Thursday, October 1, 2026
Long Beach will have plenty of familiar faces back this season, but the Marines will look to their experience up front and a star running back to lead them back to the Nassau Conference II championship stage.
With five senior offensive linemen returning and two-time All-County and All-Long Island standout Brody Riedel anchoring the offense, Long Beach enters the season with its sights set on finishing the job after falling to Garden City, 27-12, at Hofstra University, in the county title game last November.
The starting five in the trenches are left tackle Vaughn Bogacki, left guard Charles Muskin, center Jack Muskin, right guard Gavyn Vicente and right tackle Kellen deBruin. They’ll be the ones creating the holes for Riedel, who is coming off a campaign with 1,500 scrimmage yards and 20 total touchdowns.
“Riedel has been our top player, top running back for the last two seasons,” said head coach Scott Martin, who enters his 18th season at the position.
“He’s an outstanding linebacker as well, but we prioritize him on the offensive end. He’s our leading rusher, and he also catches passes,” he added.
Martin noted they’ll be a team that controls the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and pounds the rock. Former wide receiver who will be playing a ton alongside Riedel is senior Jaron Burns. He won the program’s special teams player of the year, as he’ll be asked to expand his game as a runner.
“Jaron is a total athlete, can play everywhere,” Martin said. “He’s probably the most athletic player we’ve had in the last eight years or so. We want to get him carries too. We just think that’s another way to get him a few more touches.”
Burns also received an All-State honorable mention, as he enters the season as a Swiss Army knife.
Riedel won All-State as a linebacker last season. Returning alongside him is senior safety Danny Corea, who led the team in tackles with 65 and grabbed 4 interceptions. This defense returns more than half of its starters, and eight players who had substantial roles.
“This season’s going to go as far as they can bring us,” Martin said about both the offensive and defensive trenches. “They own the line of scrimmage.”
On the offensive side, Corea led the team in receiving with 300 yards. Martin described him as a downhill runner and a real tough, strong kid.
Making the switch from wide receiver to quarterback is senior Brody Juan. He’s always been the backup, but with the vacancy open, it’s time for Juan to get under center.
“He has the physical abilities,” Martin said. “He can throw the ball really well. He can run the ball better than our quarterback last year, so that opens up the playbooks a little bit more.”
Some who may have expanded roles include Holy Trinity transfer Joe Henn, who will play tight end and linebacker; junior fullback/outside linebacker Christian Capria, and sophomore receiver/ safety Ethan Mosley.
“We have the ability to do multiple things,” Martin said. “We do have threats in the air.”
With back-to-back trips to Hofstra, this group has the experience they need to reach the pinnacle of high school football.
“Experience is an important thing,” Martin said. “Especially when you get into the playoffs. The more kids that know what’s going on, the more that confidence will spread throughout the team. We have a lot of kids coming back and a lot of intelligent experience. Experience is one of the keys and that’s why we feel like we can be one of the favorites in this conference.”
With a veteran core returning and another trip to the county championship in mind, the Marines look to improve off an 8-3 season, but Garden City and Carey stand in their way.
“Our goal is to make it to the final four,” Martin said. “It’s something we’ll talk about on day one. The key is to improve each week and even further than that, each day to put forth effort in practice and each game week that we take leaps to get as good as the top teams in the league.”
To read more from the Herald's 2026 High School Football Preview, click here.
