Riverhead is a football town, and it’s time to reclaim that legacy

Riverhead is a football town. Let’s not forget that.

When I grew up in Riverhead, as a son of two Polish immigrants, football wasn’t something I was interested in playing. I played PAL soccer early on, and then got into little league baseball and CYO basketball as I grew older. But something in me was always curious about the sport because of the town I grew up in.

Back then, every Saturday during the fall, the stands at Coach Mike McKillop Memorial Field were packed with spectators. Cow bells echoed down Pulaski Street as the football team crashed through the Blue Waves banner and onto the field to the tune of ACDC’s “Hells Bells.” Being on the football team was a big deal. 

I remember watching crazy legs Eddie Wansor at quarterback, the bruiser Mike Owen at halfback and soft-hands Mike Heigh at tight end in 2003 when they won the Suffolk County championship at Stony Brook University. I was in the stands — watching with pride and admiration. Longtime radio voice of the Blue Waves Pat Kelly took me along to watch the game, as I was very good friends with his son. 

It was mind-boggling for me to see the support this town gave its football team. It wasn’t just family in the crowd at Stony Brook University. It was regular town residents, alumni, students — anyone with any connection to Riverhead, they were there. That’s how much it meant to everyone. There’s nowhere else they’d rather be on a Saturday. 

Though I played some football in middle school to try to be like my idols, being so new to the sport, I decided it wasn’t for me. I continued watching the games, seeing guys like Miguel Maysonet, Tyler Gilliam, Andrew Smith, Timmy Velys, Rasheen Moore and countless others find success.

So, my junior year in 2007, I decided to give it another go. It was the best decision I ever made. The memories I made that season will last a lifetime. 

Even though I was a newcomer, I was brought right into the brotherhood. There’s no team sport like football. Everybody has a role, from the headliner to the last person on the bench. It was the first time I understood what it meant to be on a team.

We practiced hard. Coach Leif Shay was strict and expected nothing but perfection. If one person on the team messed up, we all paid for it. We had to hold each other accountable. If you were on time, you were late — a philosophy I still hold in my life today. 

The 2008 group I was a part of was coached up since they were kids. They already built the foundation from youth football. It was led by parents who were committed and all in. By the time they were all on varsity, we had a shot at greatness.

I wanted nothing more than to be like my idols and win a Suffolk County championship. As the wins began to stack up, the potential of doing just that became a reality. We not only won the Suffolk County championship that season, but we were the first team in Riverhead history to win a Long Island championship.

When I tell you we were rock stars, that was an understatement. When we won it all, there were thousands of people at the Liberty Bell at Pulaski Street elementary school to ring off the 42 points we scored on Elmont. As we pulled up with a police escort, people were honking their horns, cheering, crying — it was like a movie. All the blood, sweat and tears paid off. Those guys will be my brothers for life, and it was only my first season.

Riverhead went on to win two more Suffolk County championships in 2012 and 2013.

The next big group was supposed to come through, but then COVID hit, austerity measures shocked the district, cutting sports and forcing parents to leave. We’ve been picking up the pieces ever since. 

It’s been a while since Riverhead was the team to beat for football, but we’re a football town. We’re due.

The coaches are committed to bringing that back from the bottom levels to the top. There are champions at every level coaching the youth. When I speak to the parents at those lower levels, they’re committed. Those groups of parents and kids need to lead the charge and not leave the district. The talent is here. They will become those idols for the next generation and so forth. 

But even though there have been championships won in PAL football, some parents have still decided to move based on the varsity team’s performance. Why not be the change and lead the charge to bring this program back to its glory days? Winning a championship with your friends will always mean more than winning a championship with complete strangers. 

It takes a village to turn things around. And we have it. Anyone with any association with Riverhead will tell you — we all bleed blue.