Massapequa Coach Eyes Bigger Goals After Garden City Win

Kevin Shippos wants Massapequa to keep testing itself against the Chiefs.

The Massapequa head football coach believes competitive nonconference matchups are vital to the sport. His team’s dramatic clash with Garden City offered the perfect example: Monday night at Hofstra University, the Chiefs ended the Trojans’ nation-leading 68-game winning streak with a 21-14 victory before nearly 6,000 fans.

“To me, high school sports is about putting your kids at the highest level,” Shippos said after Massapequa prevailed in a game that was not decided until the final 30 seconds.

The first meeting between the Chiefs and Trojans was the most prominent crossover between Nassau County’s Conferences I and II. Still, a new Section VIII rule change also produced several other early-season matchups between top teams from different levels, drawing a positive response.

Shippos, whose Chiefs have now won 26 straight games, expressed that view a week before the historic victory. He also called for more opportunities to reduce the long stretches of one-sided games that can define high school football schedules.

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Ultimately, Shippos hopes the crossover series can help transform Long Island’s public school football playoff structure. The current system culminates with the best teams from Nassau and Suffolk meeting in the final game of the season, rather than competing against the top programs from across New York state.

“I’d like to see it lead to us participating in the state championship one day,” Shippos told The Post on Tuesday.

“That’s a dream come true for these kids. Who wouldn’t want to play for a state championship?”