Great Neck South axes football season

Hope usually builds in the weeks leading to a new football season. Even at Great Neck South, where the Rebels were picked to finish last in Nassau Conference II after a winless 2004, hard practices gave reason for optimism.

That momentum was wiped out Tuesday when athletic director Steve Liebertz informed Section VIII, Nassau's athletic governing body, that Great Neck South would not field a varsity football team.

Just 10 players had been consistently attending practice, and when coach Jim Morrow's attempt to enlist other athletes failed, he and Liebertz pulled the plug on the varsity season.

"We were very optimistic over the summer," said Morrow, who went 0-9 a year ago and last made the playoffs in 1996. "We should have had 15 seniors returning. But they didn't want to come out until school began."

Classes begin Tuesday, 12 days before the road opener Sept. 17 at Bellmore JFK. Morrow understandably couldn't wait.

Nassau football officials met last night to decide how to handle the loss of Great Neck South. The teams scheduled to face GNS - Bellmore JFK, Mepham, South Side, Herricks, Carey, Sewanhaka and Calhoun - will receive a forfeit win.

Great Neck South actually has 30 sophomores playing football. But they were not varsity-ready.

"It was a safety issue," Liebertz said. "Why take up 14 sophomores and put them in a situation where they won't be successful?"

For the third time in four years, Nassau will play football minus one program. Oyster Bay dropped its varsity schedule before the 2002 season and Mepham canceled for disciplinary reasons on the eve of the 2003 season.

"I apologized to the five seniors who came out," Morrow said. "It's unfortunate. But it's a decision that had to be made."