Newsday launches high school fantasy football league: See the draft results
Are you ready for some high school fantasy football? Newsday has you covered.
The Newsday high school sports department is introducing a fantasy football league comprised of Long Island high school players. There are 10 teams, each operated by a different member of the staff.
What's at stake? Nothing except for bragging rights among the participants.
How the league will work
The 10 teams will earn points based on how their selected players perform in games each week. The team with the most cumulative points will be the champion. We’ll use basic fantasy point scoring based on total yards gained and touchdowns scored.
The team rosters will have 10 players, and teams can pick up players who were not selected in the original draft after Week 1. The starting lineups will have three quarterbacks, three running backs, three receivers and a defense. No team can have more than two players from any one school.
How the points work
Touchdowns: 6 points
Passing yards: 2 points for every 25 yards passing
Rushing yards: 1 point for every 10 yards rushing
Receiving yards: 1 point for every 10 yards receiving
Receiving catches: 1 point for every reception
Two-point conversions: 2 points for pass, run or catch
Defense
Shutout: 15 points
1-6 points allowed: 10 points
7-14 points allowed: 7 points
15-27 points allowed: 3 points
28+ points allowed: 0 points
The draft
Of the 10 first-round selections in the inaugural Newsday high school fantasy football draft, four were quarterbacks, five were running backs and one was a wide receiver.
History was made when the first draft pick came from Suffolk’s Division IV when Team Ferguson selected highly regarded Miller Place quarterback Shane Kiernan.
Team Sarra had the second pick and immediately dipped into a deep pool of talented running backs with Floyd’s Ja’Quan Thomas, Long Island’s rushing (2,594 yards) and touchdown (37) leader from a year ago.
Team Kellman selected Sayville’s senior quarterback Patrick Coan with the third overall pick. Coan passed for 29 touchdowns and 2,277 yards last year.
Team Slawson chose running back Aidan Winter of Babylon with the fourth pick and Team Chris felt like he was gifted Farmingdale running back Josh Kama with the fifth pick.
Team Ruban saw the player he liked at the National Football Foundation’s Quarterback Challenge over the summer and went with Long Island Lutheran quarterback Peyton Robinson with the sixth overall pick. Robinson passed for 2,146 yards and 28 touchdowns and ran for 527 yards and four more scores.
Team Sicoli selected Seaford running back Brian Falk with the seventh pick. The Vikings workhorse averaged 19 carries per game, one of the highest workloads across Long Island. He totaled 1,511 rushing yards.
Newsday Sports Editor Hank Winnicki said he was initially going with a top quarterback with the eighth overall pick but felt he couldn’t pass on Half Hollow Hills East running back Daniel White, who had 2,306 yards rushing and 25 touchdowns.
That selection opened the door for Team Lindsay, which wasted no time taking Connetquot quarterback Vincent Feraca with the ninth pick. Feraca passed for 2,242 yards and 25 touchdowns.
The final pick of the first round went to Team Katzen. Jolie Katzen took the first wide receiver of the draft, selecting Miller Place star AJ Rudolph.
Draft results
ROUND 1
Ferguson: Shane Kiernan, Miller Place, QB, Sr.
Sarra: Ja’Quan Thomas, Floyd, RB, Sr.
Kellman: Patrick Coan, Sayville, QB, Sr.
Slawson: Aidan Winter, Babylon, RB, Sr.
Chris: Josh Kama, Farmingdale, RB, Sr.
Ruban: Peyton Robinson, Long Island Lutheran, QB, Sr.
Sicoli: Brian Falk, Seaford, RB, Sr.
Hank: Daniel White, Half Hollow Hills East, RB, Sr.
Lindsay: Vincent Feraca, Connetquot, QB, Sr.
Katzen: AJ Rudolph, Miller Place, WR, Sr.
ROUND 2
Katzen: Xavier Bala, St. Anthony’s, RB, Jr.
Lindsay: Jacob Butler, Long Island Lutheran, WR, Sr.
Hank: Jaxson Torres, Plainedge, QB, Jr.
Sicoli: Shane Harmon, Oceanside, QB, Sr.
Ruban: Justin DePietro, Carey, RB, Jr.
Chris: Kevin Moore, St. Anthony’s, WR, Sr.
Slawson: Tim Stanley, Division, QB, Sr.
Kellman: Joey Karpowicz, Ward Melville, WR, Jr.
Sarra: Hudson Philbrick, Ward Melville, QB, Jr.
Ferguson: Kameron Roy, Long Island Lutheran, WR, Sr.
ROUND 3
Ferguson: Michael Cascione, Smithtown West, RB, Sr.
Sarra: Nick DeVito, Smithtown West, QB, Sr.
Kellman: Dylan Fella, Plainedge, RB, Sr.
Slawson: Aidan Barnes, Elmont, QB, Sr.
Chris: Anthony Asaro, Garden City, RB, Jr.
Ruban: Garden City Defense
Sicoli: Joe Nicholson, Wantagh, RB, Sr.
Hank: Joe Benedetto, Ward Melville, RB, Sr.
Lindsay: Dontae Spadaro, Mount Sinai, RB, Sr.
Katzen: Chace Morris, Oceanside, RB, Jr.
ROUND 4
Katzen: Mepham Defense
Lindsay: Alex Davis, East Hampton, RB, Sr.
Hank: Luke Taff, Half Hollow Hills West, QB, Sr.
Sicoli: Jacob Guzik, Huntington, QB, Sr.
Ruban: Jason Perez, Division, WR, Sr.
Chris: Kade Diaz, Half Hollow Hills West, WR, Sr.
Slawson: Johnny Russo, St. Anthony’s, WR, Sr.
Kellman: Lincoln Riggs, Commack, QB, Jr.
Sarra: Max Ferraro, Eastport-South Manor, RB, Sr.
Ferguson: Max Sorrentino, Mount Sinai, QB, Sr.
ROUND 5
Ferguson: Jonathan Davis, Hempstead, RB, Sr.
Sarra: Nick Mastriano, Connetquot, WR, So.
Kellman: Colin Most, Bayport-Blue Point, WR, Sr.
Slawson: Colton Ford, Smithtown West, WR, Sr.
Chris: Michael Spinella, Seaford, QB, Sr.
Ruban: Yasir Jones, Huntington, RB, Sr.
Sicoli: Brendan Vetter, South Side, WR, Sr.
Hank: Luke Neugebauer, Sayville, WR, Sr.
Lindsay: Kaden Reid, Longwood, WR, Sr.
Katzen: Theo Ball, East Hampton, QB, Sr.
ROUND 6
Katzen: Nick Sevilla, Half Hollow Hills East, QB, Sr.
Lindsay: Kai Jankow, Babylon, QB, Sr.
Hank: Jackson Adler, Syosset, WR, Sr.
Sicoli: Massapequa Defense
Ruban: Luke LaRocca, Sachem North, QB, Jr.
Chris: Ethan Dizon, Syosset, QB, Sr.
Slawson: Izaiah Hill, Valley Stream North, RB, Sr.
Kellman: Isaiah Smith, Malverne, RB, Jr.
Sarra: Tristan Vitale, Sayville, RB, Sr.
Ferguson: Conor Kenefick, West Islip, RB, Sr.
ROUND 7
Ferguson: Farmingdale Defense
Sarra: Carter Loughman, Wantagh, QB, Sr.
Kellman: Bayport-Blue Point Defense
Slawson: Cole Villalta, Massapequa, WR, Sr.
Chris: Sayville Defense
Ruban: Kyle Demosthene, Locust Valley, WR, Sr.
Sicoli: Brody Reidel, Long Beach, RB, Jr.
Hank: Cold Spring Harbor Defense
Lindsay: Joe Pistritto, Hauppauge, WR, Sr.
Katzen: Patrick Fay, Westhampton, WR, Sr.
ROUND 8
Katzen: Jake Calloway, Westhampton, QB, Jr.
Lindsay: Plainedge Defense
Hank: Xavier O’Brady, Long Island Lutheran, RB, Sr.
Sicoli: Devin Paccione, Wantagh, WR, Sr.
Ruban: Javon Barnwell, Connetquot, RB, Sr.
Chris: Jovan Brewster, West Islip, RB, Sr.
Slawson: Simon Blissett, Northport, QB, Sr.
Kellman: Braydon Robertiello, Garden City, QB, Jr.
Sarra: Frankie Algieri, Huntington, WR, Sr.
Ferguson: Braydon Waldbauer, Bayport-Blue Point, WR, So.
ROUND 9
Ferguson: Harry Eynon, Port Washington, QB, Jr.
Sarra: Henry Sarro, Sachem North, WR, Sr.
Kellman: Keith King, Glenn, RB, So.
Slawson: Jake Simmons, East Islip, RB, Sr.
Chris: Mason Foster, Glen Cove, WR, Sr.
Ruban: Kevin Peters, St. John the Baptist, WR, Sr.
Sicoli: Ryan Murgatroyd, Lindenhurst, WR, Sr.
Hank: Tyrese Williams, Roosevelt, WR, Jr.
Lindsay: TJ Sonnenberg, West Islip, QB, Sr.
Katzen: Collin Reyer, Bayport-Blue-Point, RB, Sr.
ROUND 10
Katzen: James Dee, Sachem East, WR, Sr.
Lindsay: Kyon Sarwari, Longwood, RB, Jr.
Hank: Nick Lachappelle, Hauppauge, QB, Sr.
Sicoli: Michael Jordan, Baldwin, QB, Sr.
Ruban: Antonio Marrone, Smithtown East, QB, Sr.
Chris: Maurice Scott, St. John the Baptist, QB, Sr.
Slawson: Long Beach Defense
Kellman: James Quilty, Mepham, WR, Sr.
Sarra: Seaford Defense
Ferguson: Jayden Smith, Half Hollow Hills West, RB, Sr.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
