Garden City football and tradition an undefeated pair

The streaks that marked this football dynasty were just so impressive, the nine consecutive Nassau titles, the three consecutive Long Island crowns and the 53 consecutive wins.

But undefeated Garden City now looked as if it had quite a challenge ahead to keep those latter two streaks in play. Sayville could sure say it was a formidable opponent, one that also owned a spotless record.

The program had Dave Ettinger’s respect. So was the Garden City coach wondering if his team could actually win the Long Island Class III championship game at Stony Brook in November?

“Of course,” Ettinger said. “You always wonder. They were fairly dominant in what they did out there [in Suffolk].”

But the Trojans, who dropped from Nassau II to III before this school year, constructed a 17-0 advantage by halftime and held on for a 31-28 victory.

So their Long Island-record winning streak moved to 54, including 12 in this latest run to an unprecedented fourth straight LI title. They outscored the other guys, 502-88. The dynasty continued to rule.

“They did an awesome job of handling the pressure of a building streak like that,” Ettinger said. “We don’t really talk about it a lot. But they’re 15-, 16-, 17-year-old kids. It’s not easy to have to go out there and fight that battle every week.”

They indeed seemed unfazed by that pressure to maintain the winning and championship streaks.

“I think it’s something that we’re used to,” junior guard/defensive tackle Zach Olson said after the 49-14 victory over Manhasset in the county final.

The LIC victory made Ettinger a wondrous 109-3 over his 10 years as Garden City coach.

“It says nothing about me,” he said. “It says that I’m lucky enough to get a job here and be the guy that’s in charge. But it’s a special community. It’s been a special program . . . We’re just following along with the tradition of the program that [late former coach Tom Flatley] put forth.”

The program’s record eight straight Nassau titles coming into the season had all been in Conference II.

“Every year we try and get here," Olson said, "and I love it every time." 

The same went for Michael Berkery.

“It means everything,” the senior running back said that day. “This is what we want. We want to be county champions, dominate in our Nassau County. And that’s what we did this year.”

Berkery, the 2023 Thorp Award winner, ran 15 times for 207 yards and six touchdowns in that Manhasset game.

“He always plays like that,” Olson said. “He always shows up in big moments.”

Berkery contributed 1,785 yards of total offense and 29 touchdowns.

Brayden Robertiello fired for 750 yards and 14 scores, and he rushed for 415 yards and seven touchdowns. The sophomore quarterback shined against Sayville, throwing for 193 yards and three TDs.

“He grew up a lot throughout the season,” Ettinger said.

While Robertiello is due to return, 26 seniors won’t be around when Garden City moves back to Nassau II next season.

“We’re losing some incredible football players in Michael and Blake Cascadden and Luke Cascadden, some guys that had incredible seasons, some seniors that didn’t play as juniors that had incredible seasons,” Ettinger said. “We have a couple of guys back with some experience, and we’re going to need a lot of guys to make the next step.”