There were plenty of snickers and laughs when the name of Jets quarterback Zach Wilson was mentioned late Wednesday afternoon at Monsignor Farrell HS.

“He’s a soft player,” said linebacker Santino Saracino, whose thoughts on Wilson — rumored to have been skittish about returning to suit up for Gang Green in fear of injury — were echoed by his Tottenville teammate, defensive lineman Alan Petrov.

Those Pirates — along with players from Farrell, St. Joseph by-the-Sea, New Dorp and McKee/S.I. Tech — gladly dealt with the frigid dusk conditions as they prepared to represent the South team in the 42nd Fugazzi Senior Bowl. They’ll take on a North squad comprised of players from St. Peter’s, Moore Catholic, Curtis, Susan Wagner, Port Richmond and Petrides.

The contest will be played Saturday morning at 10 at Farrell’s Oakwood field. Tickets at the gate are $10 (or $5, if you buy them off one of the players).

While some of the other gridders were getting reacquainted with what a football field looks like, having not played since before Halloween (with the possible exception of a different all-star game), Tottenville’s reps were fresh off of last Sunday’s setback to five-time defending city champion Erasmus Hall in the PSAL AAAA championship.

“It was definitely a tough loss, it’s definitely still in our heads,” said Petrov. “But I hope we can put it past us with this game. We’ve played football our whole lives. It’s what we do.”

“The best part of high school football is that it’s as pure as it gets. It’s special,” said Farrell head coach Rocco Del Priore, who will guide the South on Saturday. “There’s no money involved. And the nice thing is we have a bunch of kids who played together in the youth leagues … about seven or eight who were on the Plainsmen and about the same number who were on the Hurricanes.”

For Sea’s Robert Stefanelli, the chance to be teammates again with guys he played with as a youngster is worth the injury risk.

“I’m not too worried about getting hurt,” said Stefanelli. “I’m just excited to be here. I have a lot of friends at other schools. It’ll be nice to be on the same team with them.”

“There’s definitely an eighth-grade vibe all over again,” said Del Priore. “For some of these kids, they’re never going to put the pads or a helmet on again. But for others, it’s another opportunity to put something on film.”

Coaches from about seven colleges were in attendance for Tuesday’s practice featuring both teams. This will mark the second straight year the Fugazzi Senior Bowl is an all-Island affair — for most of its history, the game has Staten Island versus senior all-stars from another borough.

“That’s not such a bad thing,” Del Priore said. “If this were the old format, we’d have 45 guys playing Saturday; now, we have 85 of our seniors getting a chance.”

While St. Peter’s head coach Mark DeCristoforo was putting the North squad through their paces Wednesday at Curtis HS in St. George, Del Priore was acting like a kid in a candy store, bouncing around and joking while leaving a lot of the direction to New Dorp head man Brian Murphy.

“It’s so nice to be able to practice with Coach Murphy. It’s been fun to learn from him,” said Del Priore. “It’s been great working with all the coaches from the other schools.”

The annual fundraiser game (which missed being played a few times over its 45 years, most notably because of Covid) is named after Fred Fugazzi, a former all-city running back at New Dorp and a Little All-America selection at Missouri Valley College, who was drafted by the AFL’s Boston Patriots but left camp to join the Marines.

When he returned home, Fugazzi became a decorated NYC firefighter. He was killed in 1977 trying to break up a bar room fight. It’s a loss his family and friends still feel, so they keep his memory alive with this game and with the Fred Fugazzi Football Dinner. The latter will be held Saturday, March 2 at 7 p.m. at LiGreci’s Staaten. The family also sponsors a scholarship in his name.

“Aside from being my friend, Fred was one of the best players I’ve ever seen,” said Joe Avena, the former New Dorp head coach (1980-93) who was a teammate of Fugazzi’s both in high school and in college. “He may have been the best player on every team he played on.

“Some of the things he did on the football field were unreal. Off the field, he was very charismatic … just a very influential guy.”

Avena, Rita Barchitta and Richie Fugazzi (Fred’s nephew) make up the Fugazzi Committee triumvirate, but they have plenty of members in their supporting cast, many of whom have been there for decades.

While the Fugazzi Senior Bowl has experienced some lulls, last year’s all-Island contest — a thrilling 29-28 win by the North — bolstered the spirits of all involved.

“It was a real good event,” said Avena. “I was encouraged and excited from the cooperation we received from all the coaches. And again this year, they’ve prioritized it. They’re behind it.”