Sayville wins Rutgers Trophy as Suffolk's best football team
Sayville head coach Robert Hoss celebrates a championship with his team in the Long Island Class III final against Wantagh on Friday November 28, 2025 at Hofstra. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
The Sayville football program won its seventh Rutgers Trophy as Suffolk’s most outstanding team on Monday night at the Suffolk County Football Coaches Association dinner at the Hyatt Regency in Hauppauge.
Sayville had 211 total points and 39 first-place votes to earn the 79th Rutgers Trophy. Ward Melville finished second with 66 points and four first-place votes. Bayport-Blue Point and East Islip were tied with 65 points.
The Golden Flashes had a 12-0 season capped by a 42-35 win over Wantagh in the Long Island Class III championship game. Halfback Tristan Vitale rushed for 239 yards and five touchdowns and quarterback Patrick Coan added 229 yards on the ground and a touchdown.
It was the eighth Long Island title for the program. The Golden Flashes earned the school’s fourth Rutgers Trophy in the past six seasons and third in the last four. They garnered the award in 1972, 2004, 2011, spring 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025.
“There’s a lot to be said for consistency,” Sayville coach Rob Hoss said. “There is a common thread throughout our program from the youth program through our school teams. There are high expectations and a real commitment to football in Sayville.”
Hoss said this group worked extremely hard to carry that championship banner in 2025. The Golden Flashes were not as dominant as in years past, when they won most games in blowout fashion. This year Sayville trailed late in the second half of four games.
“And they always found a way,” Hoss said. “The ability to stay composed and focus without panic separated this group from the others. This team had a resiliency needed to win. We needed to trust each other, commit to each other and care about each other — those were our three core values. We had to trust the process and keep leaning on our core values.”
Those character traits carried Sayville in games against East Hampton, West Islip, Smithtown West and Wantagh.
“I told them, ‘Do your one-11th and that will help us overcome when other teams might be better than us,’’ Hoss said. “The strength of the pack, the pack mentality, will overcome the individual.’ ”
Sayville outscored opponents 478-205, winning a second straight Suffolk Division III title with a 34-7 victory over Smithtown West.
The winning tradition runs deep in Sayville. The Golden Flashes have more playoff wins than any other program in Suffolk with 74 and the most Suffolk football titles with 18.
“It’s an honor to be recognized as the best team in the county,” Hoss said. “The Rutgers is something all teams strive for.”
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
