Farmingdale awarded Rutgers Cup as Nassau's outstanding football team
Farmingdale poses with the Rutgers Trophy for best team in Nassau, Tuesday, December 13, 2022 at Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury. Credit: George A Faella
Farmingdale closed its sensational football season with a perfect final cadence.
The Dalers already had won their first Nassau I championship since 2015 and their first Long Island Class I championship since 2001 to finish 12-0. And on Tuesday night Nassau coaches voted Farmingdale the Rutgers Cup, given annually since 1937 to the most outstanding team in the county.
“We couldn’t have ended it any better,” Farmingdale coach Buddy Krumenacker said. “There’s a lot of history in that cup and a lot of great teams have won it. It’s something to be appreciated.”
Farmingdale outpolled Garden City to take the Rutgers Cup for the ninth time and first since 2015. The Dalers received 36 first-place votes from the 50 that were cast Tuesday at the Nassau County High School Football Coaches Association banquet at Crest Hollow Country Club in Westbury and finished with 136 points. The Dalers were first or second on every ballot.
Garden City — which won the Long Island Class II title to finish 12-0 — received the other 14 first-place votes and finished with 106 points.
Nassau III champion Plainedge finished with 49 points and Nassau IV titlist North Shore had nine points.
Farmingdale, deep with big-play athletes this season, outscored opponents 510-101. It defeated Massapequa 38-7 in the Nassau title game. It topped Suffolk I champ Ward Melville, 42-20, for the Long Island championship.
“Winning the Rutgers Cup is an accomplishment in a couple of ways,” Krumenacker said. “It recognizes the most outstanding team. And this was truly a team — all about each other. And we were recognized by the other coaches, which is a great compliment. This is a great association and we appreciate the honor.”
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.
