High school football on Long Island isn’t like high school football in other parts of the country. It doesn’t make headlines as much as your favorite celebrity with a drinking problem, nor are the coaches threatened after a loss. It doesn’t consume the attention of an entire society and it’s never mentioned on sports-talk radio.

Unlike businesses in most southern states, Long Island doesn’t shut down on game night. There aren’t any 20,000-seat stadiums, season tickets, or everyone-in-the-town tailgates. Sure, it’s popular amongst the students, players and coaches. But as the Long Island champions will be determined on Nov. 28 and 29, it’s as good a time as any to ask how the sport here compares with the rest of the country.

"Long Island is so diversified," says Pat Pizzarelli, Lawrence High School athletic director and Nassau’s football coordinator. "Some of these schools down south, all they have is football. In those small towns, they’re wrapped up in it."

High schools on the Island offer a variety of sports to play in the fall, so some students don’t even consider playing football. "Kids are involved in so many sports," Pizzarelli says. "Everything isn’t revolved around football here."

Take lacrosse, for example, which is as religious here as football is in Texas.

"It’s a culture thing," argues Wayne Shierant, West Islip’s athletic director and Suffolk’s football coordinator. "In the metropolitan area, there are millions of things to do."

Just don’t think for a second that high school football is a complete afterthought in Nassau or Suffolk. For instance, Nassau and Suffolk County championship games tend to draw between 5,000-10,000 people, depending on conference. For Long Island championships, crowds can grow upwards of 15,000 fans.

"When [Jason] Gwaltney was playing for North Babylon in the quarterfinal, it drew about 8,000 people," recalls Shierant. "I think each year it grows considerably."

And with schools around here often being separated by only a few frisbee throws, it creates plenty of big-time rivalries. Look no further than Shierant’s own West Islip High School. The West Islip-East Islip matchup is possibly Long Island’s most heated rivalry, with the winner attaining the Islip Cup.

In fact, this game was recognized as part of the Great American Rivalry Series, which zeroes in on the top games throughout the entire country (West Islip avenged a thrashing they received last year and won 35-14). St. Anthony’s and Chaminade have also been notable arch rivals for years, although the Friars have dominated the Flyers as of late, winning the last 15, including a 37-15 victory on Nov. 16.

Long Island high schools have also been put on the map in recent years. William Floyd, who recently had their 42-game winning streak snapped by Lindenhurst in the Suffolk County Class I semifinal, was ranked as high as No. 2 in the state, according to website Football Power (www.fp.tv). St Anthony’s, another local powerhouse, also makes annual appearances on state and national rankings.

Team accomplishments aside, there have been numerous players take their talents to the highest levels. Back in the day, it was Jim Brown out of Manhasset, Vinny Testaverde out of Sewanhaka, Boomer Esiason out of East Islip and Jay Fiedler out of Oceanside. More recently, it’s been D’Brickashaw Ferguson out of Freeport, and Ian Smart out of North Babylon.

Maybe the one element that is lacking is the amount of coverage high school football receives. "When I first started, Cablevision was broadcasting a lot of games," Pizzarelli says.

"It seems each year like they’re trying to do more."

Most games that are broadcast are spot-picked by local producer and broadcaster Barry Landers, and are aired on Telecare. Only a handful of regular season games are chosen, but most of the playoff action is televised.

"We do a very good job," Pizzarelli says of the Long Island football scene. "We put in just as much work into football as everyone else."