Nothing like a season-opener pitting two of the top three seeds in Suffolk Division I against each other. And that’s how we open this division in the 2025 high school football season, with the National Football Foundation Kickoff Classic. It's a fantastic matchup where No. 3 Longwood travels to play at No. 2 Ward Melville on Friday night at 7 p.m. in East Setauket.

“We return a ton of kids and for the first time in my career we’ve had the same starting quarterback two years in a row,” said Ward Melville coach Chris Boltrek. “Hudson [Philbrick] has taken over a leadership role, and everything has been good this offseason.”

Philbrick will spread the field and look for top target Joey Karpowicz and balance the offense by leaning on halfback Joe Benedetto and the run game.

Longwood is young

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