00:00When you found out that this season you'd have the opportunity to play Garden
00:04City, obviously the two of you have been on pretty impressive title streaks over
00:09the past few years. How did that feel, you know, to know you had this opportunity?
00:14I think it was exciting, you know, finally getting to see different
00:18competition instead of the same competition in our conference and I
00:21think it's just a great opportunity for Long Island. Yeah definitely, it's just
00:24definitely a great opportunity and it's really just another game, another game in the season.
00:28I mean we've always heard talks about it throughout the years but now that's
00:32really come true is honestly really exciting for all of Long Island. Hopefully
00:36it makes a boost of Long Island football in ways we don't know yet.
00:39Do you want to play a team that's also had a storied past?
00:44Yeah, I mean when the when the idea was brought up and like kind of going
00:48throughout the, throughout like the voting whatever I thought it was very
00:53exciting, you know, thinking like playing a team of similar history and all that. So yeah, I thought it was
00:59really
00:59cool. What's the year been like getting ready not just for this game but you know your season
01:03as a whole? Obviously early in the year there's probably been a lot of focus and prep for this?
01:08Um, not really. We haven't talked about it until this week. You know, we're kind of focused week to
01:13week. You know, that's our main goal each week. You know, we played Port Washington week one, we focus on
01:19them.
01:20Syosset week two, we focus on them. And now yeah, we're fully in but before that it was really just
01:25week to week.
01:26Yeah, it's really just tunnel vision for us, you know, just focus on whoever's in front of us and
01:32now it's GC so it's all in them. I mean every game means the same to us whether it's Port
01:37Washington,
01:38Farmerdale, every game is as big as the other. We treat every team the same, we respect every team
01:42but we also hate each team each way. Coming off another championship, what have the vibes been like
01:48just week by week? You know, it's a new season. It was great, you know, what we did last year,
01:54what those guys were able to accomplish but it's a new season working on ourselves, you know,
01:58completely different team and ready for the same goal. We're all seniors, a lot of guys fill in spots so
02:03since this is our senior year, it's our turn to write our own story so the history is in the
02:07past,
02:08we'll focus on this year and hopefully winning four-time LSE champions. What would an undefeated season with
02:14that championship mean? It would mean everything, you know, everybody likes going out on top, you know,
02:20it'd be great but right now we're week three so we're focused on that and you know, you gotta be
02:253-0
02:26before you can be 12-0 so gotta work step by step. You guys take it week by week but
02:30now, you know,
02:31a game with a little bit more hype and excitement, you know, you're playing it at Hofstra because of,
02:35you know, the expected crowd and everything so what has that lock-in process been like this week?
02:40For me personally, I think it's just similar to every other game, you know, just block out the
02:44noise, only worry about the 50 guys on the team, seven coaches, just worry about ourselves and
02:49block out all the external noise, you know what I mean? We don't really have to lock in specifically
02:53for any games, we treat whether we're playing the bottom team of the division, the lowest seed,
02:57or we're playing a powerhouse like Garden City, we treat every game the same, we come to the same,
03:01every game with the same energy, the same people, just hoping I'll win that game.
03:05Cash Patel, the FBI director, he used to be a place kicker for Garden City, you know,
03:09he already chimed in and said how excited he is about this game. A couple of notable Massapequa
03:15alumni, like I know Gary Baldinger's coming to speak to you guys, you know, what does it mean that
03:20there's a lot of eyes on you in a positive way that, you know, this is something that, you know,
03:24is transcending generations of both football programs?
03:27You know, I love the support, you know, I have three older brothers that played for Massapequa,
03:32so it's great to have all the alumni, hearing them talk about it, having them behind us,
03:36you know what I mean? So, I think it's great, but yeah, just got to focus in.
03:40You know, I think it's awesome looking in the stands and seeing them there cheering you on,
03:43and like, when I was little I was cheering them on, so it's pretty cool.
03:47I think it's great just seeing Long Island football get the respect it finally deserves,
03:51I mean, I think it's a good relief for all these other past years who didn't get to play a
03:55big game
03:56like this so they can come out and watch and hopefully get some of that experience back.
03:59You know, we're always together, we're always hanging out as a team after wins, after hopefully
04:05not losses though, but you know, we're always hanging out together. You know, we go out after
04:09practice to eat, we do all that stuff together, so we're a very close, tight-knit group.
04:13You know, we have this memo on the back of our shirts, especially this season, anyone, every time,
04:17anywhere, and it's good for this season because we're playing Garden City, which is a different conference.
04:22So, Justin, we're trying to write our own story here. Obviously, 12-0 last year,
04:26we're a whole different group of kids, so we want to show them that we're not a team based off
04:31of
04:31last year's success, and we're trying to write our own story. That's the biggest thing we want to
04:35accomplish this season.
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