Not Always About Saturday

Thursday marks the official start of the Nassau County high school season, and t’s only the beginning of weekday action.

This won’t be a year chock full of traditional Saturday afternoon games, so be sure to check your favorite team’s schedule on its preview page as well as the day-by-day breakdown in the centerfold. Of the 28 games set for opening week, only 17 will be played Saturday. The other 11 games kickoff Thursday afternoon or Friday afternoon or evening, giving those teams involved an extra day or two to prepare for a short work week to follow. All games in Week 2 take place on Thursday, Sept. 17, including a handful under the lights, since Rosh Hashanah falls on Saturday the 19th.

“Every so often we have to work around the holidays,” said Elmont coach Jay Hegi, who moved the opener against Long Beach up one day. “To play on Saturday and then come back on Thursday is tough. Even one extra day helps.” Two local teams, Oceanside and Long Beach, won’t play a Saturday game until the calendar flips to October. In Week 3, the Sailors travel to Baldwin for a Friday night Conference I border battle on Sept. 25, while at the same time (7 p.m.) the Marines host Great Neck South in their annual under-thelights affair.

Oceanside and Long Beach each have an additional Friday night game in the second half of the season, as does Hewlett which opens on Friday at home against Glen Cove. “We’ve had a Friday or Saturday night game each year for the last six or seven years,” Hewlett coach Jay Iaquinta said. “We usually get a big draw and generate more excitement.”

Hewlett was one of eight Nassau teams to switch conferences based on enrollment. The Bulldogs’ drop to Conference III means it’ll revive a rivalry with Lawrence, the No. 1 seed. Hewlett, which lost the Conference II championship to Elmont, host the Golden Tornadoes on Saturday, Sept. 26. Calhoun, which qualified for the Conference II playoffs, moved to Conference I and faces an intimidating schedule highlighted by Farmingdale (this Friday at 6:30 p.m.), Hempstead, Massapequa and Freeport in the first four weeks. MacArthur is the lone squad to drop from the top conference and is ranked fifth in Conference II.