It’s Fall

Marching Bands, Cheerleaders, Half Time, Touchdowns & Quarterbacks

By Dan Rattiner

High School football began on the East End this past Saturday afternoon with two local games. This coming week, there is a full schedule with all the teams. For those who want to root for their kids, for those who want to remember their own high school days and for those who just like to watch live football, here is a guide to the East End football.

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There are no huge high schools on the East End. But there are two medium sized schools, one of which is Riverhead and the other Bellport. Both play in what is known as Division II. The balance of the schools in the area find themselves in either Suffolk Division III for smaller schools and Suffolk Division IV for the very smallest high schools.

Under the circumstances, one might think that the best football team in the area would be from the biggest school, which would be either Riverhead or Bellport. Well, it’s Bellport. Bellport is not only the best team on the East End, it is also the best team in Division II. Under the guidance of an absolutely riveting coach named Joe Cipp, Jr., the Bellport Clippers won the division title last year undefeated. Since 1982, when Cipp began his tenure as coach, they have won the division title 12 times, and have gone undefeated in winning four times, the last time last year. Bellport is currently on an eleven game winning streak, and if you want to watch an absolutely electrifying football game, go see Bellport at their home games here on the East End. (The games are against the likes of Deer Park, East or West Islip or Hauppauge.) And if you look at who the best players in Division II are likely to be, it is acknowledged that this year, at five of the eleven positions on the field, the best players are from Bellport. Watch for halfback Edwin Gowins, linebacker Vaughn Flake, quarterback Mike Pepe (who is 6’ 4” and 208 pounds) and at receiver Jonathan Spruill.

The Riverhead Blue Waves last year had a mediocre season, winning 4 and losing 4. This was a disappointment because the year before they had made the playoffs in this difficult division. This season, look to running back Miguel Maysonet and Johnnie Smith, and linemen Joey Leonard and Kevin Curtis. But they are not expected to do much better in the division this year than last.

Three of the East End teams are in Division III and they are Westhampton, Eastport/SM and East Hampton.

The Westhampton Beach Hurricanes won 6 and lost 2 last year, but this year only half the starters are returning. It is considered a rebuilding year and they will be lucky to even win more than they lose. Quarterback is Chris Tagliavia, who was out all last year with a wrist injury.

The Eastport/SM Sharks has a full complement of returning players from last year, but then last year they won 2 and lost 7. They should not do much better this year than last. But they do have a new quarterback, Jack Flaherty, who comes from Mercy High School in Riverhead and might bring some surprises.
The East Hampton Bonackers won 2 and lost 7 last year and has an excellent offensive line, led by big man Matt Paul. Injuries have plagued the various hopefuls for the quarterback position, and at the present time it appears that Heath Heneveld will start the first game. But Matt Brierly could be a factor.

One of the biggest problems with the three entries from the East End in Division III is that all of them are schools really about as big as the schools in Division IV. There is a baffling selection process to decide which teams go in which Divisions. Southampton, which plays rivalry games against both East Hampton and Westhampton from Division IV, often prevails over both of them. Yet East Hampton and Westhampton are thrown into Division III against teams such as Amityville and Huntington. It doesn’t really seem fair and all our three teams in Division III have a tough time.

This is not the case with Division IV, however. Besides Southampton, there is Mercy in Riverhead, Hampton Bays and Greenport/Southold. And among the eleven starting positions in the league, there are two positions at which it is believed that East End schools have the best player in the division. They are Kevin Mickler Jr., a terrific receiver from Southampton and lineman Conor McCormick at Center from Mercy.

Going into the season, the Southampton Mariners are rated as among the top three teams in Division IV. They didn’t make it into the Division Championship game, which was won by Cold Spring Harbor, but they finished with a record of 8 wins and 2 losses. And who can forget the battles they had with the perennial powerhouse in the division, Babylon? They beat them in the regular season, but lost to them in the quarterfinals in the run up to the championship game, but only after running up a lead in the first half, squandering it in the second and then losing in overtime. Watch for Zach Antilety at quarterback, who is a tremendous passer. Watch also for running backs Steven Andrews and Trumaine Smith, and among the receivers, Kevin Mochler, Troy Pendar and Jason Halsey. Southampton plays Babylon this year, at Babylon, on October 6.

The other three East End Division IV teams are not expected to finish in the upper half of the division. Here’s who they are.

The Hampton Bays Baymen won 3 and lost 6 last year and of the 33 men on the roster last year, only 6 are returning. Their two running backs, Luis Garcia and Marco Gonzalez, have zero playing time going into the first game. And this year’s quarterback, Andrew Raimo, had almost three times as many interceptions as he had touchdown throws last year.

The Mercy Monarchs won 5 and lost 4 last year, but will not have a full 30-man roster this year. Mike Davis will start at quarterback, and their best runner this year could possibly be Jesse deBoer, who might double at quarterback.

The Greenport/Southold Porters will once again have a line of big, beefy young men to keep the enemy at bay. Last year the team won 2 and lost 6, but the reason was that they have almost no passing game. But you never know. Sometimes in high school, a passer simply appears. We shall see.

Personally, I was in the marching band when I was in high school, but the clatter of shoulder pads, the bang of the football, the cheers of the crowd, the formations of the band and the gymnastics of the cheerleaders often lure me to the sidelines, all these years later.

It’s also worth mentioning that two of my three sons played football for East Hampton. The third, under pressure to continue the Rattiner tradition, did go out for JV, but at the first practice, they put him in as a linemen, and when the play started, he got flattened big time by the guy opposite him and that was that. He came out. He’s a peaceful guy. On the other hand, he’s an excellent musician and was with the featured band that was warmed up by the Beach Boys at the Gardiner’s fundraiser this past summer. He’s also a music teacher.
Go Bonackers.

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BELLPORT
Sept. 16 SAT Newfield
Sept. 21 SAT East Islip
Sept. 30 SAT at North Babylon
Oct. 7 SAT at West Babylon
Oct. 13 FRI at Copiague
Oct. 21 SAT West Islip
Oct. 28 SAT Smithtown West
Nov. 4 SAT at Centereach

RIVERHEAD
Sept. 16 SAT Deer Park
Sept. 21 SAT Smithtown West
Sept. 30 SAT at West Islip
Oct. 7 SAT Centereach
Oct. 14 SAT at Half Hollow Hills East
Oct. 21 SAT at Smithtown East
Oct. 28 SAT Hauppauge
Nov. 3 FRI at Copiague

WESTHAMPTON
Sept. 16 SAT at Eastport/SM
Sept. 21 SAT Half Hollow Hills West
Sept. 30 SAT at Amityville
Oct. 6 FRI Harborfields
Oct. 14 SAT at Kings Park
Oct. 28 SAT at East Hampton
Nov. 3 FRI Rocky Point

EASTPORT/SM
Sept. 16 SAT Westhampton
Sept. 21 SAT at Miller Place
Sept. 30 SAT Half Hollow Hills West
Oct. 7 SAT East Hampton
Oct. 14 SAT at Harborfields
Oct. 20 FRI at Rocky Point
Oct. 28 SAT Amityville

EAST HAMPTON
Sept. 16 SAT at Miller Place
Sept. 21 SAT Islip
Sept. 30 SAT at Rocky Point
Oct. 7 SAT at Eastport/SM
Oct. 14 SAT at Sayville
Oct. 28 SAT Westhampton
Nov. 4 SAT Haborfields

SOUTHAMPTON
Sept. 15 FRI at Glenn
Sept. 21 SAT at Shoreham-Wading River
Sept. 30 SAT Mercy
Oct. 6 FRI at Babylon
Oct. 13 FRI at Stony Brook
Oct. 20 FRI Mt. Sinai
Oct. 28 SAT Bayport-Blue Point
Nov. 4 SAT Port Jefferson

MERCY
Sept. 15 FRI at Babylon
Sept. 21 SAT Port Jefferson
Sept. 30 SAT at Southampton
Oct. 6 FRI Stony Brook
Oct. 14 SAT Glenn
Oct. 20 FRI at Greenport
Oct. 28 SAT Shoreham-Wading River
Nov. 4 SAT at Wyandanch

HAMPTON BAYS
Sept. 16 SAT Shoreham-Wading River
Sept. 21 SAT at Greenport
Sept. 30 SAT Bayport/Blue Point
Oct. 7 SAT at Wyandanch
Oct. 14 SAT Mt. Sinai
Oct. 21 SAT at Port Jefferson
Oct. 28 SAT Babylon
Nov. 3 FRI at Stony Brook

GREENPORT/SOUTHOLD
Sept. 15 FRI Stony Brook
Sept. 21 SAT Hampton Bays
Sept. 30 SAT at Wyandanch
Oct. 7 SAT at Mt. Sinai
Oct. 14 SAT at Shoreham-Wading River
Oct. 20 FRI Mercy
Oct. 27. at Port Jefferson
Nov. 4 SAT at Bayport-Blue Point