Longwood turns strip sack into touchdown as Lions' defense dominates in win over Sachem North
Rashawn Holman of Longwood against Sachem North during a Suffolk Division I football game on Oct. 5, 2024. Credit: /Derrick Dingle
Call it the strip sack, pitch for a pick-6. Now that’s a tongue twister.
It was also a game changer.
Longwood's Mike Warren came off the edge, hit the quarterback and popped the ball into the air. Lineman Rashawn Holman caught the ball one-handed and ran a few yards before lateraling it to teammate Makai Bell.
Bell finished the third-quarter play with a 45-yard dash to the end zone to give Longwood a three-score lead in its 28-0 win over host Sachem North in a Suffolk Division I football game on Saturday in Lake Ronkonkoma.
“Mike stripped the ball and I was in the backfield and it came right to me,” Holman said. “The pitch [to Bell] was just quick thinking and trusting my teammate with the ball. It was a reaction.”
It was an incredible play that crippled any potential comeback for Sachem North, which fell to 1-3. Longwood improved to 3-1.
It was just one of a multitude of defensive plays for a Longwood unit that totaled 11 tackles for a loss and held Sachem North out of the red zone for all but one drive.
“We put it all together for the first time this season,” Longwood coach Sean Kluber said. “Our staff put out a great game plan and the defense was flying around and making plays. And I thought the offensive line really had quite a day.”
It started with Sachem’s opening drive. Holman bearhugged quarterback Luke LaRocca for a seven-yard loss on second down and Warren followed with a blindside sack for an 8-yard loss to force a punt.
“I was coming off the edge and getting deep penetration,” said Warren, who had three sacks. “The coaches put us in such a great position to make plays. All I had to do was tell my linebacker to bump out and cover me. And that let me run free.”
Longwood proceeded to go on its first of three long scoring drives. The first one went 78 yards in 11 plays and lasted over five minutes. The march was capped by a Kalen Percer 12-yard run. Dan Blank added the kick to make it 7-0 with 3:04 left in the first quarter.
The second score came after Sachem North missed a 41-yard field goal attempt. Longwood responded with a 12-play, 80-yard march that lasted 6:18 for the 14-0 lead with 54 seconds left in the half. Quarterback Ryan Mandaro scored on a 1-yard sneak.
“We have all five starters back on the offensive line and the experience shows,” Kluber said. “We let a game slip away earlier this season and our guys are focused and not letting that happen again.”
Center Gregory Princivil Jr., guards Clint Chichester and Ryan Morrissey, tackles Jordan Bennett and Michael Duarte led the way as the Lions averaged 6.5 yards per run and totaled 251 rushing yards.
“It starts with the offensive line,” said running back Davien Benjamin-Sheffey, who had 105 yards on 13 carries. “We trust them to open the holes to make the offense go.”
“We’re a very physical team,” halfback Madison Murrell said. “We come at you with a bunch of speedy and powerful backs.”
Murrell had the final impressive run for the Lions.
Sachem North put together its finest drive of the afternoon. It drove to the Longwood 13 before a fourth-down pass attempt into the end zone was ruled incomplete. A drive that started at the Sachem 14 and lasted nearly six minutes but came up empty.
Longwood answered with a seven-play, 87-yard TD march capped by Murrell’s 4-yard run with 7:47 left for the 28-0 lead.
“It was our best effort,” Kluber said. “And the division is the toughest it’s been in years, so we’ll need more performances just like this one.”
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.