10/26/08- 7pm at Hauppauge Team Black played a great game in the rain on Saturday night. We beat the Hauppauge White team 18-12, with 2 touchdowns in the 4th quarter to win the game. The kids had a great time, and played really hard. It is unbelievable to see how far they have come this season. The coaches and parents are doing a great job of teaching and supporting the kids. Next up: Smithtown.

9/28/08- I'm very proud of the way Team Red played today in a crushing 36 - 0 win over Hauppauge White. Team Red hasn't allowed a touchdown yet this season and today allowed 1 play to cross the line of scrimmage. Total offense for Hauppauge was negative yardage!!! The defense was swarming!!!

All of our players and coaches worked real hard and looked outstanding. Almost everyone got a chance to carry the ball. We had some strong running plays with inside cuts that wowed the crowd....and even a pass play for a touchdown. The offensive line was dominating!!! The lineman are so important to a successful offense.

I couldn't be more proud of how we played as a team!!! Great job everyone!!!

9/21/08- A GREAT game by the 5/6 Red Team. First play from scrimmage John Jimenez ran the ball the length of the field to score (Breaking several tackles on his way). A lot of strong runs from Mickey Leva, Justin Houston, Ben Webb and Joey Venezia in the first half. The 4th quarter was more of the same-- a dominate line and running game by Tyler Barber, Myles Jackson, Jared Gallub and JS. The defense was a brick wall -- Hauppauge Blue only gained 20-30 yards the entire game. BIG thanks for the extra help on defense and offense to JS. And a extra big thanks to the players on the line-- you guys are the best (too many to list). Final score - Hauppauge Blue 0 Hills Pride Red 28.

10/26/08 - The first loss is always a tough one. The refs didn't help. However, football is a game of blocking and tacking and we didn't do that very well either. We never got into our rhythm for the first time. We've got to learn from our mistakes this past week and go out there and play hard again next week. For the highlights, Donovan Jarvis had a nice 40 yd TD run and extra point. Brian-QB & C-Mac-Center had a nice smooth game. Chris Mule, good defense again.

10/19/08 - vs. Islip. Perfect football weather. Cold and windy. The boys played an amazing game, AGAIN! Islip had the ball the entire first half. The defense played amazing, never giving up, keeping Islip out of the end zone. Noah played an amazing game on defense this week, along with a very strong showing by everyone on defense. The offense had the ball in the 3rd quarter and we put together an impressive drive leading us to a 7-0 victory! Although we didn't score in the 4th quarter, we stifled Islip. Islip had the best defense we have come across all year. Once again, congratulations to all the boys and a game well played by all.

10/12/08 - What a GREAT game! We totally dominated Smithtown for a 12-6 VICTORY! Our Offense completely controlled the game with 260 yards. Our offensive line did a great job of moving the football. Donovan Jarvis again had over 100 yards rushin. Mike Carubia did an excellent job of blocking and running the ball. The Defense shut down Smithtown for the entire game with the exception of the last play of the game. Chris Mule had his second interception of the season. Smithtown had some big defensive tackles (2 twin boys) over 100 lbs each! Our entire defensive squad played their BEST GAME OF THE SEASON. Our QB's, Brian & Jacob have both been doing a great job. This week Brian shined with leading the team to this great WIN!

10/5/08 - 19-18 VICTORY!.THE MOST EXCITING GAME TO DATE against East Islip.The first play of the game Chris Mule picked off the ball and ran to E Islip 30 yard line 2 plays later where up 6-0.Next play E islip scores 6-6 The offence gets the ball back and scores 12- 6 Half time.We get the ball3rd quarter drive down the field score 19-6 E Islip fights back with 2 touchdowns the last touchdown with no time on the clock we hold the extra point for the victory. Everybody on defense came together on the last play and made it happen.

9/28/08 - 26-7 VICTORY! Home game against Connetequot with a HUGE win. They boys came out on fire playing great the entire game on Offense and Defense. We dominated never giving Connetequot a chance throughout the game. Our defense smothered their offense, and our Offense scored at will.

9/14/08 - Our first game opener turned out to be an exciting win against Islip, 12-6 Victory! Our offense moved the ball well, with Donovan Jarvis rushing for 125 yards and 2 TD's. Great carries by Mike Carubia and Christian Mule. The offensive line did a great job blocking led by West & Ernesto. The Defense did a great job of holding Islip to just 6 points. Great way to start the season.

10-19-08 - HILLS VS. CONNETQUOT VICTORY! 20-7 AFTER CONNETQUOT TURNS THE BALL OVER ON IT’S FIRST SERIES CAUSED BY AN EXCELL HIT BY GERALD FILARDI, HILLS CAPITALIZES WITH DREW MARTIN HAVING AN EYE FOR THE BALL WITH AND EXCELLENT FUMBLE RECOVERY! HILLS START THE GAME FROM THE WISHBONE WITH AN OPENING TD RUN BY T-MAC FROM 2 5 YARDS OUT.EXTRA PT. BY CHASE LABARBERA. DEFENSE PLAYS STRONG AND OUR OFFENSE SCORE AGAIN ON A POWER RUN UP THE MIDDLE BY CHRIS "MOOSE" FREDA…EXTRA PT. BY STEVEN "THE BULL" MARINO. DEFENSE DOMINATED THE ENTIRE GAME WITH A TRUE TEAM EFFORT. LONG RUNS BY DREW MARTIN, ZACK CONSENTINO AND JACK LABARBERA MOVED THE BALL INTO THE RED ZONE…THEN LUKE ANDERSON SCORES O A WELL EXECUTED SWEEP… JOB WELL DONE!!!…BIG GAME NEXT WEEK AGAINST A STRONG DEER PARK!

10-12-08- Hills Pride Vs Amityville  0-6 loss. It’s never fun to have your first loss unless you can grow from it and analyze what went wrong. The game just didn’t start out the way we planned, having a 65 yard TD by T-Mac called back by an unseen false start. Not having a neutral zone infraction enforced for a first down. Allowing Amityville 1 min to call each play and eating the running clock up and the game. The game/calls just didn’t go in our favor. As a team we lost confidence to a very good aggressive Amity team and fell out of our game plan. With all the bad there was some good, we only let up 6 pts. Mike Regan recovered a fumble, Matt Lutz had a GREAT back field tackle, Drew Martin had a GREAT punt. We will come back STRONG as a team next week!

10/05/08 -7/8 Hills Pride vs. Commack. Another GREAT win for the Pride. Well…we have reached the half way point and things are going according to schedule. With 4 games left, things will not get any easier. For the first time, as a team we had to come from behind after trailing against Commack 6 -0 . On our first possession we drove down field and scored on a excellent power run by Michael "The Beast" Regan.

We went on to score 20 un-answered points, with TD’s by Gerald Filadri and a long run by "cool hand" Luke Anderson. Key extra points were by the "Beast" and Jack LaBarbera. Excellent defense was provided as we settled down. A true team effort WAS implemented with Steven Nathanes sealing the deal with the final tackle of the game.

As a team we have to step-it-up! The last 4 games, and remember how hard we worked all season.

9/20/08- 7/8 Black vs Northport Tigers. 7/8 Black hold’s off the Northport Tigers 14-7 This was a true test and battle to the end of an almost 2hrs game, the ref’s really let us play this one and in that end we managed to hold off the Tiger’s in fine fashion. After jumping out to an early 14-0 lead on excellent runs by Kendell Clark and Luke Anderson we proved speed around the outside KILLS! All in all this was a defensive battle in a true team fashion. Pressure was led by Big Mike Regan, Gerald Filardi and Steven Nathenas also a great tackle in the backfield by Austin "Stone Cold" Leporin. Fumble recoveries by Luke Anderson and Connor Caiazza. Smart play boys! If there was a "game ball", it would have been given to Zack "the attack" Consentino who had 4 or 5 game saving diving tackles. Way to GO! We still need to improve and play the entire 4 quarters, we must continue to BLOCK and Tackle and the rest of the season will fall in place. Great Game.

9/14/08- VS THE HUNTINGTON BULLDOGS What a Great day for football! The 7/8 Black Under Coaches La Barbera, Filardi, Macaluso, dominated the Huntington Bull Dogs by a score of 24-0. Great first home victory!

The all out attack was led by our defense not letting up a positive yard to Huntington’s offense all day, and an all around TEAM effort, with heads up play by Zack Consentino recovering the season’s first turnover. Way to go Zack!

On Offense the "O" line completely over-powered Huntington defense, which enabled us run up and down the field at will. Highlights included TD’s by Gerald Filardi, Chase La Barbera and Michael Regan. Excellent runs by Tommy Macaluso (T-MAC) , Luke Anderson, Kendell Clark and Steven "The Bull" Marino.

The second half was dominated again by strong defensive play and excellent ball control By Jack LaBarbera, Zack Consentino, Steven Marino, and two rewarded runs for blocking and tackling all day long by Connor Caiazza and Drew Martin.It’s a long season; we will not rest, practice hard and play one play & one game at a time.

GO PRIDE!

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11/2/08 - What a dazzling ending to an exceptional season! In our concluding game of the season, the final score was PRIDE 31, Deer Park 6. This is our first year playing together and we ended our season 8-1. How remarkable? Every game was a team effort. Evan Gardner, Spencer Weingard, Jalen Twine, Christian Bertolino, Justin Brown, Dillon Studdert, Jacob Cherlin, James Cournane, Thomas "The Truck" Narciso and Nick "The Brick" Golonowski all contributed weekly to create a major force that was one to be reckoned with. This set of boys rarely let anything past them. We had a good QB in Jason Spinelli along with the center James Wallace. First year player Henry Benitez also played very good defense. This team had fantastic defensive safeties in Christian Ferro and Dylan Campbell. Joe Ferrante led the team in tackles and for boys of their size and hearts even bigger, Chase "Nails" Goldberg and CJ Passela were some hard hitters!! Overall for the season, we kept our opponents to low scores. This season was a lot of fun and we hope to continue this in future seasons. Special thanks to the team mom, Lisa, job well done! SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

10/26/08 -This was a great win-HHH 18, Connetquot 0. Our boys came out with unstoppable energy. Jalen "Lightening" Twine had a touchdown run on the first play and the team never looked back. Justin "Thunder" Brown had two long, powerful runs. There were more great carries by Chase Goldberg, James Cournane, Christian Bertilino and CJ Passela. Evan Gardner also had a great carry with a strong stiff arm. This was a game played well by all.... Next week: Deer Park.

10/19/08 - 25-13 win over Commack. What a great rebound game to get back in the winning column? Great team effort all around. We totally dominated Commack on both sides of the ball. Touchdowns by James Cournane, Justin Brown . Awesome runs boys. Defensively what can I say… Joe "The Animal" Ferrante and Chase "Nails Goldberg stepped up huge for us. Next up Connetquot. Go boys!!!

10/12/08 -This was a tough one. We lost 14-0 to Central Islip. Our boys played a very good game this week Despite C.I. being a tough team, we held our ground. Our team put forth a team effort worthy of applause. They still prevailed with PRIDE.

10/5/08 - HHH 18, Northport 6: This was out toughest game to date and our boys held off an aggressive Northport team. The entire four quarters were played collectively as a team effort. Joe Ferrante, Chase Goldberg and Dillon Studdert had an outstanding game day. Our QB Jason Spinelli had a fantastic day on both sides of the ball with Justin "Thunder" Brown and Jalen "Lightening" Twine sharing more touchdowns. This team is doing an absolutely wonderful job holding teams to zero or minimal score. Job well done!! Next week: Central Islip

9/28/08- This thing called football is so much fun! HHH 13, Longwood 0. Jalen Twine ran for many yards on both touchdowns and Justin Brown had the extra point. Dylan Campbell was unstoppable on defense. GO DYLAN, GREAT GAME! James Cournane, Spencer Weingard, Jalen Twine and Christian Ferro combined for a "whole lot of tackling." We had a super team effort play when we stopped them at the goal line. No touchdown for you Longwood!! This team is full of talent. Another FANTASTIC GAME against a tough team. GO PRIDE!!! Next week: Northport.

9/21/08 - Another win, which means another great game!! HHH 14, Kings Park 0. Justin Brown scored both touchdowns with Jason Spinelli and Jalen Twine sneaking in extra points. Despite Kings Parks’ toughness our entire team stepped up so we may prevail. There were keys runs by James Cournane, Chase Goldberg, and Tommy "The Truck" Narciso. Christian Ferro’s defense kept the score at zero in the 3rd quarter and James Wallace’s blocks were essential. Excellent job! Next week: Longwood.

9/14/08 - The 7-8 year old Black Team made a big impression by beating the Huntington Bulldogs 20-0 making it clear that we are here to win! Jalen Twine and Justin Brown had three touchdowns between them with key extra points from CJ Passela and Thomas Narciso. Joseph Ferrante led the team in tackles. All players contributed hugely offensively and defensively to make the victory sweeter!

9/14/08- The Hills Pride Division One Nine Year Old Team opened the season with a commanding 18-0 victory over Kings Park.

The Defense took control of the game and never let Kings Park breathe. Every possession by Kings Park resulted in a punt. Kings Park did manage to get one first down on a Hills penalty. Due to a number of tackles in the backfield, total yardage for Kings Park was in the negative for the game. The defense was amazing!!!!!

The offense was explosive behind the wall of Marcus Zaiff, Thomas DiLorenzo, Joseph Costa, Ryan Tam, Joseph Davolio, Derek DiLorenzo and Eddie Wagner. This offensive line was outstanding. Due to their great effort Nikolas Mikelinich, Alexander Filacouris and Sean McCarthy each had the opportunity to stand in the end zone with the refs two hands raised high in the air. A fantastic TD run by Sean Lulley was called back due to a penalty or a fourth touchdown would have been added to the score.

The coaches are so proud of the boys. It was a fantastic performance on both sides of the ball. Now let’s get ready for Sachem in our home opener on September 21 at 11:40AM.

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11/01/2008 - Hills - 0  Centereach - 24 - No highlights

10/26/2008 - Bayshore - 26 Hills - 0 - No Highlights

10/19/2008 - Hills - 12 Northport - 13

This team pulled together, to keep the score tied at 6 at halftime against the 4-1 Northport team. Two TD's by Phil Spadafora. Unfortunately we could not convert the PAT's. Big runs by both Spadaforas, Deasn Chironis, and Michael Ciccone. Defense was huge throughout, but made only two mistakes all game.

10/12/2008 - Huntington - 7 Hills - 26

A very big win for this team. Defense was strong all game and came up big when needed. Offense was on fire with big runs and a heads up run from AJ Kaywood. Phil Spadafora had two TD's, and James Spadafora and Dustin McDonald had one each. Extra points by Michael Ciccone and AJ Kaywood topped off the scoring. A total team effort showed. For the second straight week offense scored 26 points.

10/05/2008 -  Hills - 26 Smithtown - 25

A great first win for this team. Three TD's by Phil Spadafora and one by James Spadafora. The difference was finally scoring two extra points, both by Dustin McDonald. Big runs by Phil Spadafora, Dean Chironis, Michael Ciccone, and Dustin McDonald. The defense came up huge with 6 minutes left in the game to block the PAT attempt. A well deserved win for a great effort.

9/28/2008 - 9/0 Red Team-  East Islip - 19 Hills - 0

The first half went scoreless. An amazing one handed catch by Tom Dominic, and hard running by Dean Chironis, and both the Spadafora's. In the second half, EI's offense opened up. Their passing game as well as running game was unstoppable. Even their defense stepped up with blocks and even an interception. Hills kept fighting, but came up short.

09/21/2008 - 9y/o Red Team-McDonald. Deer Park - 20 Hills - 6

Both the offense and defense looked basically good. The offense moved the ball much better than last week. The end zone was just elusive. The lone TD was scored by Phil Spadafora. Besides Spadafora, Dean Chironis and Mike Ciccone made strong contributions. Defense held up, but one good pass and a couple of missed assignments, gave Deer Park everything they needed.

9/14/2008 - Hills 9 y/o Red Team vs. Commack   Hills - 6  Commack - 6

Phil Spadafora had the lone score on a 71 yard run. He broke 4 tackles before getting in the end zone. Spadafora had a total of 8 carries for 81 yards. Anthony Saporito led the defense with five tackles. Dean Chironis, Tom Dominic, and Phil Spadafora each had 4 tackles. Andrew Connell, Tom Dominic, and Jason Sabshon combined for 2 sacks for a total lose of 9 yards.Matt Frankel caused a fumble that was recovered by Phil Spadafora.

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9/21/08- A Very good game that resulted in a 13-26 defeat to the Islip Buccaneers (AKA every nine year old in the town of Islip). We played very hard, and never backed down, despite be out sized and extremely out numbered. We were in the game up to the very end. In the first half we had command of the game with tremendous blocking and touchdowns by Tyler Parkinson and Donte Jarvis. We also had two touchdowns by Tyler called back by unfortunate penalties, and finished half 13-14.

In the second half, Islip gained the advantaged by recovering a fumble that resulted in a score. Our team played with a tremendous amount of heart and effort and corrected the mistakes they made in our first game. Myself and the coaching staff are very proud of the way we played with PRIDE!!!! I must point out a tremendous effort by our entire team with stand out performances’ by our running backs Jason Billing, Tyler Parkinson, and Donte Jarvis; our quarterback Broadway Joe and our Center Michael Molitor aka M&M and defensive tackles and guards Justin Seedansingh and Jayden Blackwood.

"The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart." By Robert Ingersoll

9/14/08- Amazing game! 14-12 win over a very tough well coached Hauppauge B team. Our team’s!! Defense was the star of this game. The defensive line dominated the line of scrimmage. Tommy Travagilone, Justin Seedansingh , Chris Elie, Chris Connolly, Jaden Blackwood, and Jake Russo did and incredible job!. Our corners and safeties; A.J. Gildin, Jonathan Hargrove, Cole Montalvo, Jake Mcdermott also did a great job!! containing the outside. Congrats to Jason Billings, a first year player with a big interception. Also to Tyler Parkinson with a heads up fumble recovery

Congrats!! To our offensive line for a day of great blocking. Jordan Lafauci, Jake Russo, Jaden Blackwood, Justin Seedansingh, Thomas Travagilone, Christopher Connolly, and Michael Molitor (center ) a first year player with a day of flawless snaps. Our quarterback Joe Sanfratello AKA "Broadway Joe" managed the backfield like a true Captain. Our Running backs Jason Billing, Donte Jarvis, and Tyler Parkinson were unstoppable, with long touchdown runs by Donte and Tyler and a extra point run and MONSTER BLOCK!!! By Jason Billings. I know this is supposed to be a short highlight but this game was an all around team effort. I’m so proud of you guys! Coach Donte

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11/9/08 - Hills 27 West Islip 6 -Wow!!!!!! You totally dominated every aspect of the game today. There were 20 game balls handed out today. 10 different players gained yards on offense. We had our best offensive output of the season. Tremendous running and overpowering blocking (sometimes 20-30 yards downfield) was the recipe. It was a thing of beauty to watch. The defense was devastating in all aspects and totally shut them down. Had it not been for liberal refereeing in the second half they wouldn’t have gotten a single first down all game. This was the greatest entire team effort of the season by far. You could just see the heart of this team when the entire offense picked up Griff when he scored on the extra point. The bond that these boys have is very special and when they use that bond to play together special days like today happen. Great win guys, thanks for not making me look bad. I gave you a challenge and you met it head on. Funny what a 10 year old will do for free play and food.

11/2/08 - East Islip - Very tough game today. That was the best 26-0 loss I could ever ask for. You played the #1 team in the division to no score half way into the second quarter. We had 4 key players on the sideline in street clothes and you guys really made the coaches proud. They scored on 4 long plays after you smacked them in the mouth and shut them down. We had 2 forced fumbles recoveries and just fell short. It might sound funny that a 26-0 game could be close but this was a battle all day long. Great job. On a day where everyone had to step up and give a little extra effort the player of the game goes to everyone but the game ball goes to Nick DiPietro because he brought the coach a HUGE bag of Halloween candy.

10-26-08 - Not much to say; we lost to Connetquot 16-0 in a must win game. Some of the few bright spots were AJ Leva stepping in at QB and commanding the team like a veteran, Nick Busuttil making a tremendous interception and Brian Iris playing his first game at DE and really making his presence felt by getting in the backfield all fourth quarter.

10/19/08 - This was a defensive battle played in ultimate football weather. Our defense was unreal holding the defending champs Commack to 6-0 score inside four minutes left in the game. The highlight was a goal line stand where our D stopped three plays inside the three yard line. Anthony Passela was a man among boys at defensive tackle and the linebacking core of AJ Leva, Cory Blumenthal, and Malachi Henley played a tremendous game. Offensively we didn’t have any answers for hard charging blitzes of Commack. Our backs ran hard often turning a loss into a gain with their determination. Final score Commack 13 Hills 0

10/12/08 - The boys totally dominated Bayshore 14-8 forcing fumbles on just about every tackle. The offense was guided to precision by Drew Quinto who completed 3 passes to Chris "Shockey" Ramaizel. The offensive line came to play against an aggressively blitzing Bayshore team. Riley Forte hit the holes quickly and scored 2 touchdowns with tremendous lead blocking by Anthony Lucarelli and Cory Blumenthal. The defense was once again stellar in stopping Bayshore, led by the vicious tackling of AJ Leva and Ryan Rogers. Bayshore's lone touchdown came after what was definitely a safety scored by our defense. Up next is a very strong Commack team that has no idea what is in store for them when they face the Gridiron Gang.

10/05/08 - Hills 6 Smithtown 0. This was a game where the coaching staff challenged the team to step up and we wanted to define a leading back, a leading lineman, the player with the most tackles and who would be the best second half player. We couldn’t single out these players because the whole team stepped up huge. We had 250 total offensive yards to zero for Smithtown. The defense had their quarterback running for his life all day long. We moved the ball up and down the field and just couldn’t punch it in. The crushing play of the defense allowed us to air it out for the first time this year. The word TEAM was clearly defined by this victory. Every player contributed to this one. Great job guys!!!! We’re going to have to open a kennel if we keep taking the dog every time we go on the road.

9/28/08- Tough 6-6 tie against Sachem. Beautiful touchdown run by Justin Percival with a great block by Brian Iris. Excellent job on defense led by a great interception by Nicky Busuttil. Need to show much more intensity next week against Smithtown.

9/20/08- We stepped on the field with a major chip on our shoulder and banded together for a 7-0 victory over Northport. 100% Total TEAM effort. The Gridiron gang is BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

9/14/08- Great game that was dominated by tremendous blocking by the offensive line. Passella, Ramaizel, Tam, DiPietro, Rogers, Anton, Gomez and Fullback Corey Blumenthal cleared the way for Riley and Lucarelli all day. Drew Quinto quarterbacked methodical drives that kept the ball for the majority of the game. The defense was anchored by first year player Andrew Deluca and tough penetration by Trevor Anton up the middle. After going up 13-0 Hills was able to stop a last second drive by Huntington and preserve a 20-20 tie. Watch out Northport because if we eliminate a few key mistakes this team will be unbeatable. Very good hard fought first game.

11/16/08- Marulli 10's in a dominating performance. First team offense was out in the first half, up by 18, in a 30-12 (12 points were a gift) victory that was much more lopsided than the score indicates. Corey was on all day, despite the wind, and Dallas had two great TD catches. Two more sure TD passes dropped or he would have had 5 on the day. The line was great on both sides of the ball. Julian was an animal all day, crushing people from his outside line backer position. Nico, Joe and Devon did an outstanding job of running the ball. The defense had three interceptions, one by Joe C and two by Corey. It was a wonderful end to a season of tremendous growth and development. It sets us up well for next year.

On a more somber note, it also marked the last game Jordan will play with Pride football. As his coach, I could not be any prouder of his growth as a football player and as a student and wonderful young man. He is not replaceable on the field, and even less replaeceable in our hearts. He will be missed.

11/09/08 - Marulli 10's in a truly dominating performance against Sachem, 25-6, and if the refs let it go it's 60-6. Corey was on target all day, and with a little help could have had 5 TD passes. The backs were great, Devon and Joe powered all day long for chunks of real estate. Matt C. caught a great TD. Nico scored his forst rushing TD of the year. All the line men got to run the ball as thanks for the great job they did blocking the last few weeks, and Gio got the award for the best run, carrying half of Sachem for 7 yards for the first down.

Anotehr game with negative yardage allowed, only one play from line of scrimmage went deep for Sachem to break up the shut out. They had 90 % plays for loss of yardage. The D was fierce, and the O line was flawless. Great team win! We crush Commack next week, and we set our selves up to make a title run next year with a season under our new players belts. If you want to see a line man smile, tell him his number is called to run the ball!

11/02/08 - When you have the ball with four minutes left, down 13-7, against a team that is arguably the best 10 B team ever assembled, many teams may have been satisfied to get a moral victory. But not these boys, they pulled out all the stops, and came within an inch, five times, of pulling off what could have been the biggest upset at this level, ever. A deep completion five yards behind the Northport safety , and our receiver loses his footing for a big catch that should have gone the distance for the winning score. Two passes that were inches off the mark, with receivers streaking downfield wide open, and a couple of routes that were cut short and a drop, were the agonizing plays that kept the winning score from going up on the board. The intensity and effort was something that I will not forget as their coach, they played like true champions! Northport was back on their heels, and they knew that one play could have ruined their perfect season, one more play. I am so proud of the boys, they have come so far from opening day, it is a miracle. We got the greatest compliment from the Northport staff, a team that has had it all their own way all year, blowing every team out by 3/4/5 TD's a game, and then not going up to A ball. They told us it was the most physical game they played in two years, that their star back, who didn't cry when he broke his arm in a Lacrosse match, went off the field twice with tears in his eyes. They acknowledged their QB took a pounding all day, and we were the more physical team on the line of scrimmage. They made two big plays to our on, a great TD grab by Dallas, but we had numerous opportunities to make the play to put it away. They felt lucky to ESCAPE with the win. I am so proud of our guys! A GREAT 13-7 loss. The right side of the D line, Gabe and Jordan, answered every challenge their coach set before them, and Northport had to run counters to our other side to finally break the winning run. Our O line was great, as was all our pass blocking, we just didn't hit ONE of the many big plays we had a chance to connect on. Great effort against a great opponent, our boys grew up today!

10/26/08 - This was our most complete game, period. Against a team that was squarely above us in the standings, that had put up two TD's versus Northport, the boys responded to the challenge. We told them all week, this would decide if we were playing meaningful games the rest of the way, or playing out the string. The defense did not allow one first down, pitched a shutout, and allowed negative yardage. They were dominant. the offense was physical, methodical, yet sprung for the big play. It was 12-0 at half before they knew what they hit them. It allowed us to play our second team almost the entire second half, and they did great. A fumbled snap, and two TD drives called back by phantom penalties, and it was 24/26-0. Joe Lugo went from a boy to a football player today, he was our MVP. He contained on the outside and shut 21 down, and ran with abandon and power, combined with his natural speed. An awakening! The line dominated both sides of the ball, the backfield blocking was devastating (Devon almost killed a kid), and the running consisted with quick, athletic bursts through the holes. Nico, Devon, Corey and Joe (BIG DAY) were awesome. Corey was on target all day, two drops or we have two more TD's IN THE FIRST HALF!!. The D was dominant. Up next is Northport (7-0, and have scored on every one of their possessions all season), it will be a great challenge, but we plan on giving them all they can handle. This was one of those weeks, where you work so hard, and then the boys impress you and you want to float away on a cloud. GREAT JOB BOYS!!!!!!!!!!

10/19/08 - Marulli 10's played a very fast and athletic Huntington team. We battled for a half, actually pulling within 7-6 at the half, having allowed only a single long run on a blown containment coverage that we worked on all week. We played a 4-3, which allowed us to have better coverage outside, and we played great for 37 of 40 plays, controlling the line of scrimmage, and containing their far superior speed with solid team defense. Unfortunately, every lapse we had, 44 made us pay for with three long runs. We battled, and could have done much better if we were more disciplined, but in the end the team with the best athlete on the field won, 20-6. Again we had big plays open down field after the opponent stacks the line to try to control our power run game, and drops and errant throws did not allow us to make them pay. Simon did have one beautiful catch and reception that almost went the distance, which allowed us to pound in our only score. We had other similar opportunities and let the Bull Dogs off the hook.

10/12/08- There are good ties and there are bad ties, this was a killer! The defensive was tremendous once again! Offensively we were sloppy. Our opening drive was a picture of beauty up the field deep inside the red zone, when we had the ball stripped because we stopped playing when our knee hit the ground, but did not wait for the whistle. We dropped FIVE sure touch downs after working all week on our passing routes, throws and catches. We are supposed to win 28-0, but we tie 0-0. Three turn overs, and 6 drops, and there you go. I am going out for a martini!

10/5/08- I don't think I have ever been prouder of a team. We traveled to Connetquot to play one of only two undefeated teams in the division, knowing we were facing one of the fastest runners in the league. In an absolute monsoon, we powered our way to a 13-0 half time lead. A huge hit by Devon to force a fumble, and a 60 yard scamper by Gabe for the TD, combined with powerful running culminated by Joe Lugo's 65 yard blast up the middle, and a smothering defense had us sailing. But in the process, we lost Joe Lugo and Devon to injury, costing us both our corners we desparately needed to cover the outside runs of "Speedy Gonzalez", and both our speed runners. This is where I couldn't help but be so proud of our guys! We had to move Matt C. to corner, bring Brandon and Anthony in to help out at line backer, and use Dallas, Joe C. and Brandon at safety, trying to keep Connetquot at bay. We then suffer a stinger to Jordan, and have Chance limp off on a gimpy knee! Anthony, Brandon and Gio all filled in beautifully to help preserve the win. The boys played great, holding tight, with the exception of two broken plays that Gonzalez simply outran our patched up D. On offense, Nico came in and ran out the clock, with great second effort after being hit, getting us the yardage we needed to get to a take a knee to win situation. Nico then moved to center, as Matt M. limped off the field, and made perfect snaps to ice the game. Every player contributed up and down the roster, this was the greatest team effort I have ever been involved in. We needed 18 guys to show up today, and they did! A 13-12 Pride win that gets us to 3-1, that was a throw back football game like the old ice bowl. We had numerous opportinities for big plays down the field, at least 5 plays that were open for TD's, but between the weather and the slightest lack of timing, we missed each one. GO PRIDE!!!!!

9/28/08- Marulli 10's in a completely dominating performance in all three phases of the game. For the second week in a row, the defense held their opponent (Commack) to negative total yardage. Tremendous pressure by the line up the middle and on the ends, the corners were on lockdown, and we nearly had two picks for TDs.Simon hit people as hard as I've ever seen a ten year old hit!The offense was overwhelming up the middle, quick to the outside, and we completed an absolutely beauty of a BOMB from Corey to Matt for a long TD. It was 19-0 with a minute gone in the third quarter, when we pulled our starting backfield and let every one have a half of fun. We were informed at this point that we would NOT be scoring again, as the refs called 10 penalties on our bench players to keep the game respectable. It would have been 40-0. On special teams, the receiving team was great, well organized wedges that got us great field position ( they then went for it on fourth down, it was safer for Commack). And the punting team (we had to punt after our bench got five penalties in a row for holding, we must have very long arms), the directional punt was great, the fliers held their lanes, and the wave of blockers broke up the wedge, and Julian almost KILLED the punt returner. Devon is running like a seasoned pro, Chance is a monster blocking out of the backfield, simply unstoppable. Gabe, Jordan, Roe, Gio, Matt M. dominated the line of scrimmage. What a game!!!!!!!! It gets tougher next week, Coneq.

The Sachem squad got a little cheap late, the refs stepped in, but our buys showed self control. Those boys did not know what they were in for if Chance and Jordan would have retaliated.It was a great step forward, and we will continue to work to get better. Look out Commack. Oh, and Nico ran the ball exclusively on the last drive to seal the win, averaging 7 yards per carry! Happy Donna? Now maybe I can sleep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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9/28/08- 6-6 Tie against Smithtown. This weekend was truly a moral victory and a testament to the boys’ will, hard work, desire, and exceptional team effort. Indifferent to the odds continually stacked against 10 Blue by the opposition’s size, weight and sheer numbers (a recurring theme), our crew came out scoring on the very first play with a 65yard pass connect bomb from Ed Gonzales to Jovan Nunez, reminiscent of the days Montana-Rice. Jovan, upon catching the ball, was spectacular in turning on the afterburners blowing passed their safety and crossing the goal line with the next closest defender more than 10 yards behind.

Despite playing with just 12 kids on Sunday, our crew executed very well offensively and picked several 1st downs Sunday PM. Defensively, we did not give up a score, and our ends and linebackers did a phenomenal job containing and plugging the holes. Both defensive guards, Ty McCalla and Louis Theusme (Our Twin Towers), were indefatigable in keeping their ball carriers to nominal gains.

9/21/08-14-0 Loss against Northport. Despite a seemingly lopsided score we couldn’t have been PROUDER of our 10Blue team, which played with practically 12.5 players the entire game, and were able to defend against a very aggressive Northport team for 3.5 quarters.

To highlight, in the 3rd quarter, Dean Noriega on 3rd and goal defending on our own 1 yard line, broke thru the backfield and with a thunderous tackle wrapped up their ball carrier for a Northport 10 yard loss. It certainly felt like a momentum changer, but we failed to capitalize on it, as exhaustion ultimately overtook our gang.

Unfortunately, it is a recurring theme for our outnumbered squad, as opponents rostering close to 20 players have been taking advantage of fresh substitution late in the game. We’ll need to make some adjustments to our conditioning this week. We’ll look to redeem ourselves next week at home (High School West) against Smithtown.

9/14/08- 10BLUE: Despite being outweighed and outnumbered we held on to a 6-0 lead for the majority of the game only to endure a heartbreaking 8-6 loss with less than a minute to go. Justin Gardner put us on the board with a 65 yard run in the first quarter. On our next couple of possessions we marched the ball nicely down the field and had a couple of long yard scoring opportunities brought back as a result of blocking-from-behind penalties. Nevertheless, we are very proud of our offense for executing very well generally. We have a very athletic and tough bunch of kids with a ton of potential.

Defensively, our line battled effectively at the line of scrimmage. With the exception of the long yardage play from which Huntington scored, our defensive ends (Justin Gardner and Dan Rayve) did a great job containing and keeping the outside plays to minimal or negative yardage. Our linebackers (Ed Gonzales and Brian Dice) were extremely effective in plugging the holes. While the coaching staff agrees the team-effort was fantastic, we must recognize the phenomenal contributions that Jeremy Cohen and Jovan Nunez made, from their corner and safety spots, in delivering some NFL, ESPN- highlight-touchdown-saving tackles against Huntington’s massive ball carriers.

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10-26-2008 - A 24-0 victory over Central Islip was another great win for PRIDE...... Despite it being an early game our boys came to play and a true team effort was implemented. Justin Hutchinson had a fantastic text book run, found the hole the line opened up for him and scored our final touchdown. GREAT JOB BOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

10/19-2008 -BAYSHORE- On a cold Sunday afternoon the Hills faced off against Bayshore. Defensive played a great game containing the Bayshore quarterback who was outstanding. However, he was no match for the pride. Hills scored 22 point in the third quarter. Overall the team played fair.

10/12/08 - SMITHTOWN - A slow start for the Pride at home against a very big Smithtown team. Derek Merckling threw a touchdown pass to Justin Roberts for the first score. While in the fourth quarter, hills driving we experienced a fumble. Two plays later Mr. Justin Hutchinson intercepted a pass and galloped 40 yards for a touchdown. Good team effort boys.

10/5/08-NORTHPORT - The Pride came out on top of a very tough Northport team. The Defense played out of their minds. We had two defensive touchdowns scored by Jimmel Twine and Jerry Brown Jr. The offensive of touchdown was scored by Justin Roberts. The boys played as a team and never gave up. Great win

09/28/2008- WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! We finally beat one of our toughest opponents, the Huntington Bulldogs. The final score was Pride 8 and the Bulldogs 6. Derek Merckling, Jerry Brown, Justin Roberts and Matt Benincasa produced and amazing offensive backfield along with their entire offensive line; Tyler Butler, Jimmel Twine, Cole Janco, Joey Sotomayor, Steven Kleet, Ben Castillo, and Blaise Spinelli. The offense played ball control all day and had a 70 yard drive that lasted from the middle of the 3rd quarter into the 4th quarter. This drive was capped off with a 1 yard touchdown plunge by Justin Roberts. The defense was stellar all day! The Bulldog’s offense was stopped at every attempt except for one long run in the first half. Every defensive player came to play their best this day. We were driven by a swarming team defense. The defense was led by our defensive signal caller Joe Cipoletti. He had his defense, Danny DeSanti, Tyler Butler, Jimmel Twine, Derek Merckling, Steven Kleet, Blaise Spinelli, Jerry Brown, Joey Sotomayor, Justin Roberts and the safety Justin Hutchinson. One cannot forget Cole Janco's tackle for a loss on 4th down while the Bulldogs were trying to mount a drive in the 3rd quarter. They were indeed a force to be reckoned all day. Matt Benincasa ended the game with the final 4 tackles for losses! Last but not least, Ryan Tuma's long directional punts, interception and game winning extra point late in the forth quarter! This win is indescribable to our "family." Our entire team, coaching staff, and parents came together to step up for this outstanding win. One for the memory books!!! This week we prepare for a tough Northport team. SPECIAL THANKS TO THE SOTOMAYORS FOR THE POST GAME CELEBRATION!

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9/28/2008 - Hills 26 Kings Park 0. Dominating performance on both sides of the ball. The boys wanted to come out and start on defense, and after the first snap we all knew why. The D-line fired into the backfield and created a turnover on the second play of the game. Two plays later we were in the end-zone on a perfectly executed misdirection run play. The offense was unstoppable on this day. Our starting backfield only had four carries before they were taken out of the game however those four carries resulted in two touchdowns and an extra point conversion. Not only was the run working but the boys played a well balanced game connecting on multiple pass attempts. The result of those pass completions were two touchdowns and an extra point conversion. Both of our quarterbacks had a touchdown pass and both did a great job in leading our offense. The defense was as dominant as the offense. The boys had multiple sacks and numerous tackles in the backfield making it very difficult for the Kings Park team to gain positive yards. The defense recorded two fumble recoveries and an interception that was almost returned for another touchdown. The boys executed very well on both sides of the ball and have come a very long way in the last few weeks. We are looking forward to a tough test next week against Smithtown.

9/21/2008 - Only one way to describe this game - Heartbreaker. Playing against Islip, a team that dominated us in 2007 by a score of 16-0 and held us without a first down. Islip faced a much improved Hills team on this day. Hills dominated the first half not allowing Islip to cross midfield. Early in the first quarter after we stopped Islip deep in their own end we got the ball back in good position. Hills drove the field inside Islip's 10 yard line however failed to put it in the end zone after a turnover at the 2 yard line. This would come back to hurt us.In the second quarter Hills got on the board with a perfectly executed pass play and took a 6-0 lead at halftime.

Hill started the 3rd quarter with the ball and again drove the ball down the field scoring on a powerful run by our fullback, Hills 12 - Islip 0. With only 6 minutes to go in the game, Hills seemingly in control the momentum quickly changed. Islip got the break they needed. Islip returned a long punt return for a touchdown and kicked the extra point cutting the lead to 12-8. We got the ball back and began to drive the field once again. After running for one first down and now with the clock down to less than 4 minutes Islip got what they needed, another turnover at midfield. After not being able to drive on us all game Islip took advantage of the turnover and put up their only sustained drive of the game resulting in a touchdown with only 15 seconds remaining in the contest. Islip 14 - Hills 12.Although we got the ball back and completed a long pass it was not meant to be. Hills let this one get away. On a positive note we are a much improved team from last year and could easily be 2-0 versus 0-2. If the boys keep playing hard the wins will come.

9/14/2008 - Hills got off to a slow start in their opening match-up with an experienced well coached Huntington team. After a scoreless first quarter Huntington capitalized on our mistakes in the second quarter. First scoring on long sweep play and scoring again following a fumble loss deep in our own end.

The boys responded to the challenge and played an inspired second half. Huntington started the second half with the ball and met a different Hills team. After a three and out Hills got the ball back and drove the field. Scoring on a very well executed reverse play. Our defense controlled the second half with Huntington gaining negative yards for the half. In the fourth quarter we had our chances with the ball deep in Huntington's end on two occasions but could not capitalize falling short 13-8. The boys played a hard fought game and impressed their coaches with the second half effort. We look forward to our rematch with Huntington in the last game of the season.

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10/05/08 – Half Hollow Hills West, NY - Another "Brick Wall" came tumbling down this week as the Pride 11 year old Gold Team defeated 3 Village 14 -0. Last year, Pride lost to 3 Village in the season finale 7-6. Today, this incredible team found redemption. Taking the opening drive down the field, Pride opened the scoring with a touchdown and extra point. The defense then took over and stopped 3 Village time and time again. The half ended with the Pride ahead 7-0. The third quarter was played to a stalemate, but Pride would not be denied in the 4th quarter. 3 Village made Pride draw on every resource to take the ball down field and score the second touchdown of the game and sealing a hard fought victory for Pride 14 -0 . The "Journey" continues next week with an away game at West Islip.

9/28/08 – Smithtown, NY – In an offensive explosion, the Pride 11 year old Gold team dominated Smithtown 27-13 to secure their third win of the season. The boys set the tone early by scoring on the first play of the game. The offensive line lead the way with perfectly executed blocking allowing the Pride full back to go right up the middle of the Smithtown defense for a 65 yard touchdown run. The Pride never looked back. The Pride defense threw Smithtown back on three successive plays and then returned the punt 35 yards. This set up Pride’s second touchdown, scoring on the very next play. Two offensive plays, two touchdowns - An amazing testament to the teams’ hard work during the year. The Pride defense came back on the field and again tossed Smithtown for successive losses. Using the vaunted "Wall Return", the ensuing punt was returned by Pride for the Pride’s third touchdown of the day. The team then found itself in a very peculiar position for this group of boys – being required by the "18 point rule" to remove the starting backfield and playing a set defense.

Smithtown came back strong in the second half making first downs and scoring a touchdown. The Pride, unshackled by the 18 point rule, drove the ball the length of the field to score their fourth touchdown of the day. Smithtown finished out the scoring putting in a late touchdown. The Coaches and Parents can not be more proud of these boys. Another "Brick Wall" has been tumbled on this incredible journey.

9/21/08 – Half Hollow Hills West, NY – In a stirring performance, the 11 year old Gold team beat their cross town rival Huntington 20-13. Pride controlled the game from the opening snap, driving the ball on a long drive cumulating in a touchdown. The Pride defense then ran rough shod over the Huntington offense forcing them to punt. A long punt return set Pride up for their second touchdown of the day. A late touchdown by Huntington on a long pass play late in the second quarter left Pride in control at half time with a score of 14-6.

Defense was the name of the game in the second half – Pride defense that is. Pride continually stuffed the Huntington offense throughout the second half. Early in the third quarter, Pride drove the ball for another touchdown making the score 20-6. The Pride defense rose to the occasion yet again forcing Huntington to punt time and again. The offense then had a time consuming drive that would have ended with a touchdown except for a holding call which negated a 10 yard touchdown run. Huntington managed to score one last time on a long touchdown pass with no time remaining ending the game with Pride as victors 20-12. The journey continues next week with a road game vs. Smithtown.