High school football Week 3 blog: Updates, scores and more from the third full week of games
Massapequa quarterback Luke Garguilo, left, and Garden City quarterback Brayden Robertiello. Credit: Peter Frutkoff; Dawn McCormick
Updates, notable scores, big moments and more from the third full week of the Long Island high school football season.
Scores: Nassau | Suffolk | CHSFL
Standings: Nassau | Suffolk | CHSFL
Leaderboards: Nassau | Suffolk | CHSFL
Game on at Hofstra . . . for now
While the weather forecast for Saturday's highly anticipated Massapequa-Garden City football showdown at Hofstra is not great, the game is still on as of Thursday afternoon, according to Pat Pizzarelli, the executive director of Nassau County scholastic sports.
The two teams are scheduled to play at 5 p.m. at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium. Garden City has the longest win streak in the country at 68 games, while Massapequa has won 25 in a row.
Pizzarelli said he is keeping a close eye on the weather and contingency plans are being discussed, including moving the game to Sunday or Monday.
Read more about how this weekend's potential nor'easter could affect the high school sports schedule here.
Week 3 football schedule
Thursday, Sept. 24
NASSAU
Conference I/II crossover
Freeport at Roosevelt, 5 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 25
NASSAU
Conference I/II Crossovers
Mepham at Port Washington, 5:30 p.m.
Hicksville at Jericho, 6 p.m.
New Hyde Park at Hempstead, 6 p.m.
Long Beach at Farmingdale, 6:30 p.m.
Calhoun at Syosset, 6:30 p.m.
Herricks/Wheatley/Roslyn at Valley Stream Central, 6 p.m.
Conference III/IV Crossovers
Manhasset at Locust Valley, 6 p.m.
Plainedge at Lynbrook, 6 p.m.
South Side at Seaford, 6:30 p.m.
Valley Stream South at Division, 7 p.m.
Bethpage at Cold Spring Harbor, 7 p.m.
SUFFOLK
Division I
Longwood at Patchogue-Medford, 5:30 p.m.
Sachem North at Whitman, 6 p.m.
Ward Melville at Connetquot, 6 p.m.
Division II
Huntington at Smithtown East, 6 p.m.
Half Hollow Hills East at Newfield, 6 p.m.
Division III
Comsewogue at Westhampton, 6 p.m.
West Islip at Smithtown West, 6 p.m.
Eastport-South Manor at West Babylon, 6 p.m.
East Islip at Islip, 6 p.m.
Hauppauge at Rocky Point, 6 p.m
Division IV
Shoreham-Wading River at Mount Sinai, 6:45 p.m.
Non-League
Tuckahoe at Kings Park, 7 p.m.
CHSFL
St. Dominic at Christ the King, 4:30 p.m.
Fordham Prep at St. John the Baptist, 6 p.m.
Xavier at St. Anthony's, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 26
NASSAU
Conference I/II Crossovers
Carey at Oceanside, 1:30 p.m.
Westbury at Baldwin, 1:30 p.m.
Wantagh at Floral Park, 1:30 p.m.
East Meadow at MacArthur, 2 p.m.
Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK at Bellmore JFK, 2 p.m.
Garden City vs. Massapequa, at Hofstra, 5 p.m.
Conference III/IV Crossovers
Carle Place at Hewlett, 1 p.m.
Valley Stream North at Sewanhaka, 1:30 p.m.
Malverne at Clarke, 1:30 p.m.
Island Trees at Mineola, 1:30 p.m.
Elmont at East Rockaway/West Hempstead, 2 p.m.
North Shore at Glen Cove, 5:30 p.m.
Conference IV
Lawrence at Oyster Bay/Friends Academy, 2 p.m.
SUFFOLK
Division I
Brentwood at Floyd, 11 a.m.
Bay Shore at Riverhead, 1:30 p.m.
Sachem East at Central Islip, 1:30 p.m.
Division II
Lindenhurst at Northport, 1 p.m.
North Babylon at Bellport, 2 p.m.
Copiague at Centereach, 2 p.m.
Deer Park at Commack, 2:30 p.m.
Division III
Half Hollow Hills West at East Hampton/Pierson, 1 p.m.
Division IV
Hampton Bays at Harborfields, 1 p.m.
Greenport/Southold/Mattituck at Center Moriches, 1 p.m.
Babylon at Bayport-Blue Point, 1 p.m.
Miller Place at Sayville, 1 p.m.
Wyandanch at Glenn, 1:30 p.m.
CHSFL
Chaminade at St. Francis Prep, 7:30 p.m.
Private
Long Island Lutheran at The Episcopal Academy, 1 p.m.
Get your popcorn ready: GC, Massapequa set for an epic clash
The stage is set.
One of the most anticipated high school football games in Long Island history is scheduled for Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium Saturday at 5 p.m.
Garden City and Massapequa carry the longest current win streaks in New York State as they collide in this dream game.
As expected, both teams cruised through the first two weeks of the season schedule unscathed. Garden City extended its nation's-best winning streak to 68 games with wins over Calhoun and MacArthur. Massapequa beat Port Washington and Syosset and has 25 wins in a row. The non-conference matchup of unbeatens guarantees that one streak will end.
“If you can’t get excited for this, you don’t have a heartbeat,” said Pat Pizzarelli, the executive director of Section VIII, which governs Nassau’s interscholastic sports. “I’m a football fan. When we voted to have crossover games, the concept was to bring programs together that were struggling and help them play more competitive games. Then I looked at the matchups of the upper echelon teams and thought – this is even better than I expected.”
Read more about this weekend's marquee matchup here.
How Newsday's HS fantasy football league stands entering Week 3
Standings
Jared Valluzzi, 449
Matt Lindsay, 436
Jonathan Ruban, 389
Tess Ferguson, 381
Gregg Sarra, 380
Michael Sicoli, 330
Lenny Genova, 323
Mike Anderson, 315
JP Cheslowitz, 314
Chris Matias, 293
Top performers
QB: Evan Nelson, Valley Stream Central
He put up 58 points for Team Lindsay. Nelson rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns in Central's 32-28 win over New Hyde Park. He also completed 11 of 17 passes for 102 yards and a TD.
RB: Luke Martini, Wantagh
He had 44 points for Team Ferguson. Martini ran for 201 yards and four touchdowns on 11 carries to lead Wantagh over Sewanhaka, 49-12.
WR: Jonas Mendez, Connetquot; Jason Thompson, Whitman
Scoring 33 points for Team Sarra, Mendez caught eight passes for 136 yards and two TDs in Connetquot's 49-7 win over Central Islip. Thompson scored 33 points for Team Valluzzi with 238 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns to lead Whitman over Riverhead, 40-6.
DEF: Massapequa, East Islip, Half Hollow Hills East, Sayville
All four collected 15 points each for Team Anderson (Massapequa), Team Lenny (East Islip), Team Ruban (Half Hollow Hills East) and Team Lindsay (Sayville).
Waiver pickups
Team Ferguson: Khalil Brassell, QB, Lawrence
Team Lindsay: Lucas Bouchard, WR, Sachem North; Tony Keahey, RB, Half Hollow Hills East
Team Ruban: Finn Curry, QB, Seaford
Team Valluzzi: Adebayo Kayode, RB, Valley Stream North (edited)
QB Nelson has been getting things done for VSC
Valley Stream Central quarterback Evan Nelson runs into the end zone against host Baldwin during a Nassau Conference II football game on Sept. 10. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Valley Stream Central quarterback Evan Nelson has been difficult to contain through the first two weeks of the season. He already has the looks of one of Nassau’s most entertaining quarterbacks.
He’s done the majority of his damage with his legs. Nelson rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns in a 32-28 win over New Hyde Park in Week 2, helping the Eagles improve to 2-0. He rushed for 143 yards and two scores in a season-opening 35-6 victory over Baldwin.
“Evan is just playing inspired football,” Valley Stream Central coach Tom Schiavo said. “This is a culmination of all the work that he’s been putting in over the last few years with his teammates.”
Nelson may be leading the way, but Valley Stream Central has plenty of options around him. Nickoli Friday had 76 rushing yards last game. Matthew Feaster had four receptions for 40 yards and a touchdown against New Hyde Park.
"We have a multitude of people who we can give the ball to,” Schiavo said. “Even though Evan is the guy right now, it could be someone else any day. There are a lot of good guys, and that makes him even better.”
And when Valley Stream Central needed one final play from Nelson against New Hyde Park, it went back to its quarterback. Nelson ran and converted a fourth down with two minutes left to seal the victory.
