Sachem East, Half Hollow Hills set for Suffolk Class A final

Suffolk County girls flag football reached another marker as No. 2 Sachem East and unbeaten top seed Half Hollow Hills advanced to the Suffolk Class A final after semifinal wins over Northport and Floyd. The pairing gave the county a championship matchup that carried both competitive weight and a larger signal: girls flag football has moved from a novelty into a serious Long Island sports draw.

For Sachem East High School and Half Hollow Hills High School, the final tied together two programs that have helped drive that rise. Sachem East, out of Suffolk County, survived Northport to reach the title game. Half Hollow Hills, based in Dix Hills, kept its perfect record intact by outlasting Floyd. One team arrived with the pressure of being the No. 2 seed; the other arrived unbeaten, having already shown it could absorb a difficult semifinal and still finish the job.

The matchup also puts recognizable players back in the spotlight. Sachem East’s Kacey Berger was featured as Newsday’s Athlete of the Week, a sign of how central she has become to the program’s success. Half Hollow Hills quarterback Samantha Heyman has already delivered a standout performance this spring, accounting for five touchdowns in a win over Ward Melville. Those names give the final more than seeding and records; they give it individual playmakers whose seasons have helped define the county race.

The growing attention around the final reflects how quickly the sport has expanded across Long Island. Newsday now maintains dedicated girls flag football coverage, including a Top 10 teams feature, regular recaps and analysis, and a steady run of Suffolk and Nassau matchups. That level of coverage places girls flag football alongside the county’s established high school sports, from baseball to lacrosse, and shows how firmly the game has taken root.

Against that backdrop, the Suffolk Class A final became more than a championship game. It stood as a snapshot of a sport building its own identity through school pride, recognizable athletes and postseason pressure, with Sachem East and Half Hollow Hills now carrying that momentum into the last game of the county season.