Port Jefferson football is back, merged with Rocky Point and eligible for playoffs

Port Jefferson’s football season is back on, merged with Rocky Point, after New York’s education commissioner granted the district’s appeal Friday.

The office of Commissioner Betty Rosa approved a combined Port Jefferson-Rocky Point varsity team with no restriction on postseason play, according to a copy of the ruling released by the district.

Rocky Point had already agreed once to combine programs with Port Jefferson — until Section XI, the governing body for Suffolk County school athletics, told both districts the merged team would be barred from the playoffs. Rocky Point, which narrowly missed the postseason last year, walked away from the union.

Without Rocky Point, Port Jefferson had no team, and its season was shut down. Port Jefferson had no choice but to cancel its season in late August after falling multiple players short of the state’s 16-player minimum roster requirement.

Friday’s ruling changes that math. With the postseason threat lifted, the merger is back on.

“We are excited to announce that the district’s request for interim relief to combine the Earl L Vandermeulen High School and Rocky Point High School varsity football teams … was granted,” Superintendent Jessica Schmettan wrote in a letter to the Port Jefferson community Friday.

Schmettan said the district’s athletic department is now coordinating with players, their families and Rocky Point school officials to begin combined practices and games “as soon as possible.”

Before the state commission’s ruling, Section XI Executive Director Tom Combs said the district’s combine request came too late to avoid a postseason ban, since such requests are normally due in February, before divisions are set. Section XI’s own appeals committee later upheld that ban, prompting the district to escalate the case to the state.

State Assemblywoman Rebecca Kassay (D-Port Jefferson) had also lobbied Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office on the district’s behalf, calling the postseason exclusion a matter of procedure standing in the way of students.

In her ruling, Rosa’s office stayed Section XI “from enforcing its prohibition against the combined Port Jefferson/Rocky Point football team participating in postseason/playoff competition pending a final determination of this appeal.”

The relief is only interim — the underlying appeal is still open, and Section XI’s ban could theoretically be reinstated once the commissioner’s office reaches a final decision.

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