Longwood football's Davien Benjamin-Sheffey, Madison Murrell and Kyon Sarwari run wild in Suffolk I win over Lindenhurst
Davien Benjamin-Sheffey #2 of Longwood escapes from James Gorman #2 of Lindenhurst during a Suffolk County Division I High School Football game at Longwood on Friday, October 18, 2024 Credit: David Meisenholder
The Longwood Lions turn the football field into anything but turf.
As Lindenhurst seemed to counterattack the Lions’ every score in the second half, in the end, it just couldn’t slow down the athletic abilities of Longwood’s running backs.
With Lindenhurst prepared to tie score late, outside linebacker Mike Warren leapt high to intercept a screen pass to set up first-and-goal at the Bulldogs’ 4. Sophomore running back Kyon Sarwari followed a hole up the middle with 2:32 remaining to put it away as Longwood defeated Lindenhurst, 49-28, in a Suffolk I football game Friday night in Yaphank.
“I did a wrestling move, kind of like a sidestep and people don’t see it coming,” Sarwari said. “It comes in handy on defense, too.”
Longwood improved to 5-1. Lindenhurst fell to 4-2.
“When you play physical football like we do, it’s hard to just feature one back,” Longwood coach Sean Kluber said. “Kaden Reid and Madison Murrell are track runners. Kyon is a wrestler. He’s very shifty and has great balance and you can see that. They all bring their athleticism to the game and they did it very well.”
Davien Benjamin-Sheffey rushed 16 times for 99 yards and had two touchdowns in the first quarter. Murrell rushed eight times for 87 yards and Sarwari had nine carries for 77 yards.
Trailing 21-7 at halftime, Lindenhurst consumed the first five minutes of the third quarter with a 15-play, 80-yard drive capped by a 1-yard sneak by quarterback Reece Wrightington to cut the lead to one score with 6:58 to go.
Longwood’s Reid returned the ensuing kick 26 yards to set up the Lions’ next possession on the 50. Murrell found a crease up the middle for a 29-yard touchdown run to put Longwood up 28-13 with 4:38 left.
But Lindenhurst responded with its own weapon in Wrightington, who completed a 22-yard and 24-yard pass to Alexander Burmeister and Christian Aquino to set the Bulldogs on the 1-yard line before finding Aquino for a score. Michael Russo then found Wrightington for the two-point conversion to put the Bulldogs within, 28-21.
Sarwari then rushed for 36 yards on Longwood’s next possession to get into Lindenhurst territory. He then followed a block from Reid and ran 27 yards for a score before Daniel Blank’s kick put the Lions up 35-21 with 1:31 left in the third.
Wrightington, who completed 24 of 36 passes for 276 yards, threw his final touchdown pass to Aquino with 7:38 to go before Murrell’s 36-yard touchdown run on the ensuing possession gave the Lions a 42-28 lead with 3:05 left. Wrightington added 21 yards and a score on the ground.
