After realignment, Nassau Conference III has become the league of champions
Justin Singh puts South Side on the scoreboard during the Long Island Class III championship game against East Islip at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium on Nov. 24, 2023. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
After realignment of the athletic conferences based on school population, Nassau Conference III has become the league of champions. On the heels of capturing the Nassau II championship, Garden City has dropped one level to join South Side — the 2023 Nassau III titleholders. In order for either of these two teams to repeat, they are going to have to knock off a defending county champion.
After dominating their ways to Nassau crowns, Garden City and South Side have been picked by the conference’s coaches as the first and second seeds, respectively.
Garden City went 12-0 last year en route to a Long Island Class II Championship victory over North Babylon, where it won its third-consecutive title. The Trojans have gone undefeated and won each of the previous three Class II LICs, which has helped them tie the Long Island record of 42 consecutive wins. The other record co-holders: themselves from 2016 to 2019 and Floyd from 2005 to 2008.
When Garden City makes its Nassau III debut on Sept. 6 against Bethpage, it will have the opportunity to break the record and stand alone in Long Island history. Resetting the record is not coach Dave Ettinger’s top priority, but he acknowledged the importance of the feat.
“We’ve never spoken of streaks like that, but I did mention to our kids that it’s something that’s pretty cool for the program,” Ettinger said. “It’s something that a lot of guys in the same uniform have put in a lot of effort to win those 42, and hopefully we can get it done. Not for us, but for them.”
As for South Side, it went 10-2 last year and made it to the Class III LIC, where it ultimately fell 19-14 to East Islip. The county championship was the Cyclones’ first since 2001.
Coach Phil Onesto spoke highly of Ettinger’s crew and said he is looking forward to facing them.
“I think anywhere in New York State, they’re kind of the golden standard of football,” Onesto said. “We’re no strangers to playing them; we’ve been bouncing between Conference II and III for the past couple of years now. It’s just one of those challenges that we’re looking to conquer.”
The two are scheduled to meet in Garden City on Oct. 10. Ettinger is hoping the matchup has big implications.
“When the No. 1 seed plays the No. 2, it’s always an exciting day,” Ettinger said. “Hopefully we’re both having successful seasons by then.”
INSIDE NASSAU CONFERENCE III
COACHING SPOTLIGHT
Phil Onesto was born in West Babylon, currently lives in East Williston in Queens, but he is a staple of South Side High School in Rockville Centre.
Last year, he led South Side to its first county championship since 2001, back when Onesto was a senior team captain playing both wide receiver and safety. After graduating from South Side in 2002, he enrolled at Nassau Community College before transferring to Adelphi University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 2007 and his master’s degree in 2009. In the summer of 2007, he returned to South Side as an assistant coach and later ascended to his current role as head coach in 2011.
His program bottomed out in 2015 when it finished 0-8. Onesto reinvented himself as a coach after that, and South Side has made the playoffs every year from 2016 on. The team has made it to at least the county semifinals every year since 2018.
Off the field, Onesto teaches physical education at Jamaica Children’s School in Queens.
MUST-SEE GAMES
Bellmore JFK at Division, Sept. 6, 7 p.m.: The programs have been down on their luck in recent years and are seeded 12th and 11th, respectively, but both are looking to start fresh with a 1-0 record this season. Bellmore JFK has increased its win total by two in each of the last two years and Division boasts a strong returning front seven and a new starting quarterback: junior Timothy Stanley.
Manhasset at Clarke, Sept. 28, 2 p.m.: Both teams enter the season flying under the radar, with Manhasset picked as the No. 7 team in the conference and Clarke selected at No. 9. In an eight-team playoff field, this potential head-to-head tiebreaker may wind up being huge by season’s end.
South Side at Garden City, Oct. 10, 4:30 p.m.: A pair of defending county champions and Nassau III’s top two seeds will square off for what they hope to be a battle of conference supremacy.
Floral Park at Hewlett, Oct. 25, 6 p.m.: Two of the conference’s top-five seeds will meet after fourth-seeded Floral Park’s bye week. Floral Park’s Eric Terwilliger will try to dominate on the defensive line and rattle Hewlett’s star quarterback Matt DeCicco.
Garden City at Elmont, Oct. 26, 3 p.m.: Both were playoff teams as members of Nassau II the last couple of years, and they will reconvene as the No. 1 and No. 3 seeds in Nassau III, respectively. Each has a dynamic playmaker on the perimeter with Garden City’s Blake Cascadden and Elmont’s Nassir Edwards.
FIVE-YEAR TREND
2019: Plainedge
Spring 2021: Manhasset
Fall 2021: Plainedge
2022: Plainedge
2023: South Side
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Eric Wedin became a Division football legend in November 1996 when he threw a touchdown pass on fourth down and 13 on a halfback option play to win the Long Island Championship over Bellport. He was Newsday’s 1996 Thorpe Award winner.
After graduating from Division in 1997, Eric Wedin played four years of NCAA Division I lacrosse at Johns Hopkins before becoming a Major League Lacrosse player with the Long Island Lizards from 2002 through 2003. While with the Lizards, he volunteered as an assistant men’s lacrosse coach at Hofstra University. He later played a game with the New Jersey Pride in 2004.
Since ending his lacrosse career, he has endured a successful career in the liability insurance industry. After working with American International Group from 2003 to 2008 and American Casualty Excess/The Chubb Corporation from 2008 to 2023, Wedin has spent the last year as the Regional Head at Allianz Commercial. He currently resides in Huntington with his wife and three kids.
