Congrats to Newsday Football Poll champions Floyd and Sayville. You each won Long Island championships and deserve to reap the rewards. But my votes for No. 1 went to the runner-ups. And I'll tell you why.

In the case of the Small Schools Poll, Roosevelt received my vote. The Rough Riders overcame much to win the Class IV crown -- beginning in June when a failed budget forced administrators to cut athletics. Enough said.

Now on to the bigger issue. With all due respect to Floyd, no public school on the Island can hang with St. Anthony's. Year in and out, the Friars churn out the most college players and take home the championship hardware in the toughest league around -- the CHSFL.

This year was no different. St. Anthony's battled every week in a deep and balanced CHSFL and finished undefeated. The Friars even cracked the USA Today top 25 last week. That's top 25 in the nation, not the state.

Unfortunately for St. Anthony's, there's a Catholic league bias among the Newsday poll voters. A case in point: Chaminade appears on just two ballots -- mine included. Is there really any question whether the Flyers would hammer Garden City or East Islip, which finished ahead of them in the poll?

St. Anthony's ultimately garnered one of seven first-place votes in Newsday's poll. Sorry guys. The rest of the nation recognizes how good you are. Too bad the good people of Long Island don't see it.

Photo: St. Anthony's back Louis Loria runs past a Mount St. Michael defender in the CHSFL Class AAA title game.

Posted by Jason Molinet at 03:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (69) | TrackBacks (0)

I ran into the bulk of the Roosevelt football team accross the street from Hofstra's Shuart Stadium on Friday between Long Island championship games. They were quietly chowing down at McDonald's. If the Rough Riders didn't have a lot on their plate then -- come on, these are football players, right? -- they sure did after watching Bethpage get beat up in the Class III final. (THAT'S SAYVILLE PICTURED.)

That's right, Roosevelt. You are Nassau's only hope in avoiding a Suffolk sweep. Sorry, Lawrence. I simply can't see you beating Bellport. If you hung with the Clippers for three quarters I'd be impressed -- and that's no knock. Bellport is the defending Class II champ and one of the best teams in the state. Period.

Heck, East Meadow has been the class of Nassau all season. Yet the Jets were overwhelmed in the end. Defending Class I champ Floyd was too dynamic and that defense didn't mind knocking heads.

It was an amazing first day of LIC action. It was a great day for the fan -- particularly if you lived east of Route 110.

Suffolk won three of four LIC games a year ago and a repeat of that seems likely. Great for Suffolk, right? I say no. All the talk about Long Island staying out of the state playoffs is based on a competitive LIC. A Suffolk sweep this year and more domination the next will throw the fragile balance of it all off.

How can coaches and administrators claim that the Long Island championships are the greatest thing going if one county can't keep up with the other?

Now back to you, Roosevelt. Now you know what's at stake guys. An entire county is watching you. You are playing for Nassau pride. The truth is everyone -- outside of Mount Sinai -- should be in your corner for the nightcap on Saturday at Stony Brook.

If you are a believer in the current football system, then you realize the need for competitive balance. That's why a Roosevelt win is important. That's why everyone should root for the Rough Riders on Saturday.

Posted by Jason Molinet at 05:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (19) | TrackBacks (0)

With each passing season we say goodbye to the seniors and reload with the underclassmen in the hope that they can carry on a winning tradition. Seven programs jump right out at me as consistently the best. It starts with St. Anthony's, Bellport and Floyd. And you can add Freeport, Garden City, Babylon and Bethpage to that elite group of schools. I really thought this would be the year that St. Anthony's would finally falter.

The rest of the CHSFL has improved markedly and the Friars are young in 2006. If ever there were an opportunity for someone to take down the black and gold this might be the season. So I picked Holy Trinity to bear the burden of stopping St. Anthony's impressive league regular season winning streak. It was the first time that I've picked against St. Anthony's in our four years of picking games. [I learned a few things about the black and the gold last night]. The Titans played the Friars close for a half. With the score tied at 7, St. Anthony's coach Rich Reichert went into the locker room and spoke about focus and tradition and exhorted his players to knock off the nonsense that comes with 105 yards in penalties in the first half. Great teams meet a stiff challenge with resilience and resolve.

St. Anthony's scored 28 unanswered points turning a competitive game into a blowout. In the second half of games the St. Anthony's factor kicks in. What team can keep up with a team that starts 22 different players? By the fourth quarter, Holy Trinity, which plays many players both ways, was understandably tired. I tip my hat to Holy Trinity, an excellent football team, not quite as deep as St. Anthony's.

And I graciously stand down as St. Anthony's met the challenge and proved me wrong. The picks are a fun outlet for fans and players. They are only opinion and thought provoking. I had to laugh last night when the huge St. Anthony's throng was chanting "you can't kick" after the Trinity kicker flubbed a kickoff. They should have been saying "you can't pick" as I hid under the cover of the hood of my jacket. See you next week!

Posted by Greg Sarra at 05:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)