By Anthony Bottan
During the 11th annual Outback Steakhouse Empire Challenge, in which the best high school football players from Long Island and New York City square off in a game to benefit cystic fibrosis at Hofstra University, the Long Island All-Stars squeaked out a 20-19 victory over their city counterparts.
Baldwin High School's own Thorp Award winner Ricky Manigat and Aaron Weaver were the sole representatives for Baldwin, while Baldwin coach Steve Carroll was selected to be part of head coach Rich Reichert's coaching staff for the game.
Manigat rushed for 31 yards in the victory and told Newsday, " I just hope to see these guys again. This game is a blessing."
The Thorp winner could not have put it any better. The Long Island All-Stars had a comfortable two touchdown lead early in the fourth quarter, but saw its lead slip away after Staten Island's Andre Cirino 45-yard run set up a touchdown that cut the lead to seven with less than five minutes to play. After NYC stopped Long Island on a 4th and 1, Cirino caught a 50-yard pass that set up the game tying touchdown run.
However, NYC missed the extra point, their second missed PAT of the game and proved to be the deciding factor in the victory for the Long-Island All-Stars. Long Island leads the series against NYC 6-3.
Manigat, who ran for 1,246 yards on 153 carries, and a Long Island best with 21 touchdowns in 2005, will suit up for the Gettysburg College Bullets this September.
