Sayville's Ferreira is air commander

Just before Steven Ferreira began his freshman year at Sayville High School, varsity football coach Rob Hoss scheduled a sit-down with the precocious quarterback and his parents. "I told him he could start on the JV or sit on the varsity,'' Hoss recalled. "I told him that in the best-case scenario, he would never step on the field as a freshman on varsity.''

Ferreira elected to pay his dues and pay attention to Hoss' complex and potent spread offense. "I learned all the reads, all the coverages and what to do,'' said Ferreira, who threw an incomplete pass in his one snap as a freshman but completed his apprenticeship with straight A's while watching the Golden Flashes win the 2008 Long Island Class III championship.

"Freshman year was strictly a learning experience,'' Hoss said. Ferreira has been schooling opposing defenses ever since.

The 6-1, 180-pound senior ascended to the head of the class Saturday, becoming Long Island's all-time leader in career passing yardage when he threw for 237 yards in Sayville's 41-0 victory over Bellport. Ferreira now has 5,384 yards and passed Tony Capozzoli, who set the previous record of 5,376 while playing for St. Dominic from 1972-75. He set the record with a 56-yard touchdown pass to James Rupp midway through the third quarter.

"The thing that impresses me most is his humility. I've never heard him talk about the records,'' Hoss said. "Teachers come up to me in school and say, 'I can't believe he's the starting quarterback.' He treats his teammates very well. I respect that more than any of the records he sets.''

In addition to the career yardage record, Ferreira has a shot at the Long Island career touchdown mark of 68, also held by Capozzoli. After throwing three touchdown passes Saturday, he has 59, and with Sayville expected to make a deep run into the playoffs, Ferreira could add that to his high school resume.

Which doesn't come as a surprise to his favorite receiver, senior Tom Hannan.

"He's always poised in the huddle,'' Hannan said. "We're best friends. We've played football together since we were 7 in the PAL. After I made varsity as a junior, we've been a great connection. He's so accurate. Absolutely every time, his passes are dead on.''

That's Ferreira's forte: the precise pass. He has completed more than 60 percent of his attempts in his three varsity seasons. And what he may lack in size or arm strength, Ferreira more than makes up for with his efficiency.

"His accuracy is unbelievable,'' Hoss said. "And he's learned so much. As a sophomore, we might have asked him to do too much, and he was still thinking about what to do. Now he understands the offense so well, he'll check me out of calls. It's like he doesn't need me.''

Ferreira, who hasn't received any firm football scholarship offers yet -- though he has been offered a lacrosse scholarship at Hofstra -- became Sayville's starter on Day 1 of his sophomore season. And the evolution and education of an elite quarterback included some hard knocks.

"As a sophomore, I had to run more,'' said Ferreira, who led the Golden Flashes in rushing and passing in 2009. "I took a lot of hits that year.''

But beginning in 2010, with the emergence of John Haggart in the backfield, the offense became more diverse, a trend that has continued this season with Zach Sirico joining Haggart in the backfield and receivers James Rupp and Tom Dieckhoff joining Hannan to give Ferreira numerous options.

"There's a lot less pressure on me now,'' said Ferreira, a superstitious type who asks Hoss for a new ball every Monday at the start of practice and who has refused to shave until Sayville reaches the LIC. "Whatever it takes to win, that's all I care about. I'm not thinking about my stats.''

He's too busy thinking about the intricacies of Hoss' offense. The coach's typical play call, shouted to Ferreira from the sideline, might be something like "Connecticut Mango 200.'' Usually a college, a color -- Hoss said crayola.com is his favorite website because he's been running out of traditional colors for his lengthy playbook -- and a number, with two of those code words serving as decoys and one of them the actual play. Which then can be changed by Ferreira at the line of scrimmage or adjusted on the fly after the quarterback makes his read. All those lessons learned as a freshman are paying huge dividends now.

"I really love playing football,'' Ferreira said, "but it was well worth it to sit and watch that year.'' Now everyone is watching Ferreira.