St. Anthony's-Chaminade rekindling rivalry in opener

There are so many layers to the St. Anthony’s-Chaminade football rivalry. The schools have long battled for supremacy as the top private or Catholic school on Long Island.

Chaminade’s previous slide into mediocrity over the past decade in the CHSFL’s AAA division had somewhat dulled the rivalry but didn’t completely extinguish the flame.

However, winning the CHSFL AA1 crown in the fall of 2021 gave the Chaminade program some momentum heading into this season moving back into the AAA division.

The season opener is no easy task as Chaminade travels to play Newsday’s top-ranked team at St. Anthony’s in South Huntington Friday at 7 p.m.

“We had an exciting 2021 in the spring where we split two games with St. Anthony’s that both came down to the wire,” said Chaminade coach Kevin Dolan. “We put an exciting team on the field, and we showed we could compete. I’m very excited about all aspects of our team. This is an extremely difficult season opener against one of the more talented football teams in the region. This triple-A division is a meat grinder. But we’re ready and we’ll see where it takes us.”

The Flyers' big win over St. Anthony’s in the spring of 2021 fueled speculation that they were indeed back among the elite schools in the CHSFL. The teams did not meet in the fall of 2021.

The Flyers will have to stop the vaunted St. Anthony’s passing game which features strong-armed quarterback Dante Torres and big-time receivers in Korey Duff Jr. and Kenyon Miles.

They will counter St. Anthony’s firepower with a spread offense directed by athletic quarterback Matt Dieguez. But it’s the Flyers defense led by defensive end Dean Aquilina that will dictate the outcome in this one.

SUFFOLK DIVISION II

Northport at Smithtown West, Friday, 6 p.m.

Owen Johansen of Northport and Brayden Stahl of Smithtown West, two of Suffolk’s finest quarterbacks, square off in the Suffolk Division II season opener under the lights in Smithtown. Stahl will target Tim Vanderbrink, Jack LaPrarie and Jack Melore to try and keep pace with the Tigers offense. These teams met for the first time in the fall and Northport won a tight game,17-14.

SUFFOLK DIVISION IV

Bayport-Blue Point at Mount Sinai, Friday, 6 p.m.

Mount Sinai leads the all-time series, 22-4. But this is not the Bayport of 10 years ago. Quarterback Brady Clark led the Phantoms to the Suffolk IV final last year. They are the top seed with a wealth of talent and playoff experience. Fifth-seeded Mount Sinai moves senior Jaden Rotella back to quarterback. He missed last season with an injury. Mount Sinai won 27-26 in the regular season and Bayport won the Suffolk IV semifinal, 21-14.

NASSAU CONFERENCE II

Long Beach at Garden City, Saturday, 2 p.m.

Garden City has a 20-game win streak. The Trojans have beaten Long Beach in 19 straight games. The Marines last beat Garden City in 1980. No. 6 Long Beach needs to find a way to stop the rushing game of the Garden City offense led by RJ Votruba and Stevie Finnell.

NASSAU CONFERENCE II

Mepham at Elmont, Saturday, 2 p.m.

Matt Moody, the longtime coaching assistant, takes over at two-seeded Mepham. He has exciting playmakers in Dom Novello, Ryan Their and Michael Cucinella to offset the athleticism at Elmont in what should be a wide-open scoring affair. According to Elmont coach Jay Hegi, senior quarterback Justus Nathaniel is a rising star at the position.

By Gregg Sarra

gregg.sarra@newsday.com@Gregg_Sarra

Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.