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Sports

Long Beach Football Looks to Repeat Playoff Run

Tom Rowley leads a crew of talented gridiron players for seventh-seed Marines.

As fall season approaches for the Long Beach High School’s football team, third-year head coach Scott Martin is looking to build on last year’s 5-4 record, which brought the Marines to the playoffs and a fifth seed finish.

En route to that record, the Marines faced some tough higher seeds — Garden City, Elmont and Wantagh — but earned some strong wins, particularly against Great Neck South, Valley Stream Central and JFK-Bellmore.

This year, Martin hopes that some key returning starters and fresh talent will help Long Beach continue to grow as a program.

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“We’re the seven seed going into the season,” Martin said. “The season’s a journey, we have a whole season to get up to a one, two or three spot. If we beat all the teams below us, then we’ll make the playoffs.”

Getting there means riding on the talent of a number of impressive gridiron prospects. Top among them is returning quarterback Tom Rowley, who made quite a splash as a junior last season.

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“Rowley is our top player, and a potential all county candidate,” Martin said. “As quarterback, he gives us the ability to run a no-huddle offense. If he plays defense, he’ll be our top defensive player too — he had a dozen tackles in the playoffs against Wantagh. Everything will run through him.”

Martin is hoping to see productivity from several players in the offensive backfield. While the Marines lost running back Damon Whitfield, James Forkin returns after a good season in spring lacrosse, where he earned all-county honors. Peter Amabile is a stout fullback at 235 pounds, but is fast enough to be competitive in the 400 relay for the track team. Martin is watching senior running back Ikiel Williams closely. And look for Lorenzo Torres to see some action coming out of the backfield as a receiver.

Then there’s Brandt Scott, a 5’ 8”, 150-pound all-county track star.

“He‘s the fastest player on the team, and we start him at the goal line and the rest of the team at the 15, and he beats three-quarters of them,” the coach said.

A key player who is making an outstanding impression on the line is 6’ 5”, 350-pound Tariq Cole.

“He may be the biggest kid in the county,” Martin speculated. “He’s strong and he’s fast and athletic. I’ve seen him do more pancake blocks then I’ve ever seen. We’ll put him at left tackle to protect Rowley’s blind side.”

Meanwhile, senior Mike Rourke, a smart, tough-as-nails center, at 6 feet, 250 pounds, is returning much bigger than last year.

Expect Long Beach’s offense to be versatile.

“We’ll run everything,” Martin said. “I-formation, four-wide shotgun with two tight ends. Zone offense.”

Long Beach will get an early indication of how it’s season will play out in the first game of the season. They visit three seed Elmont on Sept 10. “ That will be our first good measuring stick,” said Martin. “We’ll know where we line up after that, and where we need to go.”

Long Beach Marines Football Schedule, Fall 2011:

  • 9/10 1:30 p.m. @ Elmont
  • 9/17 1:30 p.m. @ Great Neck South
  • 9/23 (F) 7 p.m. Home vs. JFK Bellmore
  • 10/1 3 p.m. Home vs. Garden City
  • 10/6 (Th) 4:30 p.m. @ Jericho
  • 10/15 2 p.m. Home vs. Carey
  • 10/22 1:30 p.m. @ Mepham
  • 10/29 1:30 p.m. Home vs. Herricks
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