IV champions will meet Wantagh (10-1) for the Long Island Class IV crown on Friday at noon at Hofstra.
While many get ready for Thanksgiving gatherings with family and friends, you can be sure Garden City and Bayport-Blue Point will be preparing to protect impressive winning streaks. And as good as they are, neither has a walkover in the Long Island Championships.
Sayville poses a real threat to Garden City’s streak. The Golden Flashes are a mirror of Garden City’s toughness and speed but not its size. The game is a dream for high school football fans.
Wantagh will threaten Bayport-Blue Point’s streak with a creative offense and athletic defense.
The Goliaths of high school football will be hard at work readying for what lies ahead against formidable opponents looking to take them down.
2. Pick-6 the turning point
The turning point in the Suffolk Division II championship game between East Islip andHalf Hollow Hills East came in the waning seconds of the first half Friday at Stony Brook.
After falling behind 21-0, East Islip was climbing back into the game. With the ball at the Hills East 5-yard line and East Islip trailing 21-7 with 16 seconds left in the half, quarterback Thomas Costarelli rolled to his left and fired a pass intended for Jack Kalinowski in the end zone.
What could have been part of an epic comeback completely swung in the other direction when Hills East defensive back Noah Chlap jumped the route and intercepted the pass. He raced a Suffolk playoff-record 100 yards for a backbreaking three-touchdown lead at 28-7.
Previously undefeated East Islip (10-1), which beat Hills East, 33-14, during the regular season, never recovered.
Hills East (10-1) went on to a 41-14 win and captured its first Suffolk title in the 61 years of the finals.
The longest TD in Nassau playoff history was scored when Freeport’s Jaelin Hood returned a kickoff 100 yards against Farmingdale in the Nassau Conference I final on Nov. 17, 2016.
3. The best play call of the playoffs
Massapequa offensive coordinator Mike Ambury told coach Kevin Shippos that an option pass on the final play of the overtime thriller against crosstown rival Farmingdale would work.
With Massapequa trailing 34-28 and facing a fourth-and-7 situation from the 17 with the Nassau Conference I title on the line, halfback Tyler Villalta went to the quarterback position out of the Wildcat formation. He had quarterback Joey Diesso lined up to his left at wide receiver.
Villalta rolled right, faked a handoff to Andrew Pedalino and then reversed field, running to his left to sell the run. Diesso ran an inside route and then broke to the left corner of the end zone, where the lefthanded Villalta floated the tying 17-yard touchdown pass.
Kicker Chris Bascetta’s extra point gave the defending Class I champions a dramatic 35-34 victory.
“We wanted the ball in our two best players’ hands,” Shippos said. “First time we used that play all year.”
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.