Will 2024 Be the Year of Bellport Football?

When it comes to consistently dominant football programs, you have to mention the Bellport Clippers success as they have one of the richest histories of any Long Island High School team that saw championship success as early as the late 1970s. Fast forward to 2023 and the Clippers are still one of the best teams on Long Island despite being considered a “Small School.”

The team is led by head coach Jamie Fabian who has sent his team deep into the Long Island Football Playoffs since 2020 and he hopes this season will see more of the same kind of success.

“We've had a couple of successful seasons in a row leading up to this season,” said Coach Fabian.“Three seasons ago we had the shortened Covid season that we played in the spring. It was a short season and we lost in the county finals to West Islip. Two seasons ago, which was the Fall of 2021, we won the county championship. We beat Lindenhurst in the county finals and then we lost in the Long Island championship to Garden City. And then last season again, it was almost the exact same thing. We, uh, we beat Northport in the county championship game, and then we lost to Garden City again in the, uh, Long Island championship. We've been pretty fortunate and had some success the last three seasons.” Unfortunately for Bellport, they will have to look for some reinforcements in 2023 as they lost two key pieces to the puzzle this spring due to graduation.

Donte Phillips, who won the Cipp award – which is given to the best running back in Suffolk County – and Southern Connecticut Commit Jason Hunt, who won the Burnett Award – which is awarded to the best defensive player in Suffolk County – will not be returning to the roster.

“They're both first team All-State guys,” said Fabian. “We haven't had a first team All-State guy since 2010. [They were] two really special players right there that we will miss but hope that the younger guys step up and get the job done.”

Despite losing two first team All-State guys, Bellport will be returning a ton of stars from last year's team while also having some youngsters who are hungry to get their chance to shine on the gridiron for the Clippers.

The first returner worth highlighting is their starting quarterback, Caleb White. White is a guy who has received a ton of praise from his coaches as a do-it-all kind of player who has worn many hats for the Clippers in the past. He will now get the opportunity to show the rest of the county that he can be a great quarterback. “He's gonna be our quarterback this year and he's filled a lot of roles for us over the years,” said Coach Fabian. “We moved him around from a lot of various positions both offensively and defensively. He’s a big, physical kid that is also a very good athlete. Caleb is a smart kid as well and he does a lot for us. I'm excited to see him at the quarterback position. He's put a lot of work in and he's taking it seriously.

He's always been coachable and I'm excited to see what he can bring to the table as quarterback.”

Alongside White, the Bellport Clippers will also be returning Junior Tatum Cipp who has become the anchor of both the offensive and defensive lines.

“He's a three year varsity athlete,” said Fabian.“He's our offensive center and he also plays some defensive tackle for us. He brings a lot to the table just from a leadership standpoint, being on varsity for three years. He kind of knows the expectations we have for this program. He's been with some good leaders as a player before and they rubbed off on him. I’m really looking forward to seeing him step up as a leader this year, especially with the offensive line.”

Fabian also mentioned Cipp’s teammate in the trenches, junior Trayvon Holland, as another player that everyone should look out for this fall.

“He's been really making some big plays for us,” said Fabian. “He was a two-year starter for us last year as a sophomore and he's continuing to grow. We're looking to see him have a really big impact on both sides of the football.

He plays offensive tackle and he plays inside linebacker for us. He has a lot of passion for the game while also flying around, making a lot of plays for us. So I'm expecting a big year from him as well.”

Coach Fabian also made it very clear to the South Shore Press about the goals for the upcoming 2023 season: Win the Long Island Championship that has eluded the team the last three seasons.

“With a program that has a tradition like ours, I think the expectation is the same every year to compete for, Long Island Championship,” said Fabian. “That's always our goal going into the season. We're a young team, and we got some new guys stepping into roles. We're making progress each day and I got a good group of kids that are excited and willing to learn. I'm excited to see what they can do and like I said, there's a lot of young guys stepping into those roles. We can’t wait to start the season.”

The Bellport Clippers Football team begin their quest to Long Island Football Immortality on Friday, September 8th on the road against Centereach High School. The first home game for the Clippers will be the following Thursday as they take on West Islip in a rematch of the Covid-Season Suffolk County Championship.

The Clippers will also host their homecoming game on October 7th against Copiague at 2:00 pm with the annual Hall of Fame Game taking place the following week on October 14th against Northport at 12:00 pm.