Corry Wallace ripped off his helmet and hurled it toward the sky. He jumped into the arms of teammate Kevin Parker, a feeling of joy rushing over him unlike anything he’s experienced in his career.

ROBERT O'ROURK PHOTO | Longwood senior Dave "Smiley" Bennett picked off two passes in the fourth quarter of Longwood's 14-12 victory Saturday at Floyd.

He thought back to his brother, Mike Parrish, a former Longwood football player from 2007 and all the other Lions who never felt the same jubilant emotion.

“That kept running in the back of my mind that we wanted to come out with a victory at Floyd,” Wallace said.

At long last, the Lions could board the bus for the short trip up William Floyd Parkway as winners. It was a long time coming.

Never before had the Lions won at Floyd’s Lincoln Avenue Complex, dating back more than a decade. They finally snapped the streak Saturday with a 14-12 victory that featured one of the most dominant defensive efforts by a Longwood team in years.

“It’s better than a playoff win,” said corner back Dave Bennett, better known as “Smiley.” “This is a championship game right here.”

It was only the third victory for Longwood over Floyd since 2004 when the Lions won the county championship.

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The Lions’ defense suffocated William Floyd’s running attack led by Stacey Bedell, easily regarded as one of the top halfbacks on Long Island. Floyd was forced to air the ball out and did so with hardly any success. Floyd quarterback A.J. Otranto finished 6-of-23 for 99 yards with two interceptions and one touchdown.

The heart-stopping victory left Longwood coach John Murphy nearly speechless.

“I don’t think it’s good for your health,” he joked.

The game came down to the final play with Floyd staring at the end zone 45 yards away and just six ticks on the clock. With no time-outs left, Otranto had to toss up a Hail Mary pass that fell harmlessly to the grass, igniting a wild celebration for Longwood usually reserved for playoff wins.

Of course, the teams may very likely meet again come playoff time when the stakes rise dramatically. And the Lions know a regular season victory will mean nothing in November. Longwood defeated Floyd at home last year in the regular season but fell in the playoffs when the teams met again back in Mastic.

Longwood’s victory Saturday puts the Lions in position where if they can take care of business the rest of the way, they wouldn’t have to travel back to Mastic again.

The Floyd offense centered entirely around Otranto and Bedell, who carried 13 times for a modest 67 yards. Take away a 35-yard run, and he averaged only 2.6 yards per carry on his 12 other attempts. Floyd’s offense never got into a rhythm and couldn’t sustain drives to get the running attack going. And when the Colonials did get into Longwood territory, the Lions’ defense tightened up even greater.

“The whole defensive game plan was to know where Stacey Bedell was on the field and swarm to the football and not let him get started,” Murphy said.

The Lions lost track of Bedell on one critical play that nearly cost them the game.

On third-and-six from the Lions’ 28-yard line, Bedell snuck out of the back field and raced up the middle of the field. The Lions brought pressure on Otranto and two players had a chance at sacking him. Otranto eluded both defenders, looked up field and saw a wide open Bedell in the end zone, no Longwood defender in sight. He completed the easy pass for a 28-yard score that cut Longwood’s lead to 14-12.

“Stacey came out of the back field and one of the linebackers was supposed to cover him,” Wallace said. “Once the quarterback started scrambling around we were afraid he was going to take off and run. Once he threw it down field I looked over my shoulder and Stacey was wide open.”

Thanks to a botched extra point attempt on the Colonials’ first touchdown, they had to go for the 2-point conversion. They appeared to get it at first when Bedell raced inside the right pylon. But a clipping penalty negated the score and forced Floyd to try again from 23 yards out. Wide receiver Vantrell Nash had a step and was open going into the end zone but the pass was out of his reach.

Longwood escaped still holding a 14-12 lead.

“We’ve been really getting on our corners that they have to make plays, that they’re going to be key this week,” Wallace said. “We knew we were going to shut their run down and they were going to try to pass. We had two good interceptions and should have had two more, but they still made great plays on the ball.”

Bennett, who had an outstanding all-around game, picked off both passes. The speedy 5-foot-7 corner played much larger than his size suggests, and he even showed of his tackling with a pair of bruising take downs.

“Tremendous game,” Murphy said. “He’s a great kid.”

When a reporter asked Bennett why he’s called Smiley, he responded with a simplistic answer.

“Because I smile a lot,” he said, a grin etched on his face from ear to ear.

Both his interceptions came in the fourth quarter, one bigger than the next. Both times Floyd was advancing into deep into Longwood territory. His first pick came after Longwood turned it over on a fumble at their own 34-yard line. On Floyd’s first play of the next possession, Otranto fired a pass toward Nash that deflected off the receiver and right into the arms of Bennett.

Longwood couldn’t capitalize and promptly punted four plays later, giving the Colonials the ball back with 6:26 left in the fourth quarter.

A big pass play to tight end Keith Scanlon set up Floyd at Longwood’s 35-yard line. Once again Bennett came down with an interception, this time along the right sideline. The Longwood crowd erupted into a chant of “Eighty-eight!”, Smiley’s number.

“We just made sure nobody was getting behind us,” Bennett said. “We have trust in each other.”

Floyd struck first when Bedell returned a fumble 18 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter. A bad snap on the extra point foiled the point after attempt, which proved to be a critical play.

Longwood capitalized on a Floyd turnover when the Colonials coughed it up on a bad snap deep in Longwood territory. Wallace scored on a third-down play from 10 yards out to tie the game. The extra point from Paul Aponza made it 7-6.

“Floyd’s a tough team,” Wallace said. “They weren’t going to lay down and just give us the victory. You had to earn it.”

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