East Hampton Football Celebrating 100 Years This Fall

Saturday, September 23, is gearing up to be a busy day in East Hampton.

That’s the day the town will celebrate its 375th anniversary with a parade down Main Street. Coinciding with that, the East Hampton football team will be celebrating its 100th anniversary that same day with its homecoming game against Harborfields at 1 p.m. at East Hampton High School, followed by a postgame celebration at The Clubhouse.

Players, family and fans from throughout the past 100 years of East Hampton football are invited to join in on the celebration. The $40 entry fee includes a beverage and passed appetizers, and there will be arcade games and football activities for kids.

Those who plan on attending are asked to RSVP to varsity football head coach Joe McKee at joemowseh@hotmail.com.

McKee said that with this season being the 100th anniversary of the program, there is certainly an added level of excitement.

“I think all of the kids are pretty excited about it, in all honesty,” he said.

Looking at last year’s 2-6 record, most people wouldn’t be impressed. But there was a lot more going on last year than the numbers might indicate. For starters, it was just the third year the Bonackers were back on varsity, and their first season back in Division III in over a decade. They bookended their season with victories over Wyandanch and Eastport-South Manor, respectively, and were in contention to win more games — they lost, 13-12, at home to Amityville and were tied against a competitive Rocky Point team at halftime. As McKee put it at the end of last season, there were only two games out of his team’s eight where they were out of it from the beginning, and he looked at that as a building block going forward.

“The kids have a little confidence now. They were a little apprehensive in the beginning of last season, but then they realized they could compete with these guys,” he said. “I am pleasantly optimistic about this year’s team. I think we will be pretty competitive.”

One of last season’s driving forces behind the success the team did have was Finn Byrnes, who turned a successful high school career into a scholarship to Stony Brook University, where he’ll be attending and playing football this fall. The Bonackers also graduated some key players in Will Darrell, Danny Lester and Richie Maio. But still, even with those losses, McKee likes what he has returning.

Charlie Corwin, now a senior, is entering his third year on varsity as the team’s starting quarterback and will provide stability at the most important position on the field. Nick Ward is another three-year returning varsity player on the offensive/defensive line. Eddie Cobb is a returning two-way player at fullback/linebacker, as are wide receiver/defensive back Jason Lester, offensive lineman/linebacker Thinley Edwards and Bridgehampton senior running back/defensive back Mikhail Feaster.

Feaster will be joined by two additional Bridgehampton products making their varsity debuts this season, his younger brother, a sophomore, Jai Feaster, who will fill multiple roles for Bonac, and fellow sophomore Alex Davis, who plays running back/defensive back. East Hampton also has a pair of Pierson student-athletes on the team this season in senior offensive lineman Sebastian DeFelice and junior Henry Butler, who is returning to football after playing soccer last fall for Pierson.

East Hampton will start the season on the road this Saturday, September 2, against possibly its hardest opponent it’ll face this season, Half Hollow Hills West, which was ranked fifth and the highest-ranked team Bonac will play this season. Kickoff for that game is expected at 1 p.m. A week later, on September 9, East Hampton will host Rocky Point in its home opener at 2 p.m.