Tahj Clark rushes for 253 yards, four touchdowns in Longwood win
Longwood's Tahj Clark (21, center), and Northport's Rob Dosch (22, right) and Ryan Tromblee (80, left) during the Suffolk Division I Football semifinals held at Longwood High School on Friday Nov. 13, 2015. Credit: Richard T. Slattery
On Friday the 13th, Longwood's backfield of Tahj Clark, Khalil Owens and Latrell Horton was so good, it was scary.
Clark ran for 253 yards and four touchdowns to lead No. 2 Longwood over visiting No. 3 Northport, 48-21, in a Suffolk I semifinal Friday night. Horton added 111 yards and a touchdown and Owens had 104 yards and a TD.
"I feel like we have the best backfield on the Island, to be honest," Clark said. "And we have the best linemen on the Island, also."
"Give them a little bit of a hole, and those backs are going places," coach Jeff Cipp said.
Longwood (9-1) -- which will face No. 1 Lindenhurst for the county title at noon Nov. 22 at Stony Brook -- got off to a hot start on a chilly night, taking a 14-0 lead after three plays.
Horton ran for a 75-yard touchdown on the first play of the game, taking a handoff up the middle and breaking free.
On the second play of Northport's ensuing drive, Longwood's Sean Rausch deflected a pass that was intercepted by Michael Linbrunner and returned for a 24-yard touchdown.
Northport (6-4) stayed in the game thanks to timely plays on defense, recovering a fumble in the red zone to set up Dan Preston's 7-yard touchdown and recording a safety that made it 21-9 with 4:41 left in the first half.
Andrew Smith threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to John Tabert with 1:42 left in the half, cutting Northport's deficit to 21-15, but Longwood answered with 28 seconds left when Clark capped a 50-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown run. Horton's two-point conversion run gave Longwood a 14-point lead going into halftime.
In the second half, Longwood's running game proved to be too much to handle. The Lions iced the game with a 5-yard touchdown run by Owens in the third quarter and two 45-yard touchdown runs by Clark.
"They're the best running backs you can block for," lineman Matt Weiss said of Clark, Owens and Horton. "No one can take them down."
