By TONY BELLISSIMO
Behind junior quarterback Jose Rodriguez, the Long Beach Marines matched last year's win total with an opening game rout of East Meadow last Saturday. Rodriguez rushed for 139 yards, a touchdown and a two-point conversion and threw for 62 yards, one score and a pair of two-point conversions to lead the Long Beach football team to an impressive 24-6 season-opening Conference I victory.
The Marines, who are now just eight points away from matching last year's point total, will try to keep their momentum going this Saturday when they host Elmont at Long Beach Middle School at 2 p.m.
The kids did a great job, coach Dan Quinn said. We didn't suffer any mental lapses, and I think a big reason for that is we don't have nearly as many two-way players as we've had in previous years.
It feels strange to say we wore a team down, but that's exactly what happened.
Long Beach scored on its first possession and never looked back. On a fourth-and-1 from their own 45-yard line, Rodriguez had second thoughts of going up the middle and sprinted to the outside. There he found no resistance from the Jets
