Khalil Owens rushes for 158 yards, 3 TDs; Sean Rausch and Antonio Scala get INT returns for TDs as Longwood romps in Suffolk I title game
Longwood's Sean Rausch #5 celebrates after he intercepted a pass and ran it back for a touchdown in the first half of the Suffolk Division I Championship game at Stony Brook's Lavalle Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015. Credit: Daniel De Mato
This year, Longwood vowed it would be different.
The Lions haven't won a county title since 2004. That's just too long a wait for a proud football program.
A dominant offensive line and a relentless defense were keys to Longwood's 44-14 victory over previously unbeaten Lindenhurst on Sunday in the Suffolk I championship game at LaValle Stadium.
A crowd of 4,400 watched the Longwood front push Lindenhurst all over the field. Quarterback Will Condron engineered four time-consuming touchdown drives and halfback Khalil Owens rushed for 158 yards on 20 carries, scoring three touchdowns.
The victory helped erase the bad memory of the Lions' crushing playoff loss to Patchogue-Medford in a Suffolk I semifinal last year and a 26-7 loss to Lindenhurst on Oct. 9.
"We were undefeated and lost in heartbreaking fashion in last year's playoffs, and no one wanted to go through that again," Longwood tackle Matt Weiss said. "Somehow that loss to Lindenhurst earlier this year really woke us up. Today, we avenged that loss in a big way against a very good team."
Longwood (10-1), which has won six straight games, will meet Farmingdale (11-0) for the Long Island Class I title at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at LaValle Stadium.
"I thought we dominated both sides of the line," Longwood tackle Anthony Lavio said. "And our defense came up big. The front put tremendous pressure on the quarterback and forced a lot of mistakes."
The Longwood secondary allowed four first-half touchdown strikes by Lindenhurst in October. On Sunday, that unit turned in a spectacular effort against Ryan Hofmann, one of Long Island's top quarterbacks. The Lions picked him off four times and returned two for scores.
"We mixed our coverage and gave them a different look on every play," Longwood coach Jeff Cipp said. "We disguised our blitzes very well and our guys up front forced him out of the pocket and out of his comfort zone."
Lindenhurst (10-1) opened the scoring with a seven-play, 64-yard drive capped by Hofmann's 27-yard touchdown pass to Joe Palmeri. Longwood responded with a nine-play, 80-yard drive, with halfback Tahj Clark following a huge block by fullback Mike Scalice for a 13-yard touchdown run that made it 7-6. The key play was a fake punt on fourth-and-2. Punter Marquis Simpson scrambled around right end for a 24-yard gain, and a late hit on the play tacked on 15 yards and moved the ball to the Bulldogs' 22.
"Scalice and [Latrell] Horton have blocked like that all season," Cipp said. "Our line was incredible. And this is such a satisfying win."
Longwood extended the lead by marching 80 yards in six plays. A 51-yard pass from Condron to Sean Rausch to the 20 set up Owens' 4-yard TD run. Horton followed Scalice into the end zone for a two-point conversion and a 14-7 lead.
On the ensuing play from scrimmage, Rausch returned an interception 22 yards for a touchdown and a 21-7 lead.
On Lindenhurst's first possession of the third quarter, Longwood middle linebacker Antonio Scala buried halfback Joe Barber on fourth-and-1 at the Longwood 25 for a loss of 2. From there, the Lions drove 75 yards in 11 plays, punctuated by Owens' 1-yard touchdown run for a 27-7 lead.
Scala added a 41-yard pick-6 in the fourth. "This was personal and it was physical," he said. "The way we like it."
Farmingdale likes it that way, too -- which sets up a beauty of a Long Island final.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
