Thursday, October 1, 2026
Like five others, Long Beach’s offense came up empty against Mepham’s vaunted defense during the regular season.
But in Sunday’s rematch with much more on the line in a Nassau Conference II football semifinal, junior running back Brody Riedel reached the end zone four times as the third-seeded Marines advanced to their first county championship game since 1986 with a 27-13 victory at Hofstra University.
“Really feels amazing,” said Riedel, who broke a scoreless deadlock with 7:32 remaining in the third quarter with a 31-yard scoring burst up the middle and added touchdown runs of 1, 70 and 30 yards in the fourth. “Our coaches have been preaching discipline since the loss we had to Mepham,” he added. “We prepared hard all week and to finally get that first touchdown against them gave us a lot of confidence.”
Riedel had 195 yards on 22 carries and also intercepted a pass as Long Beach (8-2) avenged a 24-0 loss to the second-seeded Pirates (8-2) Sept. 27 and will face juggernaut Garden City in the Conference II title game Saturday at noon at Hofstra.
“We moved the ball well in the first half and hit on some throws before finally breaking through with the run game in the second half,” Long Beach head coach Scott Martin said. “Brody’s a special player and he carried us on his back, but Mepham’s a good team and it took a complete effort on our part.
“It’s a big win for the program and we’ll enjoy it for a little while before getting right back to work,” he added.
Top-seeded Garden City is riding a state-record 64-game win streak and defeated the Marines 31-16 in the season opener. The Trojans have three consecutive shutouts and haven’t allowed double digits in points in nine straight since Week 1.
“We know what we’re up against, but we’ve played them tough the last four times we’ve met,” Martin said.
Senior Mike Grizzard had a 4-yard pick-6 and junior Lucas Eagleston a 44-yard touchdown reception for the Pirates, who never led.
“It was a great game between two good teams,” Mepham head coach Tom Mazeika said. “In the end they made more plays than we did. They deserved to win.”
Defense ruled for both sides in the first half with Riedel (12 tackles) and Mepham junior Tyler Gaskin both picking off passes.
Long Beach got on the board on its first possession of the second half after the defense forced a three-and-out. Senior quarterback Charlie Conway connected twice with junior Brody Juan (6 catches for 72 yards) for first downs and Riedel capped the drive following a key block from junior Gavyn Vicente and going the distance.
“I think our ability to throw the ball loosed up their defense just enough for Brody to pop off some big runs,” Martin said.
Grizzard’s touchdown bailed out the Pirates after they turned the ball over at the Long Beach 1 with junior Vaughn Bogacki forcing and recovering a fumble.
The Marines maintained a 7-6 lead thanks to a missed extra point and then marched 69 yards on 10 plays to extend it on a 1-yard touchdown run by Riedel off a direct snap from junior center Jack Muskin.
Senior Jaden Flynn’s first of two sacks spoiled Mepham’s ensuing possession and it was quickly 20-6 after Conway took Muskin’s next snap and handed off to Riedel, who made another house visit.
When asked if Riedel would be driving the team bus back to Long Beach from Hofstra, Martin laughed and said “he just might.”
