Chaminade's Sean Carnevale, Long Island football players showcase skills at inaugural 7-on-7 competition
Sean Carnevale of Chaminade throws a pass during the NFF Suffolk QB challenge at Northport on Saturday. Credit: David Meisenholder
Long Island’s annual summer football spectacle looked a bit different.
For the last four years, at least 10 Long Island quarterbacks participated in individual drills to showcase their talents in the National Football Foundation's QB Challenge. After adding a 7-on-7 component to last year’s competition, Len Genova, president of the NFF’s Suffolk chapter, knew how he wanted the event to evolve.
Four quarterbacks took the field at Northport on Saturday, along with dozens of receivers, running backs, defensive backs and linebackers for the NFF’s inaugural All-Long Island Elite Showcase and fifth annual QB Challenge presented by Orlin & Cohen.
The quarterbacks – Ward Melville’s Hudson Philbrick, Anthony Diieso of St. Anthony’s, Lindenhurst’s Mikey Russo and Chaminade’s Sean Carnevale – each led a team of 17 players in a 7-on-7 tournament, in which all players were evaluated to determine the All-Showcase team.
“Doing 7-on-7 is fun because you really can show more than just throwing a ball,” said Philbrick, who recently committed to Stony Brook. “You can show how you break down a defense, not just with your arm, but with your mind.”
Carnevale’s team, the PostBoyz, defeated Diieso’s Gold Coast Guardians, 29-19, in the championship game to win the 7-on-7 competition.
“The QB Challenge was very successful the first few years, but we always want to improve and we want to make it exciting,” Genova said. “We want to do something that gets more athletes involved. We tried to mirror what some of the big companies like Nike do, in terms of bringing an aggregate mass of kids together to compete. I think we made great strides towards getting there and I think next year will be even better.”
Each team played three games in the pool play round, and the top two teams advanced to the final. The PostBoyz lost their first game of the day, 21-8, to the Guardians. It was their only loss.
Carnevale threw four touchdown passes in the championship game, including a 17-yard score to Sayville’s Colin Darling as time expired to seal the win.
“Getting to know everybody and how they play took some time, but as we started to get a better feel for each other, we got better and better,” Carnevale said. “My team was a bunch of great dudes and great football players… I think it means everything that it was a team game and we won it all.”
The teams included top players from Suffolk, Nassau and the Catholic league. With no practice before Saturday’s competition, Philbrick said Zoom calls were key in getting to know the rest of his team.
“It’s hard to throw to somebody you’ve never thrown to before,” Philbrick said. “You don’t know how they run routes because everyone does things differently. It shows in the first few throws, but after you adapt to it like a good quarterback should, it’s just like any other game.”
Aside from the temperature, the on-field atmosphere felt closer to a playoff game than a summer 7-on-7 competition.
“Everyone was competing,” Carnevale said. “There was some talking between opposing teams during each game. It showed how much everyone cared about winning. It was great.”
Tyler Collins, Longwood’s offensive coordinator, coached the PostBoyz. The team name and green and yellow color scheme stemmed from Collins’ father, Bryan, who spent 23 years as LIU Post’s head coach. Bryan Collins, who later served as Stony Brook’s defensive coordinator, died in 2023 from a cardiac event at 58.
“There are so many former Post players here today as coaches and evaluators,” Collins said. “Post has always had a big presence on Long Island, so it’s great to see the green and gold still represented and that tradition being kept alive.”
The NFF has also held a girls QB Challenge for the last three years. Genova said the Suffolk chapter is working on holding a similar 7-on-7 competition in the winter, just before the flag football season starts in the spring.
“I know how supportive everyone is of the girls, as are we as a chapter,” Genova said. “We’re excited and we’re looking forward to that.”
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
