Three takeaways from Week 8 of the high school football season

1. High scoring games

In the era of the spread offense, high-scoring games have become the norm. It is not uncommon to see scores like Farmingdale beating Oceanside, 63-42, and Babylon downing Miller Place, 57-48, with the higher echelon teams like Farmingdale and Babylon scoring on nearly every possession.

The vertical seams opened by the spread formation have put defensive coordinators at a disadvantage. And the ability to spread the defense out makes it difficult to cover playmakers horizontally across the field. Athletic halfbacks like Farmingdale’s Josh Kama and Babylon’s Aidan Winter are dangerous and hard to tackle in open space, or as one coach said, “they’d be hard to tackle in a closet.’’

There are times however, where the athletes on the defense have the lateral speed to neutralize the spread offense and the playmakers. Some of those defensive players this year include Longwood safety Kaden Reid, Connetquot linebacker Lucas Weaver, and Elmont linebacker Nassir Edwards.

Reid has been a ballhawk for 7-1 Longwood, snagging two interceptions in Saturday’s 35-0 win over Commack. He has eight picks, averaging one per game. Weaver made 23 tackles in a 42-30 loss against Floyd. He had at least 10 tackles in each of Connetquot’s last four games. Edwards returned an interception and a fumble for touchdowns in an 18-7 win over Lynbrook Sept. 28. He added a 47-yard Pick-6 in a 33-18 win over Division Oct. 18.

And there are other standout defenders on Long Island. And if you ask Cold Spring Harbor nose tackle Grayson Meak or Wantagh linebacker Cole Spinelli what wins titles — the answer will be a resounding — defense. Both of those guys are rugged players and impacted Wantagh’s thrilling 20-13 win over CSH Friday night.

“We had no answer for Meak,” Wantagh coach Keith Sachs said. “He played the entire game in our backfield.”

2. Power points

The power points system is used to determine standings through strength of schedule. If you get a high preseason seed and a tougher schedule you are rewarded at season’s end with automatic bonus points factored into the final power points rating. If you get a lower seed and a weaker schedule, you are awarded fewer bonus points for playing a forgiving schedule.

In Division I, Bay Shore finished with a 4-4 record yet failed to make the postseason because the Marauders played a 10th-seeded schedule. Sachem East, the fifth seed, went 3-5 against tougher competition and earned the 8th seed in the postseason.

In Division II, Newfield, which opened the season at 4-0, dropped three of the last four games and finished 5-3. The Wolverines were the preseason 12th seed and played a weaker schedule and didn’t garner enough power points to make the postseason. They are also the only team with a winning record on L.I. not to qualify for the playoffs. North Babylon was the pre-season top seed and finished 4-4. Despite the four losses the Bulldogs grabbed the fifth seed in the postseason.

In Nassau III, South Side, the defending Nassau champion and preseason two seed, finished 2-6. The Cyclones took the 7th seed in the playoffs.

3. Nice To See You Again

Teams that played in the final game of the regular season will meet again in the playoff quarterfinals. Both will happen in Suffolk II. Bellport will play at East Islip at 6 p.m. on Friday and Huntington will play at Half Hollow Hills East at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

With Ben Dickson

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.