{"id":7604,"date":"2025-10-18T14:20:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T14:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/7604\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T14:20:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T14:20:21","slug":"new-dorps-1985-city-title-winning-football-team-honored-at-centrals-homecoming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/7604\/","title":{"rendered":"New Dorp\u2019s 1985 city-title winning football team honored at Centrals\u2019 homecoming"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.\u2014 Despite a tough loss to Brooklyn Tech<\/a> on Friday evening, the New Dorp football program still had reason to celebrate, as the school honored its 1985 PSAL city championship team\u2014 marking the 40th anniversary of one of Staten Island football\u2019s all-time great triumphs.<\/p>\n

Finishing the regular season with a 7-2-1 record, the 1985 Centrals leaned on a suffocating defense to power a memorable playoff run\u2014 edging August Martin 6-0 in the quarterfinals, beating Lehman 14-7 in the semifinals and clinching the title with a 7-6 win over South Shore, sealed by a clutch blocked PAT from the late team captain Rich Cortese.<\/p>\n

Among those in attendance Friday night were former head coach Joe Avena, quarterback Frank D\u2019Alessio and defensive back Glenn Goldberg\u2014 all New Dorp Athletics Hall of Famers\u2014 who relished the chance to reflect on shared memories and pass along wisdom to the current team.<\/p>\n

\u201cBesides the championship, we\u2019re really celebrating the gratitude we have for being New Dorp football players,\u201d D\u2019Alessio said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a competitive advantage agaisnt every team we played because of the tradition that was handed down to us. Today was like going back in time\u2014 and now we\u2019re here as brothers with the current Centrals,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

In addition to recognizing his teammates\u2019 talent during that special season, D\u2019Alessio was quick to credit Avena\u2019s lasting influence, saying, \u201cWhat we learned from him took us into life; he didn\u2019t only coach us as players, but as the whole person, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NewAn article from the Staten Island Advance detailing the Centrals’ city triumph still hangs in the New Dorp Athletics Hall of Fame.Michael O’Brien<\/p>\n

Avena\u2014 who also won a city title as a New Dorp player in 1959\u2014 shared that \u201cIt\u2019s very special to be back. This is the first time I\u2019ve been to a New Dorp night game in a long time; I was impressed with the crowd and spirit. Between celebrating the 40th anniversary of our championship team and seeing everyone again, it\u2019s a thrill and makes us all feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also reflected on his players\u2019 efforts that season in delivering a title, noting, \u201cI think they were special.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat spirit\u2014 whatever it was\u2014 they had it, and I haven\u2019t seen anything better, even after 60 years of coaching. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s the school, Staten Island, or the people, but there\u2019s something special about this place, this group of guys, and the football tradition here.”<\/p>\n

Goldberg, who recorded multiple interceptions as part of New Dorp\u2019s elite playoff defense, echoed his coach and teammate, noting, \u201cI don\u2019t think there are any other schools around that have this level of tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also reflected on how quickly the bond between teammates resurfaced, sharing, \u201cI hadn\u2019t seen Frank in a while, but coming back today, it was like I might as well have seen him yesterday. It\u2019s like a family here.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for how the \u201985 team\u2014 still the most recent Centrals squad to win a city title\u2014 continues to influence the program today, current head coach Brian Murphy, whom Avena called \u201ca carrier of the tradition,\u201d shared how meaningful it was to help honor such an exceptional group.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means a lot because I know how much those guys care about New Dorp, and that\u2019s what I try to do each day,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the coaches before me did the same thing, so I\u2019m just trying to follow him and do the right thing by the school. It\u2019s a great place,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

He also recounted how instantly memorable Avena addressing his own group of players was, saying, \u201cThat\u2019s a moment I won\u2019t forget.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe gave a pre-game speech for our kids with everybody huddled together and it was a really nice moment; one of the highlights of my coaching career, actually,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n

\"NewTwo generations of New Dorp Centrals pose together (left to right: Robert Zajac, Freddie Santana, Frank D’Alessio, Glenn Goldberg and Kwame Domfe) as the school’s 1985 city championship-winning team was honored on Oct. 17, 2025.Michael O’Brien<\/p>\n

As New Dorp continues its climb back toward the PSAL summit, it\u2019s clear that both Murphy and his players have drawn inspiration from the legendary 1985 team\u2014 and just as clear that Avena, D\u2019Alessio, Goldberg, and others remain deeply proud to be Centrals, all these years later.<\/p>\n

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.\u2014 Despite a tough loss to Brooklyn Tech on Friday evening, the New Dorp football program…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-7604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}