The big game – Archrivals Freeport and Baldwin to meet Saturday

Blame it on the Spartans. They invented football back in 500 B.C., using a ball that was kicked, passed or carried across the opponent’s goal line. The Romans added the leather ball and the British perfected the game before it made its way to our shores.

Fast forward several hundred years. It is a bright autumn morning and two groups of boys – one from Freeport and the other from Baldwin – stand on the opposite sides of Milburn Creek. One of the boys holds a football under his arm and calls to the other boys across the creek, “you want to play football?”

And so it began – a bittersweet rivalry between friends and neighbors that has lasted decades. This Saturday, Freeport Homecoming, at 3 p.m., Freeport’s Red Devils and Baldwin’s Bruins will meet on Freeport’s high school field to decide who reigns supreme, at least for this year.

The Red Devils are 3-2 this season, beating Hempstead this past Saturday. The Bruins are also at 3-2, losing to Farmingdale Saturday.

“It doesn’t matter what comes before this game. This is the game you want to win,” said Bruin Coach Steve Carroll.

Red Devil Coach Russ Cellan put it another way. “We always play to win but this game draws the fans.”

Jonathan Bloom, Athletic Director at Freeport High School, agreed. “This game draws about 1,000 people. The fan base here is huge. I get calls from alumni all the time. Many have said they will be here. It’s the Baldwin game and it’s our homecoming,” he said.

Baldwin also expects its fans to be there on Saturday. “We’ve had great crowds all season – 1,500 to 2,000 people. It’s been packed and this game might draw even more people. It’s just a quarter mile down the road, and it’s Freeport. That rivalry goes way back,” said Coach Carroll.

The first Freeport-Baldwin game took place in 1922. “In those days all you needed was 11 guys, things weren’t that specific,” explained Coach Carroll. Freeport won that year and the next. In 1924, Baldwin beat out Freeport but the Red Devils then went on a winning streak until 1931 when “the [Baldwin] Board of Education hired Coach George Craig,” said Coach Carroll. “He was told if you beat Freeport, you have a coaching job for life. And he did. He was Baldwin’s coach for 30 years.”

Baldwin had an eight year winning streak and was known in those early years for its aerial tactics that made Blue and Gold teams famous.

But Freeport hired its own superstar – Coach Bill Ashley – and in 1942 Freeport beat Baldwin 6-0. Newspapers reported that the game drew 12,000 spectators at Freeport Stadium. Back then the game between the two teams took place on Election day.

In 1950, Freeport and Baldwin were deadlocked at 13 wins each with nary a tie when they faced off. Freeport won 47-13 but the following year it was Baldwin who won 12-6. The day before the 1951 face-off, The Leader reported that at Freeport’s pep rally principal Martin Mansperger presented the team with a sealed envelope which they were to open if they won and burn if they lost. After the game, Red Devils’ co-captain Hank Bandhold burned the envelope as the team looked on. No one knows what was in the envelope.

But in 1955 the Red Devils won and each “letterman received a white sweater with emblem as a reminder of the season,” wrote The Leader.

By the early 1960s high school football scheduling changed. “We started playing Freeport at the Hofstra Stadium. There were more and more schools playing in the conference,” said Coach Carroll. “There are some years when we don’t play at all; it all depends on where each team falls in preseason rankings.”

Still, the competition to be the best on the field remained.

“Those years we had some thrilling games. I think it was sometime around ’67 or ’68, we won. It was a big deal. I remember how everybody was driving all over the place. Everybody was so happy. I was a kid but it was cool,” said Coach Carroll.

“My brother played in the ’72 game. We were 2-0 with three minutes in the game. Freeport broke a pass on a touchdown and won 6-2. It was unbelievable!”

More recently, Red Devils Coach Russ Cellan recalls the 1998 playoff game when we “intercepted a pass at the one yard line with less than a minute to go,” he said, winning 12-7. And then again in 2008 when “we won in overtime with a shootout.”

Playing football seems to be something of a family affair. Take Coach Carroll and his brothers. They played for the Bruins, as did Coach Carroll’s father. “My Dad played on the ‘48 Rutgers Cup team and my brothers played too,” said Coach Carroll, who graduated from Baldwin High School in 1977.

And then there are brothers of a different kind – brothers in spirit. The boys from Freeport and Baldwin grow up together. “The boys [from Freeport] all played with the Bombers. They know each other. They’re in similar social circles,” said Mr. Bloom.

Additionally, the faculties are also closely tied to each other. Baldwin’s athletic director Edward Ramirez was a Freeport High School graduate. Freeport Village’s Superintendent of Public Works, Robert Fisenne, is a Baldwin High School graduate.

“We try to work together when we can,” said Mr. Bloom. “Last year after [superstorm] Sandy, Baldwin played Uniondale on our field. We are also looking to share some busing services for our cross country teams.”

And two years ago Freeport’s track team practiced on Baldwin’s fields when Freeport’s were under construction, explained Mr. Ramirez.

Still the desire to be the best team remains. “It’s intense but fun,” said Coach Carroll. “Russ and I, we talk, we know each other well. But on the field, we want to win.”

The Leader wishes to thank Regina Feeney for her assistance in the writing of this article.