Thursday, October 1, 2026
Experience has been a key behind the Long Beach girls’ flag football team’s resurgence, and the reward may be their first-ever playoff berth.
The Marines (6-4) find themselves logjammed in the middle of the Conference B/C standings as they try to finish among the top six that qualify for the postseason. Those aspirations took a slight hit with a 22-0 loss to Bethpage last Friday that denied them a fifth victory in six games, but the team’s entire win total is already double from the three they posted in 2024.
“The difference is we have girls with experience,” Long Beach coach Rocky Butler said. “They understand the game a little bit more. They all bought into what we’re trying to do as far as changing the program around. They’re a real team.”
The Marines went on their 4-1 run after alternating wins and losses in the first four, including a devastating 14-12 defeat at Lynbrook on April 3 in which they allowed a 60-yard touchdown run with 12 seconds left after going ahead 12-7 with 37 ticks left on freshman quarterback Simi Wardana’s 40-yard scoring scamper. Six days later, they trailed Roosevelt 6-0 at halftime before posting 19 unanswered points in the second half for the victory.
“At that point, the girls realized that regardless of what happens during the game, they have to finish the game,” Butler said. “That was the turning point. I think the mentality shifted and they saw how good they could be.”
Long Beach allowed seven or fewer points in all four of those wins, including two shutouts that upped their season total to four. Emyli Mendoza leads the defense with seven interceptions, including two that went for touchdowns, seniors Lia Ramirez (six interceptions) and Savanna Flores (three), and junior Olivia Lanigan (one pick-six) have also been ballhawks, and fellow senior Rosita Beltran had a key safety late in an 8-0 win over East Rockaway on April 12.
Katelyn Reyes leads the team with 56 flag pulls and fellow senior Amira Johnson (23) has also thrived on defense along with juniors India Johnson and Anne Wachs.
“Coach Ray Adams is doing a great job with the defense,” Butler said. “We just talk about responsibilities and if everybody is doing their job. We’ve got a lot of athletes on the team, so that makes it easy for them to react to what they see.”
Wardana has rushed for over 400 yards with three scores and thrown for almost 700 with seven touchdowns, including two to Lanigan and an 18-yard strike to sophomore Allyana Lucas in double overtime for the game’s only points against Locust Valley on April 1.
“She’s going to be one of the best athletes in the county,” Butler said of Wardana.
Reyes is the team’s leading rusher with 315 yards and has scored four touchdowns, including a 50-yard dash at Lynbrook.
All three of the Marines’ final games are against teams they’re competing with for the playoffs — Glen Cove, Plainedge and Roslyn.
