The Redmen are battling it out on the turf this season at East Islip High School. The varsity football team has one game remaining in the regular season before the playoffs begin.
The East Islip varsity football team is a member of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) and competes in DIV II. The Redmen are led by head coach Sal Ciampi Jr, who entered his 25th season at the helm at the start of the season. The Redmen earned a promotion from DIV III to DIV II last season and have made the most of it.
The father-son duo is arguably the greatest legacy in Long Island high school sports history. The varsity football program was established in 1954. Sal Ciampi, Sr. took over at the helm in 1970 and coached the team until 1995. Under his guidance, the Redmen won 13 league titles, five conference titles, and four Rutgers cups. Ciampi, Jr. entered the scene in 2000, beginning his own career as head coach of the East Islip Redmen. Most recently, the Redmen took home both the Suffolk and Long Island championship titles in 2023. In 2024, Ciampi, Jr. earned his 168th career win, thus surpassing his father as the all-time career wins leader at East Islip.
The football team boasts an 8-1-0 record in the regular season. Their only loss came against Half Hollow Hills East, a persistent thorn in everyone’s side. The boys took advantage of being at home as they played there five times this season, while playing three on the road.
The Redmen scored [roughly] 34 touchdowns this season and were successful on their PAT attempts. One name that’s all over the stat sheet this season is junior Jake Simmons. The running back is currently ranked sixth in Suffolk County in TDs with 15 and yards with 1,026. Number 4 has a knack for finding the end zone, and it’s helped the Redmen string together wins on the turf.
East Islip held its homecoming on September 27 versus Smithtown East and defeated the Bulls in dominant fashion, winning 61-21. To keep up the good vibes, the Redmen also produced a win on senior night, winning 28-7 over Connetquot on October 24.
The boys are winning consistently, and the offense is always there to back it up. Fortunately for them, the bulk of their points are scored through touchdowns, so they’re successfully converting on their drives more often than not. It doesn’t particularly matter how you score the points to win, but it certainly helps to score six-point touchdowns with an extra point attempt rather than having to go for a field goal to get on the board.
The Redmen played their final regular season game on November 1st versus Northport on the road. Northport was undefeated this season and sat in first place in DIV II right above East Islip. The two teams played one another last season at Sal Ciampi Field at Boomer Esiason Stadium, where the Redmen dominated the Tigers in a 41-27 win. The boys spoiled the perfect season and scraped out a win over their division rival, earning themselves the number one seed and a home matchup in the playoffs.
They took advantage at home, thrashing Connetquot 38-0. The Redmen move on to the next round, where they’ll meet Northport again for the second time in 14 days. With East Islip being the higher seed, they’ll get to play this one on their own turf.
