Team Sarra pulls away from pack entering final week of Newsday high school football fantasy league

After finally jumping into first place last week, Team Sarra is starting to pull away.

Heading into the final week of the regular season, Team Sarra (1,636) remains atop the standings. Team Slawson (1,546) sits in second, while Team Sicoli (1,507) is third.

“We’ve had a spirited first season of fantasy football,” Sarra said. “My takeaway from the experience was that my entire staff was more engaged with the football players of Long Island.

“There was more familiarity with many teams beyond the usual suspects. Our fantasy coaches knew players on every team, and it gave us more in-depth coverage. We’ll have one champion, but everyone really wins with this concept.”

One of the players leading the way for Team Sarra is Ward Melville quarterback Hudson Philbrick.

Last week, Philbrick registered 39 fantasy points in his team’s win over Brentwood. He has scored 30 or more points in five different weeks and elevated his game during his junior season.

“He took a tremendous step during his sophomore and junior seasons,” Ward Melville coach Chris Boltrek said. “Hudson is a really smart quarterback and works hard at the craft of being a quarterback. He runs our offense at a super high level. The game has slowed down for him and he has great players around him.”

Team Slawson remains in the race, powered by early-round picks Aidan Winter of Babylon and Tim Stanley of Division, who combined for 107 points last week.

Team Sicoli has been near the top all season. Last week, Seaford’s Brian Falk and Shoreham-Wading River’s Noah Gregorek each surpassed 40 points.

Huntington quarterback Jacob Guzik also contributed 35 points for Team Sicoli. He tossed three touchdowns against Bellport, playing through pain.

“He was pretty banged up before the game,” Huntington coach Ron Wilson said. “Our plan wasn’t to throw much, but we saw some things we liked and asked if he could take some shots downfield. He said, ‘Absolutely, Coach.’

“He knew Bellport is a storied program, and he wanted to do whatever it took. He exemplified that perfectly this weekend.”

Guzik connected with Jack Kamenstein on two of those three touchdown passes. Kamenstein scored 33 fantasy points for Team Kellman, which also got a strong outing from Farmingdale’s Jovens Theodate, who topped 30 points and continued a breakout season.

“Last year he was the blocking back for Josh Kama,” Farmingdale coach Buddy Krumenacker said. “Now he’s getting more carries and doing things we knew he could. He’s a talented player, and this isn’t a surprise to us.”

As the final week of the regular season approaches, the staff prepares for a final push.

“It’s been great,” Jonathan Ruban said. “Everyone is so enthusiastic, and it’s a great thing for Long Island football to have so many people invested in a new way. Not only is it fun, it gives more notoriety to the sport as a whole.”