Lynbrook victorious on new field

A night of celebration capped by a hard-fought victory. That was what the Lynbrook High School football team experienced last Friday night, playing its first game on a new synthetic-turf field at Marion Street Elementary School. The Owls christened the new playing surface with a 20-15 come-from-behind victory over Conference III rival Bethpage to improve to 2-1 on the season.

“It was a nice night to have this community field for everybody to see,” Lynbrook head coach Steve LoCicero said. “This field is terrific for the entire community, and it puts us in a world-class high school atmosphere for all of our athletics.”

Lynbrook’s new multi-sport field was completed this summer thanks to a $5.6 million bond approved by district voters in June 2012. The field, which is also now home to the high school’s soccer and lacrosse teams, allows extended practice time, because the synthetic surface undergoes less wear and tear than natural grass and drains more efficiently in bad weather, according to district officials. A track around the field is also slated for completion soon.

The field was not ready in time for Lynbrook’s opening game on Sept. 11, so the Owls faced off against Sewanhaka at Long Beach Middle School. Lynbrook came into Friday night’s game having beaten Sewanhaka 39-14 and lost to Plainedge 55-33.

Owls quarterback Joe Grossi helped break in the new field with a memorable offensive performance that included 78 rushing yards on 21 attempts to go along with 4-of-6 passing.

“It means a lot to the community,” Grossi said. “It’s amazing.”

The night did not get off to a celebratory start for Lynbrook, with Bethpage taking an early 8-0 lead on its first offensive possession. Eagles quarterback Christian Ferruzza finished an 87-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown run, and then found running back Yoannis Efstathiou with a pass on a two-point conversion set up by a faked extra point.

Lynbrook responded with 20 straight points, including two touchdowns by running back Dylan Lucas, a 24-yarder and a 1-yard plunge that made it 14-8 Owls with 10:43 left in the third quarter. A 6-yard scoring run by Harrison Conn with 5:13 left in the third gave Lynbrook a 20-8 lead.

LoCicero said he was impressed by how Grossi handled Lynbrook’s hurry-up, no-huddle offense, which is aimed at running as many plays as possible. The strategy is not new to the Owls, but LoCicero said they have focused on increasing the speed of getting off snaps.

“Joe plays with so much heart and desire,” he said of Grossi. “You never can count that kid out. He is just a special, special young man.”

“We run a fast-paced offense with great guys up front who block amazing,” Grossi said. “The tempo keeps the defense off balance.”

Lynbrook travels to Manhasset this Saturday for a 3 p.m. game. The Owls’ next home game is Oct. 12 against Glen Cove, with a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.

“The mindset of the team is to go all the way, and I think we have the guys that can do it,” said Grossi. “If we come to play each week and we have great practices all week, we can go very far.”

Brian Croce contributed to this story.