This week's Long Island high school football games to watch and picks

There’s always a game that piques one's curiosity.

Long Island Lutheran travels to play St. John the Baptist in an interesting non-league football game. Lutheran is a national power in girls and boys basketball and are making strides in football. The Crusaders are off to a 4-0 start. St. John the Baptist (2-1), one of the smaller schools in the Catholic High School Football League, earned one of the program's biggest wins in quite some time when they upended Class AAA Chaminade last week, 34-7.

These two teams are going in the right direction and collide Saturday at 1:30 p.m in West Islip.

This is only the second meeting between the two - with SJB winning in 2008, 16-13. Long Island Lutheran halfback Anthony Valdez has rushed for almost 300 yards and five scores and Jeremy Alexandre has passed for 376 yards and six touchdowns. St. John the Baptist relies on quarterback Kevin Pilewski, who has passed for over 300 yards and five scores.

“We’re excited to play them and they’re having a great season,” said St. John the Baptist coach Phil Alba. “They’re quick and athletic and we’ll need to cover their athletes in space. We want to build off last week’s win.”

SUFFOLK I

Ward Melville (2-1) at Sachem North (3-0), Friday, 6 p.m.: Ward Melville has won three in a row over Sachem North, including a 60-26 beatdown last season. Patriots’ halfback/linebacker Griffin Kramer is equally good on both sides of the ball. Sachem North quarterback Anthony Vino needs to have a big game for a win and a guaranteed home playoff game.

SUFFOLK II

North Babylon (3-0) at West Islip (3-0), Friday, 6 p.m.: The run game will be on full display in this battle of ground and pound units. North Babylon’s Jawara Keahey leads Long Island with 729 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. West Islip will counter with halfback Rocco Carpinello, who has 449 yards rushing and seven scores. West Islip has beaten the Bulldogs five consecutive times.

SUFFOLK III

East Islip (2-1) at Sayville (3-0), Depot Road Field, Friday, 6 p.m.: Sayville puts its 15-game winning streak on the line against an East Islip team coming off a huge road win in Westhampton. The defending Long Island Class III champions crushed host Half Hollow Hills West last week, 34-7, as halfback Kyle Messina rolled to 197 yards and three scores. Sayville has a 40-1 record over the last five seasons against D-III opponents, the lone loss to East Islip, 35-28, in the 2021 D-III final. The key to beating East Islip is to neutralize standout two-way lineman Sebastian Regis. “We’re in the toughest part of our schedule,” said Sayville coach Reade Sands.

SUFFOLK IV

Glenn (3-0) at Bayport-Blue Point (3-0), Friday, 6:30 p.m.: Bayport-Blue Point, the LI Class IV champion, rolls into this game of unbeatens on a 14-game win streak. The Phantoms have won five straight against Glenn, including a 35-6 win in the D-IV final. Glenn’s KaRahn King has rushed for 471 yards and six scores as Glenn has won three games by a total of 14 points. Will this one be close?

NASSAU I

Massapequa (3-0) at Oceanside (3-0), Saturday, 2 p.m.: These teams have developed a good rivalry over the last nine years, splitting 16 meetings. Massapequa has eliminated the Sailors in the playoffs three years in a row. Massapequa halfback Tyler Villalta leads Nassau in rushing yards (614) and touchdowns (11). Both defensive units are stingy and only allow one score per game.

Freeport (1-1) at Hempstead (3-0), Saturday, 2 p.m.: This is one of Long Island’s oldest rivalries, dating back to 1920. Freeport leads the series 38-34-2. Quarterback D’Angelo Gordon can be an electrifying runner and runs the spread for the Red Devils. Halfback Dwayne Meadors has 322 rushing yards and five scores for the Tigers. Hempstead lost six in a row to Freeport before last season’s meeting, a 14-6 win.

NASSAU II

Carey (4-0) at Garden City (4-0), Saturday, 2 p.m.: Garden City has a 34-game winning streak and is 80-4 since 2016. They have won seven consecutive Nassau II titles and six of the last seven Long Island Class II titles. Carey halfback Will Toliver has rushed for 359 yards and eight scores.

NASSAU III

South Side (3-0) at Roosevelt (2-1), Saturday, 2 p.m.: South Side has won the last three meetings between these teams by a combined 14 points. This season the Cyclones have outscored their opponents 128-0. Quarterback Owen West has passed for 309 yards and six scores. Roosevelt is one-dimensional and will have trouble moving the ball against South Side’s unscored upon defense.

With Andy Slawson

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.