MacArthur football coach honored by Giants

The 2019 MacArthur Generals’ football season was memorable for many reasons, not least of which was the selection of head coach Bobby Fehrenbach as the Lou Rettino High School Coach of the Week in Week Eight of the NFL season by the New York Giants and Gatorade.

Fehrenbach, 53, was chosen as the recipient of the award for his longtime commitment to the program, his promotion of youth football in the area, his focus on the development of his student-athletes and his involvement in the community.

Fehrenbach, a 1984 graduate of MacArthur, received the award in his 20th season as head coach, after eight years as the Generals’ assistant coach. He was one of 16 high school coaches whom the Giants honored this season.

“Of all the schools in the tristate area, it’s pretty humbling as one of a handful of coaches to get recognized,” Fehrenbach said.

The New York Giants Foundation and Gatorade will present a $2,000 check to the MacArthur’s football program to recognize Fehrenbach and his program. He will also receive an official certificate of recognition signed by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Giants Head Coach Pat Shurmur.

During the Giants’ Dec. 1 game against the Green Bay Packers at MetLife Stadium, Fehrenbach was acknowledged in an announcement over the public address system. He will also attend a dinner hosted by the Giants at the stadium this spring of 2020, along with the other honorees. The Giants will also invite the entire MacArthur football team to a preseason game in August.

The award’s namesake, Lou Rettino, was one of the nation’s most successful high school football coaches. He led New Jersey’s Union High School to 10 state sectional championships, and was named the National Coach of the Year by the National Interscholastic Coaches Association in 1995. He died in 1996, at age 54, of stomach cancer.

Fehrenbach and his team will long remember the 2019 season for their run at the Nassau County championship, before a close loss to Garden City. But the game they will remember most is their stunning 27-7 win over Garden City in the midst of the regular season, snapping the Trojans’ 42-game regular-season winning streak.

MacArthur’s two main offensive weapons were quarterback Joe Manfredo and running back Hugh Kelleher. Although Kelleher, standing 6 feet 3 and weighing over 200 pounds, looks more like a quarterback than Manfredo, who’s 5-6 and 145 pounds, the pair accounted for all four MacAthur’s touchdowns. Kelleher powered in a 5-yard touchdown run, while Manfredo ran for two touchdowns, including one on a perfectly timed bootleg call, while also returning a fumble 43 yards for the game-sealing score as a safety on defense.

Preparing his team appropriately to play at their highest level, Fehrenbach focused on their strengths and not on the hype of the matchup.

“I didn’t mention the streak once all week,” Fehrenbach said after the game.

The Generals would go on to host Valley Stream Central in a Nassau Conference II semifinal playoff matchup, and score 34 unanswered points in the first half on the way to a 40-21 victory. The win secured MacArthur an eventual rematch with Garden City in the Nassau Conference II Championship, which the Generals won narrowly, 16-14.