Floral Park football's second-half surge knocks off Lynbrook in Nassau III quarterfinals
Floral Park’s Tyreak Cobb slips away from the Lynbrook defense in Saturday's 26-14 victory. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Floral Park entered the second half of its Nassau Conference III quarterfinal football game against Lynbrook in a seven-point hole.
But the Floral Park sideline had palpable energy to begin the third quarter, thanks in part to the message in the locker room during halftime.
“We kind of told them we got to bring the energy a little bit,” coach Ron Pickett said. “We were a little flat there at the end. We told them, ‘Listen, you’re a resilient bunch. You’ve been a resilient bunch for a very long time, and we’ve got to answer the bell.’”
In resounding fashion, the bell was answered.
Floral Park forced a three-and-out to start the half and scored touchdowns on its first three drives after halftime. The fourth-seeded Knights did not surrender a second-half point and scored 19 unanswered points en route to a 26-14 home win over No. 5 Lynbrook on Saturday.
Senior running back Tyreak Cobb had 22 carries for 198 yards and three touchdowns, each 3-yard scores. Cobb’s second touchdown tied the game at 14 with 8:49 left in the third quarter. Junior quarterback Justin Mallon’s 12-yard touchdown pass to senior James Gorman put the Knights ahead 20-14 – they did not complete the PAT after a bad snap – with 9:45 remaining.
“(Pickett) definitely got us hyped up (at halftime),” Cobb said. “We just had to come out. I wasn’t going home, I promise you that. Last game at home, so it meant a lot to me.”
Cobb’s third touchdown run gave Floral Park (7-2) a 26-14 lead following a failed two-point pass with 4:01 left. He had four runs of at least 28 yards.
“He can get us the hard yard, but he can also break them at any time,” Pickett said. “He’s a dangerous running back. Credit to the offensive line and our running backs Steven Baranoski and Xavier O’Brady, who kind of paved the way for him today.”
Ryan Terwilliger had two interceptions in the final three minutes.
Floral Park’s offensive line dealt with adversity on the fly Saturday, as their starting center Thomas Magyar and backup center Safil Arshil both got injured. Eric Terwilliger stepped in as the Knights’ third center and “did a really nice job,” Pickett said.
Lynbrook (5-4) took a 7-0 lead on quarterback Chase Samelson’s 1-yard touchdown run with 1:54 left in the first quarter. Samelson stepped in for starter Joseph McHale, who was out with an injury.
Cobb’s first touchdown run tied the game at 7 with 7:40 left in the second quarter. Lynbrook entered halftime with momentum, though.
Samelson threaded a 25-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline to Tim Odiah for a 14-7 lead with 2:45 left in the first half. Floral Park drove to the Lynbrook 14 with 9.8 seconds left in the second quarter, but Omarion McClean and Logan Fink combined to force Mallon to fumble; Emmett O’Grady recovered it to end the half.
Saturday marked a rematch of both teams’ season opener on Sept. 7, a 16-10 home win for Floral Park.
Floral Park will face third-seeded Manhasset for the first time this season in the county semifinals next Saturday at Hofstra. A win would put the Knights, who have not won a county title since 1976, in the Nassau III title game for the second straight season.
“(Last year) set the standard,” Mallon said. “Everyone here knows that we got to go back to Hofstra. We can’t end it here.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
