Marines finish 5-4 with playoff loss

Third-seeded Wantagh ended Long Beach’s most successful football campaign in 15 years last Saturday with a 35-3 victory over the sixth-seeded Marines in a Nassau Conference II first-round playoff game.

John Reicherter rushed for 150 yards and three touchdowns and also caught one of two scoring passes by quarterback Nick Mullen to lead the Warriors, who advanced to meet defending county champion Garden City in the semifinals.

“The kid is one of the best backs in the county and tough to tackle,” Long Beach coach Scott Martin said of Reicherter, who had touchdown runs of 8, 25 and 35 yards and a touchdown catch of 16 yards.

“I don’t think we underestimated them at all,” Martin added. “We came into the game ready and confident. We just got outplayed by a really strong team.”

It was a tough ending to a breakthrough season for the Marines, who finished 5-4 overall and two notches above their preseason ranking. It’s the second time they’ve made the playoffs in three years and most wins they’ve had since 1995.

“I’m proud of the way we came together,” Martin said. “The kids and coaching staff had fun every day. Everyone was enthusiastic and energized at practice and worked hard every game.”

Senior Nick McCarthy accounted for Long Beach’s only points at Wantagh with a 33-yard field goal in the second quarter. The Warriors, who beat the Marines 35-7 in the season opener, led by 18 points at halftime.

“We had a few decent drives,” Martin said. “After we fell behind by a few scores we took some shots at big plays but couldn’t connect.”

Long Beach entered the playoffs off a 32-21 home victory over Westbury in the regular-season finale on Oct. 30. Senior running back Damon Whitfield, an All-Conference selection, gashed the Green Dragons defense for 259 yards on the ground and three touchdowns, while junior quarterback Thomas Rowley added a score. “Damon had a huge hand in three of our wins,” Martin said of Whitfield, who missed some time due to injury and finished the year with 570 yards and seven touchdowns. 

The offense topped 20 points on five occasions, which Martin said was a result of Rowley’s week-to-week improvement. The signal-caller had 710 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions passing and added five rushing scores. “He was probably our MVP,” Martin said of Rowley. “The coaching staff made the decision last spring that he’d be the quarterback. We leaned on him more and more to run the ball as the season wore on. He’ll be back next year and we’re excited about it.”

Senior Cedrick Coad, a two-way starter who had 50 tackles and five sacks on defense and two touchdown receptions on offense, earned All-County honors. Additional two-way starting seniors Nate Barksdale (30 tackles, two sacks) and Sam Pereless (three interceptions) were named All-Conference.