By TONY BELLISSIMO
The Marines secured the eighth and final playoff spot in Conference II with a convincing 55-19 victory over Valley Stream Central at Firemen’s Field last Saturday. Senior Brian O’Toole, junior Kishawn Jefferson and sophomore Damon Whitfield each scored a pair of touchdowns, while senior linebacker Anthony Cardenas led the defensive effort with 17 tackles.
“It’s exciting and rewarding to be in the playoffs, no question about it,” Long Beach coach Jim Bernhardt said. “We worked through some trying times here and there to reach a goal we set in August. Now we’ll see what we can do against Carey.”
The Marines (4-4) hit the road this Saturday to face first-place Carey (6-2) in an opening-round playoff game. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. Carey won at Long Beach on Oct. 18, 33-20. “We’ll watch a bunch of film from the regular-season meeting to prepare,” Bernhardt said. “Carey hurt us on conversion downs and we hurt ourselves on special teams. We were right there most of the way.”
The Carey game was the last time Long Beach enjoyed a first-quarter lead. The Marines fell behind early in their 21-13 loss at Division on Oct. 24, and gave up a 20-yard touchdown run to Valley Stream Central’s Addison Augustin on the third play of the second quarter last week.
“I don’t know if it’s the fear of failure, but we seem to want to stick our toes in the water and see how it feels,” Bernhardt said of the team’s sluggish starts. “It’s almost like we have to take a punch before we get going.”
Twelve plays after the Eagles drew first blood and led 6-0, Long Beach answered with a 59-yard scoring drive. O’Toole, who gained 150 yards on the ground, picked up six yards on a crucial fourth-and-2 from the Valley Stream Central 11 to keep the possession alive. Two plays later he followed the block of senior center Robert Oquendo into the end zone. Jorge Jiminez hit his first of seven extra-point tries on the day to put the visitors ahead for good.
But it didn’t come easily until the second half.
“The kids knew what was at stake, but nobody panicked,” Bernhardt said. “Even at halftime when we weren’t exactly where we wanted to be, I think they did a good job of staying focused.”
With the Marines leading 14-6 after senior quarterback Sam Mayper’s 42-yard touchdown run with 1:27 remaining in the first half, Jefferson added to the their momentum when he ran back the second-half kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown. “That play probably took some wind out of their sails and put some wind behind us,” Bernhardt said.
It was the first of eight second-half touchdowns. Jefferson caught a 34-yard scoring strike from Mayper on Long Beach’s first offensive possession of the third quarter and Whitfield added a 10-yard touchdown run. O’Toole (57 yards), Whitfield (65) and junior Dylan Dalrymple (13) had touchdown runs in the fourth quarter, and the celebration was on. "It feels good," O'Toole said. "We haven't been in the playoffs in a long time. Everyone is really excited about it."
Added Bernhardt: “I hope the kids appreciate their accomplishment, which I think they do. I think we all know we left something on the field the first time we played Carey. We’re going to go there and give it our best and see what happens.”
Long Beach’s last playoff game came in November of 1989. It lost 27-6 on the road against eventual Conference II champion Valley Stream Central.
Comments about this story? TBellissimo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
