School enrollment forced significant movement in the high school football alignments in 2024. And for the most part it wasn’t the middle of the road teams on the move — it was the powerhouse programs headed into uncharted territory. But the change of scenery for Garden City, East Islip, Wantagh and Plainedge is just that: a change of scenery.
Everything else remains the same — they just keep on winning. All four schools are undefeated and on top of the standings. East Islip, the defending Long Island Class III champion, moved up in class from Suffolk Division III and back into II, where they spent more than three decades before a drop in enrollment forced them into III for the past nine years.
“It’s all new because we’ve been out of Division II for so long,” East Islip coach Sal J. Ciampi said. “There’s more film work to prepare for opponents that we haven’t seen in some time.
Although, it doesn’t really change what we do.” What East Islip does is win. They’ve captured three Division III titles and a Long Island crown in nine years.
“They’ve been doing what we aspire to do,” Half Hollow Hills East coach Alex Marcelin said. “We haven’t been able to kick in that proverbial championship door. But we’re right there — we’re knocking and we’re knocking loud.
” Hills East (3-0) plays at East Islip ay 6 p.m. on Saturday.
The schools meet for the first time in 16 years. East Islip has outscored its opponents in the first half, 113-7. Hills .
