Team Sicoli remains in first in Newsday HS Fantasy Football Playoff League

We’re at the halfway point of the Newsday Fantasy High School Football Playoff League, and the race for first place is a tight one.

Team Sicoli (310 points) remains in first place. Team Valluzzi (309 points) is right behind in second, with regular-season champion Team Sarra (293 points) in third.

“With just a one-point lead over Team Valluzzi and leading high school football gurus in Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay, it’s a lot of fun,” Michael Sicoli said. “Not to mention a Tess Ferguson team that still boasts five active players — it’s going to be a super close finish.”

The running back position helped Team Sicoli stay in first. Seaford’s Brian Falk and Sayville’s Tristan Vitale combined for 76 points this week.

Team Valluzzi was led by Jayden Bryan once again. Bryan scored four touchdowns for Half Hollow Hills East and collected 41 fantasy points for Team Valluzzi.

A major boost was delivered to Team Sarra on Sunday. Wantagh’s Luke Martini continued his excellent sophomore campaign, scoring 25 fantasy points as Wantagh defeated top-seeded Carey.

“He made every big play he could,” Wantagh coach Keith Sachs said. “He carried us on his back for most of the second half and made big plays down to that last interception he had.”

The highest scorer of the week was Smithtown West’s Michael Cascione, who delivered 55 fantasy points for Team Hank.

Team Ferguson currently has five players remaining and sits in fourth place. Last week the team's top scorer was Ward Melville running back Joey Benedetto, who totaled 32 points.

Team Ruban’s top scorer available is Oceanside’s Chace Morris. The junior running back had 23 fantasy points in the win over Farmingdale.

“The biggest thing with Chace is that he’s consistent,” Oceanside coach Rob Blount said. “He’s small in stature, but he is tough, gritty and physical. He’s impressed throughout the whole year, and it’s a testament to him averaging over 100 yards per game in 11 weeks of Conference I football.”

Team Katzen still has five players remaining, including Babylon quarterback Kai Jankow, who registered 39 points last week. Jankow and Floyd’s Ja’Quan Thomas are the team's leading scorers so far and will be playing on Friday in their respective Suffolk Division title games.

Team Lindsay sits in fifth place and Team Matias is in sixth.

Lindsay still has both of his quarterbacks in the playoffs — Sayville’s Patrick Coan and Bayport–Blue Point’s Colin Clark.

Team Matias has just two players remaining, but that duo combined for 87 points last week. Plainedge’s Dylan Fella and Babylon’s Aidan Winter will look to lift Team Matias through the rest of the playoffs. These two players can also potentially meet in the Long Island Class IV title game.