By ANDREW McCLURE
Junior running back Greg D’Arienzo scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns as the Seahawks battled back after trailing by seven at the half. D’Arienzo led Carey’s rushing attack with 77 yards. Seniors Joe Fasano and Jason Alvino combined for 17 tackles to lead the Seahawks’ defense as top-seeded Carey fought off a numbing rainstorm and a stubborn Long Beach team.
The Marines scored first when running back Brian O’Toole, who ran for 216 yards in a 33-21 loss when the teams met Oct. 18, took a handoff from quarterback Sam Mayper and went 82 yards for the touchdown. The point-after attempt failed.
The Long Beach lead was short lived; as senior wide receiver Rob Braun caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Luke Zahradka early in the second quarter. It was the 11th time this season that Zahradka and Braun hooked up for a score. Chris Siegenthaler’s kick put Carey ahead 7-6.
Long Beach would go back on top when Mayper found wide out Kishawn Jefferson for a 74-yard touchdown pass. The Marines put the ball in O’Toole’s hands for the two-point conversion to take a 14-7 lead into the locker room at the half.
Neither team scored in the third quarter, setting the stage for D’Arienzo’s heroics. With the eighth-seeded Marines smelling an upset and the rain coming down in buckets, Zahradka was a perfect 3-for-3 in passing over the final 12 minutes. After tying the score at 14 early on in the fourth quarter, D’Arienzo, who also pulled in two receptions for 60 yards, barreled in from a yard out to put the Seahawks ahead to stay with a little more than five minutes remaining in the game.
Long Beach’s dreams of an upset ended when junior Al Gentile broke up a fourth-down pass with less than three minutes left on the clock. The Marines finished 4-5.
Carey will now take on district rival Elmont at 5:30 on Saturday evening at Hofstra University. The Spartans, who enter the semifinal round riding a six-game winning streak, handed Carey one of its two defeats last month.
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