Mepham tops Long Beach in rainstorm

Second-seeded Mepham and No. 3 Long Beach not only batted each other throughout Friday afternoon’s Nassau Conference II football semifinal at Hofstra, but also Mother Nature.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this drenched in my life,” Mepham head coach Matt Moody said. “At times, I couldn’t see plays develop. It was crazy.”

Torrential rain, wind, punts and turnovers dominated three scoreless quarters before the Pirates finally broke through in the fourth with a pair of touchdowns for a 14-0 victory. Mepham, which last won a county title in 1952, advanced to face six-time defending champion Garden City next Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Hofstra for the crown.

“We found a way to win and we’re looking forward to next week,” said Mepham senior quarterback/linebacker Dominick Novello, who opened the scoring with 7:58 remaining on a 2-yard touchdown run and was part of a smothering defensive effort with 8 tackles and a pair of sacks. “We’re excited to get a rematch with Garden City,” he added.

Long Beach (7-3) had two chances to take the lead early in the fourth quarter but had one field-goal attempt sail wide and another blocked by Mepham’s senior Nick Walker. Following the block by Walker, the Pirates drove 60 yards behind senior Dylan Dunn (45) for the eventual winning score.

“I don’t think any of us thought the game was going to go south, but we were minus-3 in turnovers in the first half and it was still a 0-0 tie,” Moody said. “We knew we had to do a better job protecting the ball and things finally shifted in our favor in the fourth quarter.”

With the weather conditions basically eliminating the passing attack for both offenses, Moody wanted to give Dunn, one of Mepham’s receivers, some touches out of the backfield. “Dylan provided a spark we hadn’t had all game,” Moody said. “We wanted to get the ball into his hands somehow.”

Trailing 7-0, the Marines fumbled away their ensuing possession. Senior Christopher Norris recovered for Mepham (9-1) on the Long Beach 18. Five plays later, Novello lost a slippery ball at the goal line but junior Steven Mulqueen pounced on the fumble in the end zone for a touchdown with 4:28 left.

“I was super happy Mulqueen was there to recover it,” Novello said.

Long Beach, which lost 28-13 at Mepham in Week 6 of the regular season, was held to just 51 yards of total offense.

“The weather conditions didn’t play to our strength,” Long Beach head coach Scott Martin said. “We’re a passing team. We averaged 230 yards passing a game. We couldn’t get the ball into the hands of our playmakers.”

The Marines defeated New Hyde Park in the opening round of the playoffs, 27-14. Senior quarterback Jeff Conway threw three touchdown passes, giving him 21 on the year.

“The rain and wind eliminated the passing, but I still thought our defense did an incredible job,” said Moody, who praised the performances of Novello, Norris, Walker, Ryan Thier and Brendan Toomey.

Mepham’s only loss came Week 5 at Garden City, 35-18.

“They’re the gold standard,” Moody said of the unbeaten and top-seeded Trojans. “We spotted them too many points in the first half when we played. We know it’s going to be tough, but we’re proud to be in the position we’re in.”