The Friends of S.I. High School Football, a group comprised of longtime grid supporters and beat writers which came into existence several years ago to fill a needed void, held its annual Fabulous Football Sunday at the Curtis HS auditorium in St. George.

It was event that ran the gamut of emotions, as members of the organization’s All-Star Team were joyously honored on stage. But there were also some tears shed, as the absence of former advisory board member Bob McGhie (who died last April) was noted by emcee John Iasparro. He also asked the crowd for a moment of silence for St. Peter’s head coach Mark DeCristoforo and his family in the wake of January’s passing of his 7-year-old daughter Rory, killed in a house fire.

In the end, however, the afternoon was a time for celebration. And Tottenville sophomore running back Tyshawn Bent likely had the biggest smile of all after capturing the Al Fabbri Award, emblematic of the top player on the Island in 2023.

“He’s been an important part of the team for two years,” said Pirates head coach Brian Neville, who accepted the award on behalf of Bent. “He’s one of the best players, and he’s only a sophomore. Every time we give the kid the ball he gains five-plus yards. He’s a quiet, humble kid … a team-first kid.”

Bent has already received Division I scholarship offers from Syracuse and Jackson State.

Tottenville, which lost to Erasmus in the PSAL AAAA city championship last December, should be a favorite to return to the title tilt as Bent, freshman Kory Brown and soph quarterback Justin McGuire will all be back.

“Kory could’ve easily been the recipient of some of these awards,” said Neville, who wasn’t predicting a championship berth for 2024.

“Each year is different. You start from scratch,” he said. “We have great guys coming back, but you have to build that chemistry and that team-first attitude.”

While youth was served Sunday as 12 of the 30 All Stars were underclassmen, the other two awards went to a pair of seniors.

Moore Catholic’s Aqil Meredith-Smith earned the Sal Somma Award, which goes to the top lineman on the Island; and St. Peter’s Liam McBratney went home with the Dennis Barrett Award, which incorporates football, leadership and community service.

“To win something like this is a sign of appreciation from the people I’ve played against and from those who’ve heard about me. It’s a sign of respect,” said Meredith-Smith, a First Team All-State selection who was also honored as CHSFL AA Lineman of the Year. “This isn’t just an award from Coach Nick [Giannatasio, Moore head coach]. It shows that the hard work I’ve put in has paid off.”

A four-year starter for the Mavericks, Meredith-Smith — who added defensive line duties to his workload this past season — noted he learned a lot from getting “beat up” in practice as a freshman by Moore senior nose guard Eddie Pierre.

“Eddie Pierre beat him into the ground every practice for six weeks, but Aqil never asked out,” recalled Giannatasio. That showed a lot. He ended up starting a few games into his freshman year.”

McBratney, who said the award “means the world to me,” has been an emotional rock for the Eagles — a team that dealt with their share of adversity off the gridiron both during the season and after it.

“There were a lot of deaths of family members among our coaching staff even before what happened with Coach [DeCristoforo]. We’ve just tried to be there for him as much as we can,” said McBratney.

While the fullback/tight end felt that St. Peter’s “had a great season, I don’t think we’ll be satisfied until we win a championship.”

NOTES: Kudos to Nadia Anwar, current Miss City of New York Teen title holder, for performing the national anthem; along with members of the ROTC color guard from Susan Wagner HS. … Rick Somma, son of Sal Somma, was one of the presenters of the trophies and sweatshirts. He was joined on the stage by Somma Award committee members Iasparro and Jim McKeon; and Barrett Award committee members Ted Parnese and Rich Potter. … The 2023 football season officially comes to an end this weekend with the presentation of the Fred Fugazzi Award, the coaches’ vote for best player.

Nominees for the Sal Somma Award, named for the legendary New Dorp HS head coach, were: Meredith-Smith; David Louis Salazar of Curtis; Jlon Cherubin of McKee/S.I. Tech; Yasire DeJesus of Monsignor Farrell; Yeriel Diaz of New Dorp; Josiah Maye of Petrides; Adeniyi Salau of Port Richmond; Nick Falco of St. Joseph by-the-Sea; Frank Langello of St. Peter’s; Daniel Olukoya of Susan Wagner; and Angelo Novello of Tottenville.

The Dennis Barrett Award, given to the player who best combines football playing with leadership and service, is named after the great Farrell head coach. The nominees were: McBratney; Salazar of Curtis; Chase Dalcortivo of McKee/S.I. Tech; Michael Barzal of Monsignor Farrell; Michael Herbert of Moore Catholic; Sean Brower of New Dorp; Raymond Pecorale of Petrides; David Ruiseco of Port Richmond; Mason Ayala of Susan Wagner; and Novello of Tottenville. Sea did not nominate a player for the award.

AL FABBRI AWARD WINNERS

1971 — Bernie Previti, Curtis; 1972 — John Quinn, Farrell; 1973 — Jim Garcia, New Dorp; 1974 — Steve Ferraris, Port Richmond; 1975 — Mike Gilsenan, Tottenville; 1976 — Dino Mangiero, Curtis; 1977 — Tony Bahno, Tottenville; 1978 — Frank Marone, Farrell; 1979 — John Skronski, Farrell; 1980 — Rich Roche, Farrell; 1981 — Mike Garcia, New Dorp; 1982 — Herb Bellamy, Wagner; 1983 — Steve Valente, New Dorp; 1984 — David DiTommaso, Farrell; 1985 — Vernon Turner, Curtis; 1986 — Gary Wilkos, Farrell; 1987 — Bobby Rodriguez, Wagner; 1988 — Anthony Garofalo, Farrell; 1989 — Mike Taranto, Wagner and Lamont Watson, Wagner; 1990 — Eddie Thompson, Wagner; 1991 — Javonne Darling, Wagner; 1992 — Tom Reali, Wagner; 1993 — Greg Guastavino, Farrell; 1994 — Peter Timmins, Curtis; 1995 — Malik Aluqdah, Wagner; 1996 — Malik Aluqdah, Wagner and Joe Romero, Curtis; 1997 — Cassel Smith, Tottenville; 1998 — Jovan Whitehead, Curtis; 1999 — Steve Gregory, Curtis; 2000 — Steve Gregory, Curtis and Ramael Myers, Wagner; 2001 — Harrison Tindall, Wagner; 2002 — Damian McCaig, Curtis; 2003 — Josh Amaro, Farrell; 2004 — Nick Doscher, Moore; 2005 — Andre Cirino, Wagner; 2006 — Freddie Santana, New Dorp; 2007 — Dominick LeGrande, Curtis; 2008 — Torian Phillips, Port Richmond; 2009 — Dominique Easley, Curtis and Lyle McCombs, Sea; 2010 — Alvin Cornelius, Tottenville; 2012 — Kevin Austin, Curtis; 2013 — James Munson, Tottenville; 2014 — Dawa Winn, New Dorp; 2015 — Jesse Bramble, Tottenville; 2016 — Amad Anderson, Curtis; 2017 — Amad Anderson, Curtis and Quincy Barnes, Curtis; 2018 — Mike Jones, Tottenville; 2019 — Roland Dempster, Tottenville; 2020 — no award (pandemic); 2021 — Sam Martin, Curtis; 2022 — John Michalski, Moore; 2023 — Tyshawn Bent, Tottenville.

Note: Prior to 1983, the award was called the Joe Burke Award.

SAL SOMMA AWARD WINNERS

2010 — Adam Vischio, Sea; 2011 — Paul Scrocco, Curtis; 2012 –Rich Lam, Tottenville; 2013 — Anthony Coyle, Tottenville; 2014 — Sean Kennedy, St. Peter’s; 2015 — Zach O’Neill, Farrell; 2016 — Damian Ostaszewski, Curtis; 2017 — Isaiah Ortiz, Curtis; 2018 — Alex Barshaba, MSIT; 2019 — Andrew Hosie, Port Richmond; 2020 — no award (pandemic); 2021 — Osahon Noruwa, Curtis; 2022 — Henry Tabanski, Moore; 2023 — Aqil Meredith-Smith, Moore.

DENNIS BARRETT AWARD WINNERS

2019 — Justin Cohen, MSIT; 2020 — no award (pandemic); 2021 — Bobby Capolongo, Farrell; 2022 — Shane Gallagher, New Dorp; 2023 — Liam McBratney, St. Peter’s.

FRIENDS OF S.I. HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL ALL STARS

Offense: QB Christian Pinto (Farrell, sr.); RB Kory Brown (Tottenville, fr.); RB Tyshawn Bent (Tottenville, so.); RB R.J. Pacheco (Moore, jr.); WR Abu Veikai (Moore, sr.); WR Kasiem Cromwell (Port Richmond, so.); WR Matt Sweeney (St. Peter’s, sr.); OL Aqil Meredith-Smith (Moore, sr.); OL Angelo Novello (Tottenville, sr.); OL Brady Quinn (Farrell, sr.); OL Frankie Langello (St. Peter’s, sr.); OL James Mulligan (Tottenville, sr.); OL David Louis Salazar (Curtis, sr.).

Defense: DL Yasire DeJesus (Farrell, sr.); DL Seth Clarke (Farrell, jr.); DL Agim Azemi (Tottenville, sr.); DL Alan Petrov (Tottenville, sr.); DL Daniel Olukoya (Wagner, sr.); LB Isaiah Vanterpool (Moore, jr.); LB Mikai Gamble (Farrell, sr.); LB Jesse McCalip (Tottenville, jr.); LB Xavier Rivera (New Dorp, sr.); DB Mark DiMattina (Tottenville, jr.); DB Matthias Lighten (Moore, sr.); DB Nicholas Scolaro (St. Peter’s, jr.); DB Gerald Green (Moore, jr.).

All-Purpose: Chauncey Mims (Curtis, sr.); Jack Kay (New Dorp, sr.); Jeremiah Williams (St. Peter’s, jr.); Mason Ayala (Wagner, jr.).