Stony Brook football signs three top Long Islanders
Northport quarterback Ryan Walsh scrambles as he looks for an open receiver during the second quarter of a Suffolk I football game against Patchogue-Medford at Half Hollow Hills East on Oct. 1, 2017. Credit: James Escher
Jaidan Jackson is bringing his winning ways to the Stony Brook football program.
Jackson, who was a standout on unbeaten Freeport teams as a sophomore and junior and spent this past fall helping Loganville (Ga.) Grayson complete a 14-0 season by winning the state 7A title, signed with the Seawolves on Wednesday.
The 6-3, 270-pound nose tackle was one of three Long Islanders in the class of 14 signees for Stony Brook. The others were quarterback Ryan Walsh, a Maine transfer who was the 2017 Boomer Esiason Award winner for Northport, and Isaiah Sadler, a 285-pound offensive lineman from Floyd.
"It was my best decision, honestly," said Jackson, whose brother Jordan plays for the Seawolves. "My brother goes there. I know the whole coaching staff. I know half the team. I know the area. And I know the [culture] at Stony Brook and I love it."
Jackson finished this season with 26 tackles, six tackles for a loss, one forced fumble and three sacks. He is 38-0 on a football field.
The 6-3 Walsh committed to Maine out of Northport after completing 66% of his passes for over 2,000 yards and 30 touchdowns as a senior. He had one college start as a freshman but redshirted last season due to injury.
Sadler started on a line that helped Floyd reach the 2018 and 2019 Long Island Class I championship games — both times falling to Jackson’s Freeport teams — and was part of a line that did not allow a sack in the 2019 season.
Jackson was asked about his favorite memory from playing at Freeport and replied "definitely my sophomore season and winning the [2018] championship game 20-19 [over Floyd]. It was a close game and my brother caught the game-winning pick. . . . I loved getting to brag I got a ring at the LIC."
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
