Half Hollow Hills West quarterback Joseph Filardi wins Carl A. Hansen Award

Joseph Filardi sat in the Hyatt Regency in Hauppauge anxiously awaiting the announcement of the prestigious Carl A. Hansen Award presented to Suffolk’s top football player in December of 2023.

The Half Hollow Hills West quarterback was hoping to be the 64th recipient of the coveted award. It wasn’t meant to be as East Islip’s Sebastian Regis, who led East Islip to the Long Island Class III title, walked off with the night’s biggest trophy.

Filardi had set all kinds of school and Long Island records, but his gaudy statistics and dizzying touchdown runs weren’t enough to win the award. 

“He was very disappointed,” said his father, Gerald Filardi, who is also the Hills West football coach.  “He was hopeful that his name would be called. He had written a speech and thought it was a real possibility — it was exciting. And then it was heartbreaking. I’m so proud of him because he just tucked it away and vowed to return to the field in his senior year and do it all even better.”

Filardi’s mother, Kim, took the speech and placed it in a box with four lucky pennies and put the box away.

Just over a year later, Filardi found himself sitting with his family and teammates in the Hyatt Regency again, wondering if his name would be called to accept the 65th Hansen Award. He turned in another phenomenal season leading the Colts to the Suffolk Division III championship appearance. And his statistical numbers were once again unmatched. His encore performance was better than the premiere.

“He made updates and changes to his speech and was hopeful to read it this year,” Gerald Filardi said. “And it’s even more exciting a year later.”

Joseph Filardi got to read his speech.

Filardi was named the winner of the 65th Carl A. Hansen Award at the Suffolk County Football Coaches Association dinner Monday night. 

"I give all of my credit to my teammates because without them, I wouldn’t be where I am today," Filardi said. "This was a goal of mine since the beginning of my career and I’m happy to have accomplished it.”

The two-time Newsday All-Long Island selection was also named this year’s Boomer Award winner as Suffolk’s top quarterback for the second year in a row.

The record-breaking senior quarterback had another stellar season. He completed 136 of 208 passes  for 3,102 passing yards and 43 touchdowns with just three interceptions. He added 1,204 rushing yards and 12 more scores to lead the Colts to a 9-2 record and a berth in the divisional title game.

Filardi was an offensive machine unto himself averaging 391 yards and five touchdowns per game.

The other finalists for the Hansen Award were Sayville senior halfback Kyle Messina and Floyd junior halfback Ja’Quan Thomas.

“He was unstoppable the past two years,” Westhampton Beach coach Bryan Schaumloffel said of Filardi. “He’s a generational talent, something you’ll rarely see. We tried everything to stop him. He stands as one of the best quarterbacks I’ve seen.”

The 6-1, 195-pound signal caller had 4,306 all-purpose yards and 55 touchdowns in 2024. He engineered an offense that averaged 47 points per game, the most of any team on Long Island.

“He was a dynamic player as a freshman and just kept getting better,” Islip coach Jamie Lynch said. “He’s as good as an offensive player I’ve seen in my 20 years coaching. He always makes the right decision and he’s such a tough, physical runner. Everyone knows he can throw the ball well, but he killed us in the playoffs as a runner.”

What struck Lynch as even more impressive was the way Filardi carried himself at the field.

“He’s a total class act,” Lynch said. “He never taunted anyone or gloated over a touchdown. He never said anything to another player that was uncalled for — the kind of player you’d want to coach.”

Filardi, who turns 18 in April. will be in the middle of spring semester at Syracuse University. He graduates early from Half Hollow Hills West on Jan. 10 and begins his college classes upstate Jan. 13.

“It’ll be a quick turnaround,” Gerald Filardi said. “He’ll be ready to play spring football.”

As a junior he was also dynamic. Filardi compiled 4,420 yards and 57 touchdowns. He set Long Island records for touchdown passes in a single season with 44 and all-purpose yards in a single game with 651. He put together one of the most prolific quarterbacking seasons in Long Island history last fall. He completed 215 of 347 passes (62%) for 3,337 yards (15.5 yards per completion), a Long Island-record 44 touchdown passes and six interceptions. Filardi had seven 300-yard passing games and two 400-yard showings, including a Suffolk Division III quarterfinal win over Smithtown West where he accounted for 10 touchdowns and 651 all-purpose yards. He was responsible for at least four touchdowns in nine of 10 games. And rushed 120 times for 1,083 yards (9 yards per carry) and 13 scores.

His career numbers will floor you. He had 9,267 yards passing and 123 touchdown passes. He added 2,929 yards rushing and 28 scores.

His career 14,483 all-purpose yards and 151 touchdowns are Long Island records.

“Filardi has mind-blowing numbers,” Suffolk football coordinator Steve Fasciani said. “He was a pleasure to watch and enjoy. He was his own offensive juggernaut.”

He is second on Long Island in career passing yards and touchdown passes to Sayville’s Jack Coan (2013-16), who had 9,787 yards and 128 TD.

For good measure, Filardi was a big hitter on defense, where he had 185 solo tackles, four sacks and four interceptions in his career.

“He’d come up from the safety position and put a hit on a ball carrier,” Fasciani said. "Joseph Filardi was the consummate team player."

“More than anything I wanted to win a championship with my friends,” he said. “I try to be a role model and set a good example of being a humble player for the youth every time I’m on the field.”

Always a team-first player and a young man of character.

By Gregg Sarra

gregg.sarra@newsday.com@Gregg_Sarra

Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.