The final chapter of Garden City High School's outstanding 2005 football season was written Monday, Dec. 5, at the annual Section Eight Gridiron Dinner when Nassau's coaches voted for the Trojans - winners of the Rutgers Cup, emblematic of the top team in the county.

It was the third time that Garden City has won the Cup since 1992, and it ended speculation as to which of the county's four Conference champions, all of which finished 10-1, would be chosen. The award is supposed to be based on the 10 games versus Nassau competition, but Cold Spring Harbor was the only team to win a Long Island title and the vote is not taken until after those results are in. In addition, Plainedge has received huge sympathetic publicity due to the community's fundraising effort, which overcame an austerity budget. Baldwin went unbeaten in Conference I and won its first title. It was the Bruin's best season in over a half century. An argument could be made for any of the four.

But in the end, give the coaches credit. They picked the best team. Garden City totally dominated their Conference which none of the others did. They outscored their 10 Nassau opponents 391-43 and that was because Coach Tom Flatley has a long-established policy of not running up scores. The Trojans scored 240 of their 391 points in the first half. Does anyone doubt that they could have exceeded that final at least another hundred?

Another factor may have been that Garden City hasn't lost a Conference game in three years. The Trojans have a 28-0-1 record against Conference II and an overall mark of 30-2-1 in that time. A Long Island title in 2003 and Nassau titles in 2004 and 2005 were credentials that none of the other three contenders could match. It was time - no, make that past time - for an outstanding team to be recognized! Coach Flatley felt strongly that his team deserved to win the Cup.