What the 2019 high school football season had in store for Riverhead was a curious mystery of sorts. The Blue Waves had never played in Suffolk County Division I before, so in making the jump from Division II, they were plunging into the unknown. READ
Looking back, William Burkowsky said he wishes he had played football throughout his high school career. He grew up playing PAL with many of his current teammates on the Blue Waves. READ
For the most part, you win some, you lose some in high school football. Riverhead experienced both a big win and a big loss on Saturday. READ
Riverhead High School athletic trainer Chris Hildebrandt had one final pickup to make after Saturday’s football game. As athletic director Brian Sacks climbed into Hildebrandt’s golf cart at Coach Mike McKillop Memorial Field, Sacks joked that he had a cramp.
The wisecrack drew some chuckles and smiles, but the issue of leg cramps was no laughing matter. Least of all to the Blue Waves. READ
On an historic day for the Riverhead High School football program, Albert Daniels showed his true colors: red, white and blue. Put the emphasis on blue. READ
Fall is right around the corner. One can sense it. Temperatures are getting a little cooler, the air has a crispness to it and the sounds of football can be heard.
“It’s a great time of the year,” Aden Smith said. “It’s fall. The season’s changing. It’s cooling down a little bit. It’s just a great time.”
That’s just what Smith’s Shoreham-Wading River High School football team is counting on — another great time. READ
It’s nice to go into training camp with an established quarterback already in place. That was the case, for example, for the Riverhead High School football team the past two years with Cristian Pace, who has since graduated.
Then again, competition is a good thing, too. Coaches love competition. READ
A line is drawn in the sand, separating winning football teams from losing ones. That line is the offensive line.
It’s the offensive line that largely determines whether a team will be able to move the ball consistently and put points on the scoreboard. Riverhead received a reminder of that last season, working with a new, raw and young offensive line that took its lumps, starting some freshmen. Typically, seniors and juniors have a physical advantage over freshmen.
“To be real, we did terrible,” sophomore tight end Deontae Sykes said. “We could have done better. It’s just the guys weren’t strong enough.” READ