Undefeated Massapequa football team on brink of high school history

Long Island may have its own Chiefs dynasty come Friday night.

Undefeated Massapequa football is on the doorstep of high school history with a chance to win the Nassau County title three straight seasons — a feat never accomplished at the Conference I level, according to the program.

“We all grew up all together,” Chiefs senior linebacker and tight end Anthony DiNello told The Post of playing Massapequa Mustangs youth ball as little kids before reaching high school.

“We were working, really for this moment, our whole entire lives — for us to win as much as we could.”

Nowadays, the list of the Chiefs’ recent victories is the only thing longer than the line at the local burger joint, All-American.

Massapequa’s current 10-0 team hasn’t lost since Week 1 of the 2024 campaign, where it came up narrowly short to Oceanside, 42-39.

As fate would have it, the Chiefs will rematch the Sailors — whom they closely beat 36-33 last month thanks to a late DiNello touchdown — Friday night at Hofstra University.

High tide 

Both sides agree that the past is in the past, and the Nassau County title will be played on an even keel, as Massapequa has to go through whitecaps in a very blue-collar brand of football to earn the three-peat.

“We don’t have any true superstars, and we do things as a collective. The guys are really selfless,” Oceanside head coach Robert Blount said of his “resilient” 7-2 team that found silver linings in the regular-season matchup.

“It was a moment of, ‘Hey, let’s figure out who we are.’ I was really proud of how the team reacted to that, and they ended up just continuing to progress in the right direction.”

Chiefs head coach Kevin Shippos knows that there’s enough hype for this showdown, and he doesn’t need to lay it on thick with his group.

“We say it all the time, we’ll play anyone, anytime, anywhere,” he said after Wednesday’s practice in Massapequa’s frigid canal-front tundra, municipally called Burns Park.

The chief of the Chiefs is also aware that his guys can handle the emotional side on their own, as he knew this generation would be special since they played their Mustang days on the same field.

Chief executives 

“They’re coming into the high school, close-knit, family-oriented,” Shippos said. “It just carries forward for the next four years.”

The tight bunch has weekly pre-game pasta parties, “prayer” where they air out feelings from the week prior, NFL Sundays, and religiously chow down at Chick-fil-A on Mondays.

“We stay together and eliminate the little cliques within the team,” said senior safety and wideout Cole Villalta.

Their camaraderie pays off during next-man-up moments.

Senior offensive and defensive lineman Tristan Tarasi vividly recalled his little brother, junior outside linebacker and tight end Giovanni, shining during his varsity debut against Freeport, recording a pick-six.

“I was always pushing him in the offseason, telling him that your name is going to get called and to work for that starting spot,” Tristan said.

“I haven’t played football with him for like nine years until he got pulled up… It’s pretty special, my last year that we get to play together, and that we were on the run that we are on right now.”

When the little brother’s moment came, Chief Nation welcomed him with open arms.

“I have my actual brother on this team, but all of them are my brothers now,” Giovanni said.

“Just being so close together, that’s what’s really been part of our success this year.”

The older Tarasi, a four-year varsity player, is also relishing the moment as he seeks to end on the highest possible note, bringing more hardware to an area that fiercely loves its Chiefs.

“Everyone who lives in this town bleeds blue and gold,” he said. 

“But to be honest with you, we don’t have to be reminded. The inspiration comes from within us.”