Thursday, October 1, 2026
North Shore High’s communities of Sea Cliff, Glen Head and Glenwood Landing are known for the best scenic vistas in Nassau County.
It has rarely been known for its football team until the last two autumns when the Vikings have become a rare beauty.
Coming off its first-ever Long Island championship, North Shore entered the 2022 season with enormous expectations and have lived up to it so far.
The young men in maroon struck for an 8-0 regular season, outscoring opponents 258-87 with a lethal ground game and now are ready for another deep run in the Class IV playoffs.
North Shore, the No. 1 seed, hosts 8th-seeded Clarke this Saturday at noon in the opening round. North Shore needs four more victories for perfection and a repeat L.I. title.
“It’s definitely excited to be unbeaten but the job’s not finished,’’ said Ricky Cook, cornerback/split end. “We’re still looking at eliminating teams one by one. The best part is we‘re dominating teams by playing together as a family.’’
The playoffs will be a bigger test and Dan Agovino, favorite for Nassau County Coach of the Year, would like his offense to diversify.
The rushing attack is spectacular led by bullish running back Nick La Rosa (96 carries, 840 yards, 11 touchdowns). Quarterback Peter Liotta has raced for more acreage (88-956 yards, 11 touchdowns). And there’s change-of-pacer, Nick Livoti (32-533 yards, 6 touchdowns) boasting numbers that would lead most squads.
However, the Vikings’ aerial attack has been modest (195 passing yards, 1 touchdown).
“We haven’t gotten our passing game going,’’ Agovino said. “ We want to get both aspects into effect for the playoffs to really become a force.’’
The Vikings are already a force but there’s weight to being title favorites. “We know everyone wants to beat us,’’ Cook said. “We have a target on our back but we ignore the noise and do our thing on the field.’’
The football team’s dominance has lifted school spirit. Principal Eric Contreras and assistant principal, Kevin Kurrus, understand the gravity of this history-making maroon machine that has won 16 straight.
“They’re been very supportive and the superintendent (Christopher Zublionis) has come down to practice to talk to the boys,’’ Agovino said.
If defenses can’t slow North Shore’s troika of rushers, there should be more celebrating in Sea Cliff. “Nick is more power runner this year,’’ Agovino said. “You have one guy pounding between the tackles and Liotta doing his thing on the outside. Very difficult to stop.’’
The defense has been anchored by 6-3 defensive linemen Danny Sotiryadis (22 solo tackles, 21 assisted, 2 sacks) and Pat Godfrey (21-24, 2 fumble recoveries). “That’s impressive because their job is not to make tackles but keep the offensive lineman off the linebackers,’’ Agovino said.
North Shore has faced early deficits despite the blowouts, including 14-0 to Cold Spring Harbor. “Our experience has won us a lot of football games,’’ Agovino said. “No panic in our eyes or pointing fingers and we ended up wearing teams down.
“Experience is getting us through,’’ Agovino added. “We know where we want to be and know how to get there. We keep telling them, “Play with excitement and enthusiasm but be grounded.’’
