Team Sarra catapults to top of Newsday high school fantasy football standings

After weeks of consistency, Team Sarra has broken through and taken the lead. Team Sarra recorded the most points in a single week this season with 316.

Team Sarra (1,366) now sits atop the Newsday fantasy standings. Team Slawson (1,313) is in second, with Team Sicoli and Team Matias tied for third with 1,290 points.

Quarterbacks stole the show this week in fantasy. Miller Place’s Shane Kiernan (Team Ferguson) set a single-week record with 95 points. Islip’s Jack Rao (Team Sarra) scored 94, Kings Park’s Brandon Shapiro (Team Hank) scored 80, and Division’s Tim Stanley (Team Slawson) had 67.

“It was an unbelievable week for quarterbacks across Long Island,” Sarra said. “The quarterback gurus out there, like James Brady, are taking these guys at a young age, and by the time they play varsity they’re destroying defenses. My quarterback, Rao, had 94 points this week. I’ve finally hurdled Team (Andy) Slawson.”

Rao threw for 505 yards and six touchdowns and ran for 122 yards and another score in a 48-42 win over Half Hollow Hills West. That performance, along with Floyd’s Ja’Quan Thomas, Wantagh’s Luke Martini and Ward Melville’s Hudson Philbrick, catapulted Team Sarra from third to first place in the standings.

Team Ferguson stormed to another impressive week, remaining in fifth place after scoring 278 points in Week 6, led by Kiernan.

Kiernan completed 27 of 34 passes for 429 yards and seven TDs while rushing for 90 yards — good for a single-week record of 95 fantasy points.

“It’s his week-to-week preparation,” Miller Place coach Adam St. Nicholas said. “He’s studying film, understanding the next defense and our offensive game plan.”

Many of those passes Kiernan threw went to AJ Rudolph, who caught 10 passes for 207 yards and three scores. His performance helped Team Katzen post her second-highest weekly total of the season with 241 points.

“He’s just a worker,” St. Nicholas said. “He’s at every practice to get better and he’s always competing at everything he does. He plays the way he practices.”

QB Peyton Robinson of Long Island Lutheran is out for the season with a collarbone injury. He was Team Ruban’s first-round pick and recorded 40 or more fantasy points three times.

Team Ruban remains in sixth place with 1,190 points. His team was ignited by St. Anthony’s QB Anthony Diieso, who scored 35 fantasy points in a big win over rival Chaminade.

“It’s been fun to see his growth,” St. Anthony’s coach Joe Minucci said. “We ask a lot from our quarterbacks, and it’s good to see him execute and get the job done.”

The closest teams to catching Team Sarra are Slawson, Sicoli and Matias.

All four of those teams have held first place at some point this season.

“This has been more fun than I ever imagined,” Slawson said. “We’re so close as a group of co-workers, so it’s been a great deal of fun — and I’m going to win this in the next two weeks.”