Floyd running back Ja’Quan Thomas and Massapequa linebacker Anthony DiNello met each other in the hole several times in the final game of the 2024 season.

Thomas had a gaudy stat line — 172 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries — but DiNello’s squad came out with a 42-40 win in an instant classic Long Island Class I championship game.

This past fall, Thomas capped a legendary career with another season filled with video game numbers. DiNello helped lead Massapequa to a third straight Long Island Class I title.

Thomas and DiNello were named recipients of the fourth annual Gregg Sarra Trophy, which honors Long Island’s top offensive player and top defensive player, at Sunday’s annual Scholar Athlete Awards Brunch of the National Football Foundation’s James C. Metzger Suffolk County chapter at the Melville Marriott.

“I’m very thankful for the National Football Foundation and honored to be recognized with an award named after Mr. Sarra,” Thomas said. “I’m proud to represent my town, my school and my family. I can’t wait to go home and show everybody the trophy. It doesn’t get better than this.”

“This award is such an amazing honor,” DiNello said. “It’s a tribute to my family and how they’ve supported me. Driving me to practice and to the gym before I could drive myself. All that little stuff adds up.”

The NFF created the award for the 2022 season and named it after Sarra, Newsday’s high school sports editor, who has dedicated 41 years to covering high school football on Long Island. The Sarra Trophy winners are selected by a panel of current and former college football coaches.

Luke Martini (Wantagh), Ethan Lawless (Huntington), Jeru Hall (Floyd), Zach Olson (Garden City) and Xavier Bala (St. Anthony’s) were finalists.

Former Half Hollow Hills West quarterback Joseph Filardi and former Sayville linebacker Mikey Sands — who played their freshman seasons at Syracuse and Franklin & Marshall, respectively — earned the honor last season.

“Ja’Quan’s body of work in the last two years is impressive, especially given the fact that this year, every team was geared specifically to stop him,” said Len Genova, the president of the NFF Suffolk chapter. “Anthony completely wreaks havoc on the defensive side of the ball. The college coaches that viewed the film and myself were super-impressed with his athleticism and his nose for the football.”

Thomas rushed for 2,079 yards and 31 touchdowns in his senior season. In the final game of his career, a 31-28 loss to Ward Melville in the Suffolk Division I final, he completed 6 of 7 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown out of the Wildcat formation and ran for 184 yards and three TDs on 23 carries.

The 6-1, 225-pound back was named the 66th winner of the Carl A. Hansen Award as Suffolk’s top football player in December.

He ran for 4,986 yards and 72 TDs in his career and scored at least one touchdown in each of the 27 varsity games in which he played.

“I’m just happy that I got to connect with so many people through football and spread my message that I’m ready for it all and I want to go to the next level,” he said.

Thomas still is uncommitted and said he is considering spending a year at a prep school.

DiNello, a SUNY Oswego baseball commit, was the quarterback of Massapequa’s stout defense. In the Nassau Conference I final, the 6-foot, 195-pound linebacker had an interception, a fumble recovery and a sack. He also threw a 24-yard touchdown pass in the 55-18 win over Oceanside.

DiNello had two interceptions and returned two fumbles for touchdowns this season. He earned the Flatley Award as Nassau’s most outstanding defensive player and the Piner Award as the county’s top linebacker in December.

DiNello, also a fullback and a long snapper, ran for four touchdowns and added a receiving score.

“It feels great that the coaches all have trust in me to do multiple things,” DiNello said. “I’m getting recognized for my defensive role, but I take pride in every single thing I do on the football field.”

Though the two met in 2024, it’s hard not to wonder what would have happened if they had faced each other this past season.

“He’s fast, big, strong,” DiNello said of Thomas. “He’s got some size on me, but of course I think I would win that battle.”

“He’s a great talent, but I feel like nobody can stop me one-on-one,” Thomas said. “It would be a good collision, for sure.”

By Matt Lindsay

matt.lindsay@newsday.com@mattlinds19

Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.