West Islip High football team, family mourn 2 brothers before game

On Friday night, the West Islip Lions played for Kyle.

Less than a week after Kyle Dilegame, 16, and his brother Matthew Kreamer, 24, were killed in a West Islip house fire, their family members stood on the high school track at kickoff as Dilegame, who was on the Lions football team, and Kreamer were remembered at the team's home playoff game against Half Hollow Hills East.

 “We’re here because this is where we should be,” the boys’ grandfather Bob Kenney said beforehand. “For us, it’s not even about a football game.”

The family gathered around the field with friends, all of them wearing T-shirts that read “We play for Kyle” on what would have been his 17th birthday. 

The five Lions captains entered the field ahead of the team, carrying American flags, holding hands and carrying Dilegame's alternate jersey unfurled among them.

Then they knelt together around the flagpole at the far end of the field, where they placed the jersey, before a moment of silence in the two brothers’ memory fell across the packed stadium.

The boys’ parents were still in separate hospitals after escaping the fire, which broke out early last Saturday morning. Toni Kreamer underwent knee surgery Friday after she escaped through a second-floor window, said Kenney, her father.

Dilegame’s father, Joseph Dilegame, suffered severe burns and awoke Thursday to learn the boys are gone, Kenney said.

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Kyle Dilegame was a running back and outside linebacker for the Lions. The team planned to have decals on the back of their helmets, “32KD,” in his honor, said West Islip senior captain Chris Piropato before the game.

"We've always been a very close group and this has really brought us together. We're focused on winning for each other and for Kyle,” Piropato said.

Kreamer graduated from West Islip in 2017 and was working on an assembly line with his grandfather’s company creating promotional displays.

“Matthew was our pride and joy and was a great man. His life ended too soon,” his aunt Carla Kreamer said through tears. “Now they’re in heaven together, so at least it’s comforting they have each other.”

The fire last week broke out only hours after the Lions won a playoff game over Centereach a night earlier. Suffolk police said the fire was ruled accidental. Its cause was under investigation.

Before Friday's game, West Islip coach Steve Mileti said it's been a difficult and emotional time.

"We're going to play a football game, and a meaningful one at that, but we sincerely understand that it's just a game," he said.

"The kids have been getting through it with a lot of great community support and support from their families," Mileti said. "But I really believe it's being together that's really helped them get through the loss of a teammate.”

The Lions went on to win the Suffolk Division II semifinal matchup, 31-26.

Kenney described each of his grandsons as having vibrant and funny personalities. Faced with tragedy, he said, the family was trying to remember better times.

“When you feel bad, I try to think of positive things, share those funny stories,” he said. “The fact everyone came out tonight is phenomenal and showed the human race is still here.”

Mileti, the coach, said getting back to routine "has been the best medicine for these kids."

"Putting a helmet back on and getting back to work with Kyle always in the back of our mind has been therapeutic,” he said through tears before the game. “ … It's really been clear to me how special our team and our community has been through this most difficult time."