Farmingdale football's Josh Kama rushes for LI-record 495 yards, scores seven TDs in wild win over Oceanside

The sequel to last year’s barnburner did not disappoint.

Last time, Josh Kama was spectacular. On Friday night at Oceanside High School, he was historic.

With 495 rushing yards, he broke the Long Island high school football single-game rushing record. The senior running back also scored seven touchdowns on 26 carries to lead visiting Farmingdale to a 64-57 Nassau Conference I win over Oceanside.

The record was previously held by North Babylon’s Nathaniel Griffith, who had 38 carries for 489 yards and seven touchdowns in a 75-49 win over Smithtown West on Oct. 1, 2022.

“It’s really unbelievable. I didn’t even know I did that, honestly,” Kama said. “It feels really good, but we still have a whole season ahead of us. So we can’t celebrate now.”

With Farmingdale trailing 50-49, Jack McCarthy recorded a sack on fourth down to force a turnover on downs. On the Dalers’ first play of the ensuing drive, Kama broke free for a 55-yard TD. He ran in the two-point conversion for a seven-point lead.

Ive Mills recorded an interception on Oceanside’s ensuing drive and returned it to Farmingdale’s 47. One play later, Kama was back in the end zone. He broke two tackles and threw a mean stiff-arm on his way to a 53-yard TD with 2:48 left.

Oceanside’s offense marched down the field and Shane Harmon threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jacob DiDio to bring the Sailors within seven with 1:01 left.

Looking to ice the game, Kama ran for 2 yards on first down and was stopped for no gain on second down, forcing Oceanside to take its final two timeouts. On third-and-8, Kama seemed to be stopped by a swarm of Oceanside defenders but suddenly broke free for what could’ve been his eighth touchdown run. Instead, he ran out of bounds at the 1-yard line to allow the Dalers to take a knee and run out the clock. The 53-yard run gave Kama the single-game rushing record.

“That’s what my team needed,” he said. “I could’ve scored my eighth touchdown and broke my school record, but I’d rather the win than risk them getting the ball back and potentially scoring.”

“It’s an incredible performance,” coach Buddy Krumenacker said. “And he [Kama] spent a good part of the game playing linebacker as well. It takes tremendous stamina to play both sides of the ball like that and play the way he did.”

Kama also punted the ball five times for the Dalers (2-0).

Jovens Theodate had six carries for 134 yards, including an 80-yard TD run. Farmingdale totaled 701 rushing yards behind tackles McCarthy and James Queen, guards Jordan Petzold and Aiden Thomas, center Jake Kunz and tight end Mateo Morales.

“[Kama] gets some on his own. The real good ones make some things out of something that’s really not there, but the group up front does a tremendous job,” Krumenacker said. “You don’t rush for that many yards without them.”

Harmon threw for 349 yards and six touchdowns and Jacob Stern caught nine passes for 183 yards and four TDs for Oceanside (1-1).

In last year’s 63-42 win over Oceanside, Kama ran for 376 yards and seven touchdown. He ran for touchdowns of 20, 60, 70, 6, 44, 55 and 53 yards this time around.

“You’re never gonna stop a kid like that,” Oceanside coach Rob Blount said before the game. “When you have those elusive backs, and he’s one of the greats, you just have to try to slow them down as much as you can. The goal is to limit the big explosive plays. Make them earn it. If they go 10 or 12 plays, God bless them.”

With Kama & Co., that’s a lot easier said than done.