Fred Fusaro, Glenn Win Long Island Championship

When John Glenn football coaches Fred Fusaro and Dave Shanahan finally embraced each other on the turf at Stony Brook, the night was complete.

Fusaro came down from the booth where he was calling plays for John Glenn's defense, made his way through the crowd and found Shanahan.

"He is the reason we won," Shanahan said, holding his mentor and assistant coach as hundreds gathered around the two.

Fusaro, who is no stranger to winning championships and captured a combined 21 league, conference and county titles in 32 years as the head coach at Sachem High School, had never won a Long Island title until John Glenn beat Seaford, 28-7, in the Class IV bout Saturday night at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium.

Shanahan presented Fusaro with the Long Island championship trophy before anyone else, paying homage to the former Sachem coaching legend, who ranks eighth all-time in Long Island and fourth all-time in Suffolk football history with 192 career coaching victories.

"He means so much to this team," he said. "He's a great person to be around. I learn new things every day from him."

"We did it for coach," added Glenn quarterback Ryan Rielly. "When he was with Sachem his teams were great and finally with Glenn we got it done for him. I love to see him happy."

Fusaro is the defensive coordinator for Glenn, which finished 12-0 and is a likely candidate to win the Rutger's Trophy, presented to Suffolk County's top team each year, an honor Fusaro grabbed in 1977 and 1986 with the Black & Gold.

"Getting here is not easy, winning it is even harder," Fusaro said. "It was a great year. This team here, personality wise, is different than any team I've ever been around. They don't get uptight; they're loose as a goose. They have a lot of confidence in themselves. I don't know how to explain it. They're just different."

Sachem and Fusaro's only appearance in the Long Island championship was in 1995 and the afternoon was spoiled by Lawrence, who won the Class I title after a 14-7 victory at Hofstra. Neither the Flaming Arrows nor Fusaro have been back since.

Fusaro came to Glenn after the 2003 football season, which he spent as a special assistant under Sachem North head coach to ease with the transition of the eventual split that happened the following school year.

He joined Shanahan, a 1986 Sachem graduate, and the two have been wheeling and dealing in Suffolk's Division IV ever since.

On Saturday, Shanahan said Fusaro set up a specific and perfect game plan to match Seaford's strengths.

"There is no one who does more film work than Fred Fusaro," Shanahan said, "no body. He's like a full-time coach here. The relief I have on defense is because of him."

Countless Sachem coaches and alumni were in attendance to support Fusaro and Shanahan from Falco and to Pete Lazzaro, Michael Crossan and Joe Zarzycki.

"It's all part of the Sachem tradition," said Fusaro. "I love those guys."

They love him too.

"He is a man of the highest character and it rubs off on everyone," Shanahan said. "His work ethic is second to none."

Cipp, Bellport win championship again

Sachem alum , Class of 1966, won another Long Island championship Saturday when Bellport beat Garden City, 26-21, in the Class II title game. It's the sixth LIC for the Clippers. Last week, Cipp became the winningest head coach in Suffolk history, capturing career victory No. 211.

"It was a great team victory and I'm really happy the kids won it," he said at Stony Brook. "It could have went either way and we just ended up on top ."