Rielly can do it all for Glenn

Empty backfield; full throttle.

In Week 7 against Mount Sinai, Glenn coach Dave Shanahan decided to line up quarterback Ryan Rielly in a shotgun-spread formation with no running backs on either side of him.

"That opened up the running lanes for him and also the passing lanes because we put guys in motion," Shanahan said. "Our kids are better in space."

Rielly was in his own orbit from that day on. He had 506 yards of total offense against Mount Sinai, the stingiest defense in Suffolk Division IV at the time. His numbers also were astronomical in the Knights' magnificent run to their first Long Island championship and a 12-0 record. He totaled 432 yards in a rematch with Mount Sinai in the Suffolk semifinals, 431 yards in the county final against Babylon and 306 yards in a 28-7 victory over previously unbeaten Seaford in the Long Island Class IV title game.

"He's the most electrifying player on Long Island - no doubt," Shanahan said of Rielly, who set an L.I. record with 3,536 all-purpose yards and accounted for 41 touchdowns (21 passing, 20 rushing). "He turns bad plays into good plays."

Rielly, at 5-11, 180, isn't built like the prototype running QB, but he can take a hit - and deliver one, too. He ran for 250 yards against a stout Seaford defense in the LIC. The Hofstra-bound lacrosse player also thrives on a heavy workload. "When I get more touches," he said, "I get better results."

He had a golden touch all season, one in which Glenn did not play a close game after a dramatic 9-7 win over Bayport-Blue Point in Week 4. Greg Orkiszewski kicked the winning field goal in the final seconds after arriving late because he played in a soccer game that morning. Another key play was a daring run for a first down on a fake punt by Tom Forsberg to keep the winning drive alive. "One of the biggest plays of the season," Shanahan said. "Great players make great coaches, and these guys are great players."

There was greatness all around for Glenn football, which celebrated its first county title since 1979 - the pre-LIC era - after losing in the Suffolk final the previous two seasons. The Knights wound up as the only undefeated public school on L.I. and won the Rutgers Trophy as Suffolk's most outstanding team. Shanahan called it "a perfect storm - great players, great coaches and great parents all in the same year."

Victory was clearly in Glenn's DNA - quite literally. Two players on the 1979 Knights, Jimmy Rielly and Jeff Massa, remained friends, married classmates and became parents on the same day when their sons, Ryan Rielly and wide receiver and linebacker Kevin Massa, were born in Huntington Hospital.

"What a great way to end my high school football career," said Rielly, ever the master of the understatement.

Said Shanahan - in a burst of civic pride about a high school located in East Northport but full of students from another village - "This football team has put Elwood on the map!"