Rielly runs, throws for 5 TDs as Glenn wins Division IV title
Quarterback Ryan Rielly had a hand in all of his team's five touchdowns as Glenn defeated Babylon in the Suffolk Division IV final. (Nov. 20, 2010) Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
The script that Glenn has been following all season has had an exciting plot, a strong male lead and a powerful supporting cast. Now, it has the happy ending - a title.
The Knights spelled it out for the fans to hear, loud and clear last night at Stony Brook's LaValle Stadium. "L-I-C! L-I-C! L-I-C!" they chanted after a 34-26 victory over Babylon in the Suffolk County Division IV championship game.
Ryan Rielly was once again the headliner, running for 224 yards and two touchdowns, and passing for 207 yards and three touchdowns to send the Knights to the Long Island Championship for the first time in school history. Glenn (11-0) will face Seaford (11-0) next Saturday at Stony Brook at 4:30 p.m. for the Class IV title, matching the only two unbeaten public schools left. Babylon finished 8-3.
"It's awesome. It was our goal all year," said Rielly. "Our motto has been 'seal the deal.' We finally did it."
Rielly's 19-yard touchdown pass to Jon Mannix on a hitch pattern gave Glenn the lead for good at 27-26 with 3:45 left in the third quarter, and Rielly's seven-yard run through traffic made it 34-26 with 6:55 left in the final period.
Glenn held Babylon scoreless in the second half, helped by the fact that Panthers star Trevor Fudim, who ran for 155 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, was limited to six carries for 12 yards after the break because of an injury.
Rielly took his share of hits, too. "Ryan is an excellent athlete, but most importantly, he makes excellent decisions," said Glenn coach Dave Shanahan, savoring the finest moment of his 16-year career at the school. "He's very strong and he's very tough. He can take a beating."
His 5-11, 180-pound body did, indeed, take a pounding. In rallying the Knights from deficits of 14-0 and 20-7 in the first half, Rielly carried 36 times and completed 12 of 26 passes. He carried on all but two of Glenn's running plays. "I'd rather do that than just hand the ball off," said Rielly, a Hofstra-bound lacrosse player. "I'm small, but if I run my hardest, I can deliver a blow."
Receiver Tom Forsberg also delivered. He caught seven passes for 110 yards, including a well-delivered deep ball that produced a 54-yard touchdown in the second quarter. "We call the play Houston," said Forsberg, whose 29-yard punt return set up the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter. "They sent me in motion and we had a little mismatch in the secondary."
Rielly exploited that, saying, "I just threw it out there and Tommy did the work. We wanted to get our athletes the ball and take what the defenses gave us."
Mostly, it was Rielly, left; Rielly right; Rielly up the middle and Rielly dropping back to pass. "Ryan and I have been playing football and lacrosse together since the fifth grade," Forsberg said. "The whole team has such great chemistry. We're a bunch of friends who have been thinking about this for a long time."
When the team was huddled up near the Babylon goal-line, allowing the clock to run out in the final seconds, Forsberg said, "I gave Ryan and Kevin [Massa] the biggest hug ever!"
Makes for a pretty good final scene.
