Bayport-Blue Point, led by Cooper Fuller, and Wantagh, behind Dylan Martini, prepare for Long Island Championship clash

Inclement weather with occasional downpours forced the traditional Thanksgiving morning football practices inside Thursday. But hey, if your football team is still practicing on Thanksgiving— you’re playing for the Long Island championship — and there’s nothing better.

“It never gets old,” Bayport-Blue Point coach Mike Zafonte said. “We wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. We’re going to have to come ready to play the biggest game of the year. I feel like our division has been outstanding the last four years and prepared us for these moments.”

Bayport-Blue Point, the two-time defending Long Island Class IV champion, is riding a 34-game winning streak and making its third straight appearance in the LIC. The Phantoms (11-0) will meet Wantagh (10-1) Friday at Hofstra University at noon for the Class IV crown.

The teams have never met. And both are playing at peak performance.

Bayport-Blue Point has been the model of consistency and brings experience to the biggest stage behind a massive line and quarterback Cooper Fuller, who has 1,443 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns and passed for 715 yards and eight scores.

Wantagh is not completely unfamiliar to the Bayport coaching staff. Defensive coordinator Mike Gentile served in the same capacity for East Islip, which won the Suffolk title in 2016 before losing 21-14 to Wantagh in the Class III final.

“They’re not completely foreign to us,” Zafonte said. “Coach Gentile saw them up close so that’s an advantage. And we know they’re strong and fly to the football.”

Wantagh is hitting its stride at the right time. They are also in search of the school’s third LIC, having won in 2001 and 2016. They’re averaging 42 points per game and Bayport only allows eight per game.

Senior halfback Dylan Martini leads Nassau in rushing with 1,834 yards and 28 touchdowns. Quarterback Ryan Conigliaro has passed for 986 yards and 16 scores.

“I have total respect for Bayport,” Wantagh coach Keith Sachs said. “Anybody that's won that many games — they’re obviously good. It’s an amazing unknown playing them. We’ll know in the first four or five plays what we’re up against. We’re explosive and our guys have embraced this opportunity.”

Zafonte said the winning streak is a product of a great coaching staff putting in the extra time to develop a culture with expectations to win.

“The streak is hard,” Zafonte said. “There’s so much work that goes into winning football games, so much time. I’m fortunate to have it from coaches to players that buy into the process.”

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.