Elmont football's Khalil Muhammad devotes inspired play to fallen friend

Over the last six quarters of football, Elmont has discovered a new rising star: senior safety and wide receiver Khalil Muhammad. However, for Muhammad, this last game and a half has meant much more than football.

On Friday, Sept. 27, Akim Cisse — an 18-year-old man from Cambria Heights — was shot in Queens and died the next day. On the day Cisse died, Muhammad was playing for Elmont in a game against Lynbrook. During halftime of the game, Muhammad got a call from a friend, who told him the news of Cisse’s death.

Cisse and Muhammad played AAU basketball together and became friends. The news devastated Muhammad.

“It really hurt,” Muhammad said. “I sat in the locker room crying for a little bit. Coaches didn’t know if I was going to come back out on the field or not, but I said, ‘I’ve got to help my team.’”

Muhammad decided to play in honor of Cisse . He grabbed his first two interceptions of the season and helped Elmont secure a victory. Now one week later, Muhammad continued his inspired play, helping Elmont defeat visiting Floral Park, 28-7, on Saturday in a Nassau Conference III game.

With Elmont leading by six points on the first play of the fourth quarter, Muhammad picked off a Floral Park pass and returned it 60 yards for the touchdown. On the ensuing two-point conversion try, Elmont quarterback Aiden Barnes threw the ball over the middle, where Muhammad made a diving catch in traffic to successfully convert the attempt.

Later in the final quarter, on fourth down and seven from Floral Park’s 20-yard line, Barnes fired it down the middle of the field to Muhammad, who made a leaping 19-yard grab to set Elmont up at the goal line. From there, senior running back Marquis Robinson plunged through the middle for a one-yard touchdown to ice the game.

Muhammad has dedicated these back-to-back breakout performances to his fallen friend.

“I’m most definitely devoting these to him,” Muhammad said. “Since he can’t be here or come to the games, it feels good that I can still perform for him.”

On Friday, Queens district attorney Melinda Katz announced that Rayvon Phillip, 18, of Queens, was charged with murder in the second degree and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree in connection with the killing of Cisse. If convicted of the top count, Phillip faces up to 25 years in prison.

Elmont (4-0) holds sole possession of second place in Nassau III, largely due to the effort of Muhammad. The pick six was the first defensive touchdown of his career.

“When I was running down, once I saw green grass, I was just thinking about what celebration I was going to do,” Muhammad said.

Head coach Tommy Innes said he has seen a lot of emotional growth from Muhammad since receiving the news of Cisse’s death.

"He needs to grieve," Innes said, "and his way to grieve is by being Khalil. So what he’s done is show out in the classroom, outside the classroom and devote everything he does to the people he loves.”

Steven Baranoski rushed for a touchdown for Floral Park (3-2).

After Elmont was shutout in the first half, Barnes connected downfield with wide receiver Dominic Collins for a 55-yard touchdown to tie the game.

On the following possession, the Spartans handed it to senior running back Elijah Davis five times, who broke tackles up the middle and pushed piles, leading to gains of 17, 15 and nine yards, respectively. After a five-yard run set the offense up at the two-yard line, Davis finally rolled his way through like a bowling ball for a rushing touchdown to take the lead for good.

“I just use my size to my advantage, and I owe it all to my O-line,” Davis said. “Me and my guys are just trying to win the LIC, so I’ve got to put my body on the line and do whatever it takes to win.”