With all the hype surrounding the polls I thought it would be fun to throw it out there and have a Long Island High School football tournament. Take the top eight schools in the Large Schools and the top eight schools in the Small Schools and make a fantasy tournament.

Too bad we couldn't get the sectional directors to just have a charity doubleheader and have St. Anthony's play either Floyd or Bellport in the first game and Freeport or East Meadow or Garden City play against either Chaminade or Holy Trinity in the second game. Imagine how much money could be raised for charity. There'd be 10,000 people at Stony Brook for a Bellport-St. Anthony's game. At $5 a head that's 50 grand for a great cause.

But until the powers that be smarten up and reach out let's have some fun. Take your best eight teams and put them in a Division I tournament and play it out. Do the same thing with Division II and the small schools.

Give us the final score and the scoring summary and a five line highlight on each game. That would be four quarterfinal games, two semifinals and a championship. I'll post my tournament results next week. We may print your best bracket with the most interesting story lines just before the playoffs. Good luck and have fun.

Posted by Greg Sarra at 12:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

With the Nassau football playoffs starting Week 8 with quarterfinals, it’s fair to say the midpoint of the season is here. Over the next four days, I’ll break down the year to date in each conference -- the highlights and lowlights. Here are my mid-season observations for Conference I.

Coach of the Year: Hicksville coach Craig Stueber has the Comets, a preseason No. 13 seed, off to a 3-1 start. They’ve already bettered last season’s 2-6 record. And they’ve done it with shutout wins over Plainview JFK, Long Beach and Valley Stream Central. A win over 3-1 Oceanside this week all but locks up a playoff spot.

MVP: Where would Oceanside be without QB Chris Logan? He’s thrown for 10 TDs and run for three more to help the Sailors, a No. 11 seed, to a 3-1 start.

Unsung Hero: East Meadow OT John Elliott has the Jets off to a perfect start. Got syrup? This guy has been serving up pancakes all season.

Biggest Surprise: Freeport (4-0), one year removed from a 4-4 season, has come out of the gate on fire. The No. 5 seed has played like a team on a mission. The defense, led by MLB Chris Edmond, is fast. The offense, energized by QB Shannon Robinson, is dynamic.

Biggest Disappointment: Sure, Baldwin (1-3) didn’t return a single starter and the Bruins’ first-half schedule was brutal. But even coach Steve Carroll must have expected more. After all, Baldwin is coming off a 10-1 conference-championship season.

First Half Game of the Year: Massapequa salvaged its season with a 34-31 triple overtime win over Baldwin on Oct. 7. Baldwin rallied twice to tie it. But Chiefs running back Jon Pesce scored three times, including on a 6-yard run for the winner.

Second Half Game of the Year: Freeport at East Meadow, Oct. 28, 2 p.m. is a clash of titans. Simply put, the two best teams in Nassau. There may even be scalpers at this one, so get there early or bring extra cash.

Posted by Jason Molinet at 04:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)