To the east, millionaires tie up yachts big enough to pass for floating homes. To the west, farmland stretches for miles, broken up by cornfields and open sky.
The Porters practice on an overlooked patch of grass that looks as if it could be cut and sold as sod, while fans sit on weathered wooden bleachers that seem old enough to date back to the George H.W. Bush era. During Tuesday’s practice at Greenport High School, a group of deer grazed quietly behind one end zone.
Still, no one on the North Fork sees its only varsity football team as anything close to small-time.
“It’s electric. … To look up into the stands, we can pack them out. It’s a great feeling, having everybody supporting you. It’s like nothing else,” Porters lineman Emmett Tramontana told The Post. “The farmers and the guys with the four-story yachts — they’re all coming out to support us.”
For the teenagers who suit up and the year-round residents who cheer them on, Friday nights offer something increasingly rare: a break from fall weekends overrun by waves of city visitors.
Every autumn, locals watch their community feel a little less like their own as out-of-towners pour in for foliage, wineries, pies, pumpkins and vegetable picking. The seasonal rush brings traffic jams worthy of the BQE to neighborhoods that were once quiet and are now dotted with ultra-luxury waterfront escapes.
“We have people out here, everywhere, with tourism. But in the fall, when it’s football season — it’s just us, our team,” Porters head coach Brian Olshefsky said. “And we can become the main attraction of this town.”
A real drought
The football program is already a regional effort, combining the tiny school districts of Mattituck, Southold and Greenport into one team. Even that partnership has not always been enough: in 2025, the Porters did not have sufficient numbers to field a varsity squad as tourism continued to reshape the rural stretch.
“Our enrollments at all three schools have gone down over the past decade,” said Olshefsky, who added that 11th graders had to play JV last season.
“They have a lot of community pride here, and they really love their athletics, and they’re excited to see varsity football back. … The feel in the fall gets different out here with it.”
Olshefsky has a skeleton crew of 20-something playing both sides of the ball during his first season as head coach after a few years as an assistant.
The Porters got creative to fill their glaring gaps, like doubling soccer player Matt Malinowski as a kicker, which is allowed in Suffolk County.
Tramontana, a Southold senior, came into two-a-days with six years of play under his belt, but fellow 12th-grade lineman Aaron Cruz is putting on the pads for the first time.
He plays bass in Greenport’s band and got recruited by his music teacher.
“Everything is new to me right now. I don’t know much, but I am hoping to learn a lot more,” Cruz admitted. “It’s really cool … but there’s pressure being on varsity.”
Upperclassmen who played JV last year are the Porters’ “lifeline” and have taken to acclimating newcomers like Cruz, their coach said.
Even if it means trial by fire.
“If you get them used to hitting,” Tramontana said, “they’re not gonna be scared in the game.”
The Porters may not have a size advantage like larger counterparts, but Olshefsky accounts for that in his wing-T offense, which relies on “skill and speed.”
Quarterback Brayden Kruk trusts the group in front of him.
“With the amount of training that we’ve put in throughout the past weeks, I feel like they’ve gotten ropes,” the Mattituck junior said.
“I feel like we can make a push for playoffs, and going .500 or above is my goal.”
Planting the seeds
Part of the numbers problem is that the North Fork doesn’t have its own youth development league. The closest option is trekking miles up-island to Riverhead, Olshefsky said.
“At that young age, trying to pique that interest is probably our biggest goal right now. The biggest thing of what we’re trying to do is build this thing up back from the bottom, versus building from the top.”
More small Suffolk programs are struggling in the fourth of four divisions.
Port Jefferson School District pulled its varsity program this season, and Southampton also went JV-only in 2025.
The South Fork team combined with Hampton Bays for 2026 and will face the Porters in Week 1.
Several of the tinier programs on the island have been advocating for modified eight-on-eight leagues, which exist upstate and have championships.
The Porters’ focus remains on the here and now: giving the North Fork a Friday night lights experience it has waited too long for.
“We’ve had a storied past. In the ’50s and the ’60s, this was a solid program. We have a Rutgers Trophy. We have championships here,” Olshefsky said.
“The last time we had varsity football here two years ago, this town shut down.”
