Football makes debut on Uniondale turf

It has been a while since the Uniondale football team played a home game.

That’s because the school was building a brand new turf field. After completing the project in June, the Knights finally got to host a game and debut the new turf as theory hosted Massapequa last Saturday afternoon.

It took a while for this project to get done due to the pandemic but Athletic Director Peter Cardone is glad to see the impact it is already having. “The kids were super excited,” he said. “It has already changed the environment of our student body in a positive way.”

Cardone knows the importance of having an impact on his students and the community. Building this turf field is a great example of that. “Being around the kids makes me want to work hard everyday to make a positive change in their life,” he said. “My success is determined by their success. It is not about me, it’s about them.”

Student-athletes and coaches agree with Cardone on the positive impact it can and already has had. “It was really cool to be out there on the new turf,” said assistant coach Adrian Berry. “Back in my day, we used to play on rocks so we’ve come a long way.”

Playing in front of your home fans is always a boost. “It was very energizing to finally be playing back at home,” said Jaden Lewis-White, one of Uniondale’s three captains, along with running back Jaheim Foote and wide receiver Adrian Ayala.

As for the results of the first football game on the new turf, it did not go so well for Uniondale as the Knights suffered a 41-13 loss to defending Nassau Conference I and Long Island Class I champions Massapequa. “The players were not playing with enough confidence at first,” Berry said. “We tried to call a safe offense at first so us as coaches need to do a better job of putting the players in a good position as well.”

After trailing 34-0 entering the fourth quarter, Uniondale did make some adjustments and found success. Its starting quarterback, Abelardo Peralta, is just a sophomore so there is still a development process happening on the fly. “Once we opened up the playbook in the fourth, we saw some good things,” said Berry. “It was nice to see him successfully throw the ball down the field.”

There is still plenty of time for Uniondale to right the ship, as it currently holds a 1-2 record, with the lone victory coming against Plainview, 31-23. “Next week, I want to see us play more as a team,” Lewis-White said. “If we play with confidence, we can be successful.”

Lewis-White also mentioned how it’s been great to see some guys step up and make big impacts. “We’ve gotten great contributions from guys like Jose Melendez, Darien Oliphant, and Marquis Lawrence,” he said. “Lawrence especially is a 10th grader who has brought a lot of energy to the team.”

Uniondale’s next chance to pick a win and get back to .500 comes this Saturday at 3 p.m. at Valley Stream Central.