Former Hofstra football players are moving on

More than 34,000 people were at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Mass., Saturday. The sky was clear and the temperature was in the low 80s - perfect football weather. Boston College defeated Weber State, 38-20, but would have hosted Hofstra had the Pride football team not been terminated in December.

"I was watching the Boston College game and we were supposed to open up with them," former Hofstra defensive back Keith Ferrara said. "It's really hard to watch these games knowing I'm supposed to be out there with my teammates."

Ferrara remained at Hofstra, which honored the scholarships for players who chose to stay at the school, but planned on transferring before suffering a serious leg injury shortly after the termination of the football team. He is rehabbing and hopes to transfer and play football again.

Andre Campbell also was a defensive back and spent just one season with the Pride before the team was eliminated.

Campbell said a lot of the then-freshmen were emotional when they found out about the decision to eliminate football. Many chose to transfer.

"I wanted to transfer," Campbell said. "I just didn't like the schools that offered me [a scholarship], based on distance or competition. If a good opportunity came by, I wouldn't turn it down.

"I don't think I'm in a bad situation; at the end of the day, if I didn't go to the NFL, I need to use my education to get a job. I'm a business major and I didn't want to leave New York."

Joe Sidaras was a star quarterback at Floyd; despite having three years of eligibility left, he decided to end his football career and stay at Hofstra.

"After I made my decision, I thought 'I'm definitely going to miss football,' " Sidaras said. "I still stand by my decision to stay and get my education."

Sidaras would have been competing with Steve Probst, who transferred to Rhode Island, for the starting quarterback job and might have seen action against Boston College if the team still existed. Sidaras now is the offensive coordinator for North Shore High School's junior varsity team.

More than 10 of the players on Hofstra's football team in 2009 were transfers who faced the prospect of transferring yet again in order to play football.

One such player is Chaz Cervino, who elected to stay at Hofstra because he already had lost credits when he transferred from Syracuse and didn't want to fall further behind academically by transferring again.

Cervino said he has had a difficult time adjusting to no longer playing the sport he loves.

"I was really looking forward to this season," Cervino said. "You have to readjust; your lifestyle is a lot different. You kind of live vicariously through your friends now and cheer for them.

"At some point, football is going to come to an end. I just wasn't ready for it to come to an end at that certain point."

The overwhelming majority of Hofstra's players did elect to transfer elsewhere and continue playing football. For those who stayed at Hofstra, the allegiance is with their former teammates.

"I want to see everyone succeed that I used to play with," Ferrara said.

Two former Pride running backs and Hansen Award winners, Floyd's Brock Jackolski and Riverhead's Miguel Maysonet, were in action last night for Stony Brook, which lost, 59-14, to the University of South Florida at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. Jackolski caught a 27-yard TD pass with 5:30 left in the first quarter to give the Seawolves a 14-7 lead. Maysonet was the Seawolves' top rusher with 72 yards on 11 carries.

Wide receiver Anthony Weaver, who led Hofstra with 63 receptions for 797 yards and four TDs in 2009, had three catches for 38 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown, in Syracuse's 29-3 victory at Akron.

Probst, a Farmingdale graduate, started for URI, which lost to Buffalo, 31-0, on Thursday. Probst was 18-for-42 passing for 145 yards and one interception. He connected with former Hofstra wide receiver Billy Morgan for a 6-yard pass. Freeport's Chris Edmond also left Hofstra for URI and led the team with nine tackles and one sack.

Holy Trinity's Ronnie Cameron played last night for Old Dominion against Jacksonville.