East Islip's Jovan Bonilla named MVP of NFF All-Star Classic after leading dominant LI defense
Long Island seniors during the NFF All-Star Classic against New York City seniors on Wednesday at Hofstra. Credit: Kelvin Loarca
The rules of the National Football Foundation All-Star Classic are geared towards the offenses to encourage high-scoring games.
Long Island’s defense didn’t get the memo.
Led by East Islip’s Jovan Bonilla, the defensive seniors donning Notre Dame’s navy and gold uniforms spent 43:45 on the field. They allowed just one touchdown.
Two goal line stands and PJ Gannon’s interception with 1:59 remaining were both key to Long Island’s 21-13 win over New York City Wednesday night at Hofstra University’s Shuart Stadium.
“We take a lot of pride in holding them to 13 points,” East Islip's Gannon said. “Especially since we were on the field for some long drives, getting goal line stands and forcing field goals.”
Cole Savino (Monsignor Farrell) blocked a Long Island punt in the first quarter, setting NYC up on Long Island’s 7-yard line. On second-and-goal from the 4, Brentwood’s Cris Peralta blew through a blocker and wrapped up a tackle for a loss of 6 yards. Bonilla batted a pass at the line of scrimmage on third down to force a field goal for the first score of the game with 14:40 left in the second quarter.
“My coaches told me to look at No. 9 and if he’s tight, they’re going to run it that way,” Peralta said. “It happened and I saw him coming out to block me. I ran through his outside shoulder and I made the play. That stand was huge for our momentum.”
After Aaron Smith (Eagle Academy II) ran for a 20-yard touchdown in the third quarter, capping an 11-play, 60-yard drive that spanned 9:59 and cut Long Island’s lead to four points, Mount Sinai’s Dontae Spadaro returned a kick 78 yards for a TD to take a 21-10 lead. It also put the Long Island defense back on the field.
“We just kept being relentless,” said Bonilla, who was named Most Valuable Player. “We knew that we could stop them. We’ve got beasts all over the defense.”
NYC meticulously marched 68 yards down the field to Long Island’s 2-yard line midway through the fourth quarter. Bethpage’s Chase Solliday blew up a run for a loss of four yards on second down, and pressure by Bonilla forced an incompletion on third down. NYC’s 17-play drive that spanned 13:20 ended with another field goal.
“Everybody thinks people from Long Island can’t play ball,” Peralta said. “We’re here to prove everybody wrong.”
Just because it was low-scoring, doesn’t mean it wasn’t a success.
“I thought this was the best game that we’ve had,” said Pete Blieberg, the game’s executive director. “There have been blowouts and we’ve had fights in the past… I think it was a big success. Much bigger crowd than last year and it was a quicker game.”
Last year’s 33-15 Long Island win in the inaugural All-Star Classic marked a renewal of the Empire Challenge that ran for 24 years under the Boomer Esiason Foundation's direction until it was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic.
In the new format, defenses have a mandatory 4-3-4 alignment, and no blitzing, nor stunting, is allowed. The free safety must remain between the hash marks. Each team is allowed just two punts in each half.
“You gear it for the offense with the rules, but when you only practice for five days, the defense is going to prevail,” Blieberg said. “The defensive line from NYC was nasty. I thought Long Island was going to run all over them with their big running backs and offensive line, but the city kids did a great job.”
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
