By ANTHONY BOTTAN
Vito won his 100th game as head coach on Oct. 4, shutting out Manhasset 33-0. Vito was honored by local officials and friends at last Monday's East Rockaway board meeting.
"He's a great neighbor and friend," Mayor Ed Sieben said. "We are lucky to call him East Rockaway's own."
Vito has called East Rockaway his home for about the last four decades. He graduated from Rhame Avenue Elementary School - before the fire - and went on to play midget football in the village for the East Rockaway Raiders. He was the team's first captain. His first football coach, former mayor Joe Carrigan, presented Vito with the first of many awards on Monday night. "I consider Joey as my third son," Carrigan said. "I'm so proud of what you've accomplished, but your accomplishments are far from over."
Vito went on to play football at East Rockaway Junior/Senior High School, and graduated from St. John's University in 1982 with a degree in athletic administration and education. He was hired as a teacher at Roosevelt High School in 1989, and became head coach of the varsity football team in 1992. Though his 100th win was special, he said, his first victory as head coach was just as sweet. "Our first win was very special to me," Vito said. "We had lost our first game, so it was good to get that first win under my belt."
During his tenure has head coach, Vito coached the Rough Riders to four Long Island championships in Conference IV, the most recent being in 2006. Vito was also named Coach of the Year in 2004. But Vito noted that even with the success of the team over the last decade, it would mean nothing if his players didn't become better people because of it. "To be honest with you, football is secondary," he said. " We are trying to make good citizens. It's just so happens they're good football players."
A memory that stands out to him, Vito said, was in 2006, when he was selected as the New York State high school coach representative at the NFL Youth Summit in Canton, Ohio - which is where the NFL Hall of Fame is located. Only 50 coaches from around the country were invited to the Hall of Fame ceremonies and asked to participate in the summit.
Vito added that even though the success and failures of the team are usually saddled on the head coach, it's his players and other coaches that have made him so successful. "I haven't made a tackle or ran a football in years," he said. "If it weren't for my good coaches and players, I wouldn't be getting this award tonight."
The thought of coaching college football has crossed his mind, he said, but every year, when a new class of athletes come into the school, it pulls him back in. "You think you want to move on and another group of kids come on and suck you back in," he said. "How can you leave them? It's about the kids. If it's about ego, you leave."
Vito's 105th victory came last Saturday when Roosevelt ripped Manhasset in the first round of the Conference IV playoffs, 43-7. Running backs James McClenic (three) and Jalon Edwards combined for five touchdowns, and Tasheem Granger led a strong defensive effort with a pair of sacks.
The Rough Riders have averaged 25.5 points per game, with McClenic, Edwards (17 touchdowns) and quarterback Korye Hollingsworth spearheading the charge, and their defense is tops in the county (5.8 ppg allowed).
A win over Locust Valley in the semifinals on Sunday at Hofstra University would set up a potential rematch with top-seeded Seaford, the defending Conference IV champion. The Vikings beat Roosevelt 7-6 on Oct. 18.
Comments on this story? ABottan@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 246.
