Changes afoot at East Meadow
East Meadow has a new head coach who plans on bringing the Jets back to their old ways.
Matt Castaneda graduated from East Meadow in 2012 and played under Vinny Mascia in 2011, when the Jets last won a Nassau title. Castaneda has spent the last four years on East Meadow’s staff, including last year as defensive coordinator under coach Keith Lizzi.
After running the spread offense the last two years, the Jets will return to the triple option offense that was in place when Castaneda played.
“It’s an East Meadow tradition,” Castaneda said. “It creates problems for defenses to prepare for. A lot of teams run the spread, so it’s a lot easier for defenses to prepare each week for different teams. When they have to play us, it’ll be difficult to prepare for the triple option.”
East Meadow is back in Conference I after reaching the Conference II semifinals last year. Castaneda has high expectations for the seventh-seeded Jets.
“I think that a lot of people are going to be impressed with us after a couple weeks and realize that going back to the triple option was the right idea, even though we have one of the best receivers in the conference in Nick Schwabe,” Castaneda said. “We’re going to use him in the offense like no other team has in the past.”
Schwabe caught eight touchdown passes and added a rushing TD last season.
“I’ve been with coach Castaneda every year,” said Schwabe, a senior said. “He’s coached me in baseball and football and he’s a first-year head coach, but he’s been a guy that we’ve always looked up to, so it’s nothing new. He’s a little more than just a coach to us.”
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
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