Chris Retzlaff helps Ward Melville football erase 10-point deficit in Suffolk I win over Longwood
Chris Retzlaff of Ward Melville crosses the goal line for a score in the fourth quarter of a Suffolk Division I football matchup against Longwood on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026 in Middle Island. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
Chris Retzlaff will need an ice bath sometime this weekend.
The junior wrecking ball hammered the interior of a rugged Longwood defense all night. Over and over, Retzlaff charged into the Lions' front for short yardage to wear down that unit. When he wasn’t carrying the ball, he was leading the Patriots in tackles from the linebacking position.
“Chris Retzlaff played ironman football tonight,” Ward Melville coach Chris Boltrek said. “We had some key players out and we needed him to step in and play great football. He was a major factor on both sides of the ball.”
With Ward Melville playmaker Joe Karpowicz sidelined with an illness, Retzlaff stepped into the spotlight and helped deliver a big road win. Retzlaff scored two touchdowns and rushed for 63 yards on 19 carries as Ward Melville wiped out a 10-point, second-quarter deficit to come back for a 21-18 win over Longwood in a Suffolk Division I game before more than 4,000 fans in Middle Island. Ward Melville improved to 2-0.
“We didn’t get off to a great start, but we did what champions do and found a way to come back and win,” quarterback Hudson Philbrick said. “Retzlaff was amazing. He was just getting off the field on defense and then running the ball into the heart of the Longwood defense.”
Longwood (1-1) drove 80 yards in five plays to take a 7-0 lead with 7:12 remaining in the first quarter. Makai Jacobs opened the march with a 36-yard cutback run, Kyon Sarwari added a 21-yard run and Ryan Greene found Gio Johnson with a 19-yard TD pass. Cameron Clemons hit the point-after for the 7-0 lead.
Longwood’s second possession stalled in the red zone and Clemons nailed a 21-yard field goal for the 10-0 lead with 50 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
“Longwood is a very tough football team,” Boltrek said. “They have that football pedigree. And they came out firing on all cylinders.”
Ward Melville answered with a nine-play, 71-yard touchdown drive. Philbrick found a wide-open Retzlaff after a blown coverage for 52 yards to the Lions' 9-yard line. On fourth-and-goal from the 1, Retzlaff slammed his way into the end zone. Ethan Jargo hit the kick to make it 10-7 at the half.
Ward Melville kept the momentum in the third quarter with a nine-play, 64-yard TD drive. Philbrick found Louie Lapp for 18 and 12 yards to key the march. He hit Angelo Sorbera for a 9-yard TD pass and a 14-10 lead with 5:44 left in the third quarter.
“It was a scrappy game,” Ward Melville center Quinn Kurtz said. “Their backs were impressive. But we made the right halftime adjustments."
Longwood drove to the 12 before Patriots linebacker Jack Johnson intercepted Greene’s fourth-down pass in the red zone. Ward Melville went on another long drive of 72 yards in nine plays capped by a Retzlaff 2-yard TD run for the 21-10 lead with 10:03 remaining.
But Longwood wasn’t done. Mark Davis ripped off a 58-yard TD run and Greene added the two-point conversion run to make it 21-18 with 5:56 left.
Ward Melville ate up 4:50 of the clock on a 13-play drive to the Lions' 19 before turning the ball over on downs. Longwood moved the ball out to their 44 as time expired.
"We had some players become men tonight," Boltrek said.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
