Thursday, October 1, 2026
Mepham’s defense told the tale of last Saturday’s Nassau Conference II football matchup against visiting Long Beach.
Even though sophomore quarterback Adam Erlichman picked apart the Marines’ secondary and tossed two touchdowns, it was the four turnovers forced by the Pirates that highlighted a 24-0 victory.
“We’re coming back off of last year being a two seed this year and I said, ‘we’re gonna have the target on our back,” Mepham head coach Tom Mazeika said. “I tell the kids every day to embrace that pressure. You want the pressure. We want to be in these situations and playing in these types of games.”
Mepham junior defensive back Tyler Gaskin intercepted a pass early in the second quarter, setting up the Pirates (3-0) with solid field position at their own 47-yard line. Erlichman then hooked up with senior Erijon Kraki for a 32-yard pickup, and then junior Lucas Eagleston for a 14-yard touchdown to get the hosts on the scoreboard. Eagleston had eight grabs for 86 yards.
“Playcalling was amazing,” said Erlichman, who completed 16 of 21 passes for 150 yards. “Wide receivers executed, offensive line executed. Blocks were perfect and I just delivered. We knew we had to pass the ball with a run heavy defense and all our receivers did an amazing job and I put the ball where it needed to be.”
Ryan Beyer, who a week earlier kicked a game-winning 29-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter to beat MacArthur, gave Mepham a 10-0 halftime lead over Long Beach with a 28-yarder.
Early in the third quarter, senior Braeden Kehoe’s interception continued Mepham’s momentum. Senior Patrick Cloudman added a 1-yard touchdown run in the third, and senior Jack Webber caught a 12-yard touchdown strike from Erlichman in the fourth.
Of the 29 offensive plays run by Long Beach’s offense, Mepham had three interceptions, forced a fumble and allowed just 101 yards. Senior Mike Grizzard recorded an interception, while Junior Paulie Genovese finished with five tackles and one sack. Junior Will Braun recovered the fumble on special teams, with senior Jack Webber and junior Will Entler each recording a sack.
“They have some very good receivers, some electric guys,” Mazeika said of Long Beach. “The biggest thing was just trying to limit those guys and keep things in front of us and not give up big plays. We always say, ‘bend, don’t break,’ and I think we did that today.”
Receiver/defensive back Zack Silva had a fumble recovery and four catches for 35 yards for the Marines, who fell to 1-2. Junior running back Brody Riedel was a bright spot on offense.
“They’re both [Silva and Riedel] both very explosive players,” Long Beach head coach Scott Marti said. “They play really hard. At the end Riedel had that screen play. But Riedel made some big hits, he had some good tough yardage runs and would have liked to get him the ball in the air a little bit more. He’s a leader out there.”
Long Beach will look to even its record this Saturday when it hosts New Hyde Park at the Middle School at 3 p.m. The Pirates travel to Glen Cove Friday for a 6 p.m. kickoff.
