Notebook: United Healthcare Empire Challenge

The 16th annual United Healthcare Empire Challenge all-star game came and went June 21, and with it developed many interesting story lines and tidbits.

Head coaches: Long Island – Russ Cellan (Freeport) and New York City – Daniel Perez (Fort Hamilton)

2011 MVP: Lynbrook’s Mike Kozlakowski

Score: Long Island 17, New York City 14

All-time series: Long Island 8, New York City 6

New York City wins with size: Though Long Island won the contest, one look at the city roster on paper shows a great difference in size. The city boasted the biggest athletes in this year’s game with 6-foot-8 Marcus Smith from Campus Magnet (380 pounds), 6-foot-6 Wayne Williams from Lincoln (350 pounds), Rotchill Medor from Lincoln (375 pounds) and Vince Hardy from Boys and Girls at 380 pounds. David Geffrard from Bishop Ford is also 330. Long Island’s lone 300 pounders were Bellport’s Ryan Sloan (315) and Justin Winter (320).

Injuries hinder lacrosse players: Sachem North’s Michael Andreassi and William Floyd’s Luke Miller, better known for their lacrosse games, but equally as damaging on the football field, sat out for Tuesday’s game with injuries. Andreassi is nursing a UCL tear in his elbow, while Miller, who won the Enners Award as the top lacrosse player in Suffolk last week, has had problems with his hamstring for two months. Glenn quarterback Ryan Rielly was also not on hand for the game with an undisclosed injury. Ryan Sliwak from Wantagh originally dressed for the game, but hurt his knee going up for a pass early on and sat the entire second half.

Long Island’s biggest winners play: Ten players on the Long Island roster won Long Island championships last fall on the gridiron. Some of the biggest award winners from the 2010 football season were also featured in the game: Tom Joyce - MacArthur (Thorp), Terrell Brown – Freeport (Martone), James Walsh – Floyd (Zellner), Alex Giviria – Islip (Collotta), – () and Tyler Heuer – Oceanside (Snyder). Suffolk's Hansen Award winner Mike Pellegrino was not selected for the game, while runner-up Jesse Scanna from Sachem was.

Legends fill up practice field: The beauty of the Empire Challenge is that the coaching staff for each team is also an all-star cast. Names like Russ Cellan, Joe Cipp, Buddy Krumenacker and Rich Reichert are prime in the coaching world. Add in others like Dave Falco, Joe Vito, Dave Shanahan and Rob Hoss, and one can imagine the intensity in practice and on game day, even for an all-star game.

At one practice last week at Sachem High School North, there were extra coaches on hand to watch and enjoy the off-season football moment. At one point, between all the coaches that were at Fred Fusaro Alumni Stadium, there were around 1,000 wins combined – even Fred Fusaro himself was there.

Perhaps the most unique figure was former Amityville coaching legend and politician Lou Howard, who coached in the 1950s and early 1960s. He’s in his late 80s today.

Ray Rice makes appearance: Former Rutgers University standout and current Baltimore Ravens tailback Ray Rice was on the Long Island sideline Tuesday, posing for pictures with players and signing autographs. He played at New Rochelle High School upstate, so he never made an appearance in this specific all-star game. He is ranked third all-time in Ravens rushing yards at just 24 years old.

Empire alums in the NFL: There are a handful of former Empire Challenge selections who have gone on to play in the NFL. The Class of 2001 produced four in Willie Colon (Cardinal Hayes, Hofstra, Steelers), Leon Williams (Canarsie, Miami, Cowboys), James Wyche (Roosevelt, Syracuse, Rams) and Steve Gregory (Curtis, Syracuse, Chargers). Colon won a Super Bowl with the Steelers, as well.

From the Class of 2002 there was Stephen Bowen, who played at Hills West and Hofstra, and was signed by the Cowboys. From the Class of 2004 Rich Ohrnberge from East Meadow and Penn State played with the Patriots.

The Class of 2005 has seen three go to the NFL, including Jovan Belcher (West Babylon, Maine, Chiefs), PJ Hill (Poly Prep, Wisconsin, Saints) and Darrel Young (Amityville, Villanova, Redskins). 

Cortland and Stony Brook represented well: Between the two SUNY schools, five will play at Cortland, while six will play at Stony Brook. All of Cortland’s players hail from Long Island, including Jesse Scanna (Sachem), Joe DeLuca (Sayville), Greg Kolodinsky (Seaford), James Wright (Garden City) and Jack Delahunty (Northport).

As for Stony Brook their recruits include Dimitry Russ (Deer Park), Karim Mohamed (Lawrence), Victor Ochi (Valley Stream Central), Rene Modeste (Brooklyn Tech), Kedar Hunter (Holy Cross) and James Barry (Poly Prep).

Super Bowl referee on hand for game: Hofstra alum and NFL referee Steve Zimmer worked the Empire Challenge game again this year. An attorney on Long Island, Zimmer was on the officiating crew for Super Bowl XL at Ford Field in Detroit.