Late score boosts Long Beach

Long Beach failed to generate much offensively for most of its Conference II football contest at Herricks on Oct. 2. But late in the fourth quarter of a scoreless game, the Marines had fantastic field position and didn’t let the opportunity slip away.

With 6:53 remaining in regulation, the Highlanders were forced to punt from deep in their own territory giving the Long Beach offense possession at their opponent’s 42-yard line. From there the Marines were able to orchestrate a drive that ended with a 9-yard touchdown run by sophomore Tyreek Bromley.  The score proved to be all that Long Beach would need, as it came away with a 7-0 victory on the road.

The game-winning rush came with just 1:24 remaining in the fourth quarter. Bromley was able to find a big opening on the left side, and take it to the house to finally put his team on the board.

“I just saw the cutback lane, so I cut it back”, Bromley said. “I wasn’t really running with my head up the whole game, but I saw the vision, cut it, and I got the TD.”

One play earlier the Marines were faced with a fourth-and-one situation, and rather than try a field goal, head coach Scott Martin decided to have his team go for it. On the ensuing play, senior quarterback Matthew Varian kept the ball and was able to follow his blockers up the middle for a first down.

“It was a defensive game, and late in the game we just let the line dictate the score,” Martin said. “We really relied on the offensive line late in the game to pound it in.”

While the offense stepped up in the final minutes for Long Beach (2-2), it was the defense that really shined against Herricks. 

Bromley, who ran for 85 yards on offense, also had a strong game at the linebacker position for the Marines.  The sophomore was a major factor all day making big tackles at the line of scrimmage and breaking up several pass attempts in the secondary.

Defensive end Rahmeloh Hodge had a big game as well for Long Beach, delivering two sacks on the day. Other players such as linebacker Nick Nigro and defensive linemen Donovan Campbell and Neil Opena were also able to make life difficult for the Highlanders offense. 

“The defense played well all game,” Martin said. “They kept the run game down. Other than a few missed tackles or a few missed assignments we did a great job with that.” 

Long Beach is at the .500 mark, and returns home this Saturday to take on Garden City. Martin hopes that his team can take the momentum from the Herricks win into their next game.

“We needed to get to 2-2, and now we need to build up on it,” Martin said. “This was a big win, and now we’re going to face Garden City, and we’ll try and put together a good plan to take over there.”