Suffolk football players to watch

JAKE BIRO
Ward Melville
The 6-foot, 210-pound quarterback rushed for 10 touchdowns and passed for 12 more as a junior last year. |

CONNOR COUGHLIN
Patchogue-Medford
WR, 6-1, 190, Sr.: A finalist for receiver and defensive back awards as a junior. He physical (6-1, 190 pounds), has great hands and led Long Island in receptions in 2012. |

TRENT CROSSAN
Sachem North, RB, 5-10, 190, Sr.
He scored seven touchdowns and the winning two-point conversion in a 63-62 win over Bay Shore last season. The 5-10, 190-pound senior running back is returning from a season-ending ACL injury. |

CHRIS FAISON
Floyd
As a junior, this 5-10, 185-pounder rushed for 953 yards and nine touchdowns as Floyd marched to the Class I Long Island championship. |

BRYAN MORRIS
Sachem North
The four-year starter is on pace to break the Long Island scoring record for kickers. The 5-9, 180-pounder has 132 career points, 49 shy of the record held by East Islip’s Sean Moller. |

TYLER NASON
Connetquot
The elusive receiver had 38 catches for 621 yards and nine touchdowns. The 5-10, 180-pound senior had an average of 16.3 yards per catch last year. |

MALIK PIERRE
Sachem North
As a junior, this 5-11, 205-pound running back accounted for five touchdowns in one game. That included an 89-yard kickoff return, plus he rushed for 201 yards and threw two halfback option passes for scores in a win over Connetquot. |

MALCOLM PRIDGEON
Central Islip
One of the area's top D-I recruits at 6-7, 285 pounds. The senior two-way tackles had 39 tackles with three sacks and 30 pancake blocks last season. |

JOSH VALENTIN
Commack
This 6-4, 250-pound senior transfer student will make a major impact in the division. D-I blue chip prospect at linebacker and tight end. |

ISAIAH WHITE
Longwood As a sophomore, he burst onto the varsity level with 642 yards rushing and nine touchdowns on 147 carries. The 5-11, 200-pound running back also plays defensive back. |

JEREMIAH CHEATOM
Riverhead
As a junior last season, Cheatom led Suffolk in rushing with 1,901 yards and 14 touchdowns. The 6-1, 205-pounder averaged 7.2 yards per carry. He also plays linebacker. |

JOHN DANIGGELIS
Smithtown East
This junior quarterback will be counted on to run a no-huddle spread offense. The 6-foot , 175-pound Daniggelis passed for just under 1,000 yards and ran for just under 1,000 yards as a sophomore. |

MATT GRASSA
North Babylon
Grassa, 6-foot, 218-pound senior linebacker, had 77 tackles and seven sacks. He also rushed for 472 yards with six touchdowns as a junior. |

DYLAN HARNED
Newfield
Harned (6-2, 180 pounds) was a very reliable defensive back before taking snaps at quarterback and completing 60 percent of his passes as a junior last year. |

MATT HELDBERG
Smithtown West
The 6-2, 190-pound quarterback showed a lot of promise as a sophomore and was the starter last year as a junior, but suffered a torn ACL in the opener. |

BOBBY HEYWARD
East Islip
One of the area’s top lineman, he had 87 tackles -- including 15 for a loss — and seven sacks. The 5-10, 240-pound senior defensive tackle and offensive guard is the leader of Division II’s top-seeded team. |

SAM ILARIO
West Islip
This 6-foot, 215-pound quarterback had 18 rushing touchdowns and 930 yards and also passed for more than 800 yards with nine touchdowns as a junior. He suffered a serious ankle injury during the playoffs. |

KYLE MATHIE
Smithtown West
A tall receiver (6-3, 195 pounds) with a lot of speed, he caught 20 passes for 410 yards, and had five interceptions on the defensive side. He’s a junior safety. |

RYAN MAZZIE
Bay Shore
The 6-1, 180-pound quarterback completed seven touchdown passes and threw for nearly 600 yards as a junior last year. |

East Islip High School football player Connor McDaniel. This photo is for the 2013 Newsday high school football preview.

MIKE BIANCO
Eastport-South Manor
A tremendous run-stopper that tallied 118 tackles last season. The 5-10, 225-pound senior also plays fullback. |

CHRIS BUCHALSKI
Miller Place
Headed to Villanova, this 6-5, 275-pound two-way lineman blocks well and puts pressure on quarterbacks. |

LEVAR BUTTS
Huntington
Breakaway speed makes him explosive on both sides of the ball. Butts is a 5-10, 205-pound senior running back and linebacker. |

CONNOR CIPP
Bellport
The 6-1, 210-pound ball hawk can stuff the run from sideline to sideline. The senior also plays fullback. |

BEN KOCIS
Huntington
Senior Ben Kocis (6-2, 190 pounds) has a strong and accurate arm and the ability to read defenses and scramble. |

ADE NELSON
Comsewogue
A physical runner (6-foot, 205 pounds) who can go around opponents or through them. Nelson, a senior, also plays defensive back. |

BRETT OSMAN
Miller Place
A slasher with great vision who finds gaps between the tackles. The 5-11, 185-pound senior also plays defensive back. |

MATT SELTS
Sayville
A shifty back who explodes into cuts and eludes tacklers. The 5-10, 165-pound senior also plays defensive back. |

PATRICK SHEPPARD
Islip
Great speed for his size (6-foot, 250 pounds) helps keep quarterbacks on the run. The senior defensive end also plays guard. |

SEAN WALTERS
Amityville
A 5-8, 150-pound senior quarterback, Walters can pick a defense apart with his strong arm or his quick feet. |

TYLER ANDERSON
Shoreham-Wading River
The halfback in the Wildcats’ pistol formation, the all-division selection ran for 14 touchdowns as a junior last year, including four in the first round of the playoffs. The 6-3, 210-pound senior also plays linebacker. |

REGGIE ARCHER
Mercy
An impact player on both sides of the ball, Archer racked up 1,084 yards over 166 carries last year. The 5-10, 185-pound junior defensive back added 20 tackles to help carry the Monarchs' secondary. |

JAKE CARLOCK
Babylon
Last year, Carlock had 32 catches for 650 yards and 11 touchdowns. The 6-2, 200-pound senior also plays defensive back. |

TAYLOR CATZ
Hampton Bays
A team leader who is always a threat to score, Catz had three touchdowns on punt returns last year and finished with 12 overall. The 6-1, 190-pound senior plays running back and defensive back. |

MATT CHOINSKI
Glenn
One of the top lineman in the county, Choinski led the way for a then-inexperienced Glenn offense that made the playoffs. The two-way senior lineman is 6-4, 250 pounds. |

MIKE CORTESE
Mt. Sinai
Cortese, the team's leading tackler, also had three sacks last year. The 5-10, 220-pound senior will see a bulk of the carries at running back as well. |

CORTLAND HENEVELD
East Hampton
Heneveld was a scorer both on land and in theair, racking up six rushing scores and seven more passing touchdowns as a junior. The 6-3, 215-pound quarterback amassed 1,379 yards total. He also plays linebacker. |

BRYAN REED
Mt. Sinai
Reed, who accepted a full scholarship to Delaware, is a bruising lineman who can benchpress 410 pounds. The 6-3, 295-pounder is a defensive leader on a stingy Mustangs squad. |

NICK SANTORELLI
Babylon
The first Babylon quarterback ever allowed to call his own plays under coach Rick Punzone, Santorelli made them count, going 76-for-130 for 1,153 yards. He added 905 rushing yards. The 5-7, 180-pound senior also plays defensive back. |

ERIC SCHWEITZER
Babylon
Schweitzer is best known for scoring six touchdowns in the Long Island championship victory, but the 5-10, 185-pound offensive dynamo is also a huge asset on defense. He had 85 tackles at linebacker last year as a junior. |