By 
Photo credit: Chris Mascaro | Karim Mohamed of Lawrence High School, who signed to play football at Stony Brook. Looking over his shoulder is Lawrence football coach Joe Martillotti. (Feb. 2, 2011)
Karim Mohamed went through everything on his checklist during his official visit to Stony Brook this past weekend, except for one thing. He forgot to get a Seawolves hat for yesterday's signing day proceedings.
Turns out he didn't need one.
When the 6-6, 295-pound lineman from Lawrence faxed in his letter of intent to play for Chuck Priore at Stony Brook, there was no pomp and circumstance - it was just him and coach Joe Martillotti.
The Lawrence coach, after trips to Modell's and Lids in search of a Stony Brook hat, picked Mohamed up around 11 a.m., and brought him to the empty school (classes were canceled because of the weather).
"It would have been cooler if it were during school, so my friends could have came and saw me," Mohamed said.
They saw plenty of him on the football field this season. Mohamed, who currently plays center on the Lawrence basketball team, made 26 tackles with one sack, a forced fumble and five passes defensed in five games as a defensive tackle.
The fifth, though, was a 21-20 upset loss to Plainedge, in which Martillotti saw sluggish play from his offensive line.
The coach moved Mohamed, who had never snapped before, from tackle to center, and to alleviate the pressure of his new role, took Mohamed off the defensive front. Two weeks later, Lawrence handed Long Island Class III champion Lynbrook its only loss of the season, 23-22.
"Our inside zone runs were working to perfection," said Martillotti, who has coached Mohamed since he was a converted soccer player in seventh grade. "Moving him in the middle of the line had an immediate impact."
Mohamed, who also received scholarship offers from Albany and C.W. Post, could play any of the five offensive line positions at Stony Brook. Redshirting is also a possibility.
Yet Priore is excited about Mohamed's upside. Said the Stony Brook coach: "At 6-6 and nearly 300 pounds, Karim shows tremendous athleticism and toughness."
