Long Beach gains playoff spot

Elmont gets No. 8 seed

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Seniors on the Long Beach football team like Nick Nigro did not need any extra motivation going into last Saturday’s contest against Elmont. They knew a loss would mean that their high school playing careers would be over.

The Marines entered their regular-season finale needing a victory in order to secure postseason berth and were able to come away with a 20-6 win over the Spartans. Long Beach was able to use its rushing attack to control the clock, while its defense effectively shutdown Elmont, in what was a wet and windy affair along the water at Long Beach High School.

After the game, even with the rain still pouring down on him, Nigro could be seen grinning ear-to-ear. He seemed very grateful that he’d get to return to the field again at least one more time.

“It’s big,” Nigro said. “We get another week of playing. As a senior that’s all you can ask for.”

The Marines now enter the playoffs as a No. 6 seed, and will get to play again this Friday at Mepham. Elmont, meanwhile, is No. 8 and visits defending Nassau and Long Island champion Carey.

Long Beach head coach Scott Martin was extremely pleased with the effort his team put forth to get that game. “The kids battled hard,” Martin said. “We needed a game like that. The rain and the weather made it so that both teams couldn’t throw. Our defense had to be strong, and they came out and played.”

Elmont’s offense struggled to generate much for most of the game. The Spartans were able to avoid being shutout, thanks to a 1-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Simon Kalu with eight seconds remaining in the game. Head coach Jay Heig said that the poor weather played a large role in his team’s inability to put points on the board.

“The weather is the great equalizer,” Heig said. “I think on a good weather day we would be the favorite to win the game. The weather hurt us. They played well, but we made a lot of mistakes today.”

With the wind being so powerful, both quarterbacks struggled passing the ball down field. So as a result Long Beach and Elmont had to turn to their running games to take on most of the offense.

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