Noah Rattmer leads Longwood romp over Brentwood
Noah Rattmer dropped to a knee as tears filled his eyes. Flooded with emotion, he suddenly recalled the moments he wondered if he’d ever receive this opportunity again because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It’s tough," the Longwood senior quarterback said following his team’s season-opening 56-0 victory at Brentwood in a Suffolk League I football game on Saturday. "This past year-and-a-half, especially last year for me after an injury held me out for a lot of the season.
"It meant a lot to finally get back out here with my guys and fight and go to war with them. For me, it was everything. We really bonded and over these last couple of months, once we knew that we had a season, we really went out 100% and I think that showed today."
Rattmer and his teammates found their rhythm from the opening drive and didn’t take their foot off the gas pedal in the first quarter. Behind its high-powered offense, Longwood took a commanding 28-0 lead to end the opening period before entering halftime ahead 35-0.
The Lions opened the scoring with a 64-yard drive, capped off by Rattmer’s 35-yard touchdown pass to CJ Pressley and Louis Kaleb’s two-point conversion run. Rattmer connected on a touchdown pass to Najee Henderson on the ensuing possession before Longwood added on back-to-back rushing touchdowns from Abeid Thomas and Fernando Rodriguez.
Rattmer completed 13 of 18 passes for 237 yards and four touchdowns.
"When everyone executes and does their job, you see the show that we can put on," Rattmer said.
Longwood coach Jeff Cipp was happy with his team’s performance after the long layoff.
"This whole situation, it’s been a really long time since we’ve seen the field," Cipp said. "And even doing everything that we’ve done since going virtual a year ago, you never know what to expect in this type of situation. But I’m more than pleased with my players. They came out and did a great job today."
Cipp said he asked his players for just one thing before kickoff.
"We just asked the kids to give their teammates and their coaches all they had," Cipp said. "This is supposed to be fun, it’s finally football so just give everything you have once you get out on the field. And I felt like we did that."
Henderson did just that and more, hauling in three receptions for 51 yards and two touchdowns.
"I was just happy to get the ball," Henderson said. "I was happy to just be out here playing again."
He also likened Longwood’s potential to that of last season, when the Lions advanced to the League I final before falling to Floyd.
"This year I think we should go the same distance and probably win it," Henderson said.
