THE BRONX (PIX11) -- Cardinal Hayes High School in The Bronx has produced big stars like Martin Scorsese and Regis Philbin. But this season’s football team is famous in its own rite, for making history.
"First New York City [high school football] team to ever win a state championship," explained co-captain Abdoul Bah.
They overcame tremendous odds to beat Buffalo earlier this month. But they were the toast of the town Thursday night.
Honored with awards and a dinner party thrown by Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson.
"The big job now is to get the kids in college and get them off to next step and take the juniors to do it again," said head coach C.J. O'Neil.
Co-captain and quarterback Rich Belin is one of the juniors. He's already gotten an offer from Princeton University.
"I'm still early on in my recruiting process. All my teammates deserve to be on the big stage," Belin said humbly.
His mom, Rita Belin, couldn't be prouder.
"They are strong, persistent and determined, and they kept the faith," Belin said.
Last season, the Cardinals won just two games. This year, an athletic office burned with equipment inside. Their school field is just 70 yards long and is unlit, so they’d walk a mile to another field in Mott Haven for practice.
Their home field at Macombs Dam Park is too dangerous to play on.
"It's the thinness in the turf. There's rips and holes," Belin explained.
It’s owned by the city in the shadow of Yankee Stadium.
A parks spokesperson said they’ll “continue to explore ways to maintain this field to provide community members with the best possible experience."
"We're one part of the community who uses the park and hope to be back on it," said O'Neil.
The sports field is actually built on top of a parking garage, which the city says contributes to the deterioration of the turf.
A New York Yankees spokesperson told PIX11News:
“We welcome the opportunity to hear from our partners to see what we can do to provide some assistance and address this.”
Adding it's leaving the door open to some type of financial assistance.