Russo’s Tackle on Last Play of Game Won’t be Forgotten
A virtually unstoppable ground attack propelled the Huntington junior varsity football team over Hauppauge in the final game of the season, 34-18. With the win, the Blue Devils improved to 7-1 and have given rise to optimism that more good times might be on the horizon for the varsity program. But, it was a game-ending tackle that players will long remember when they are old men.
Coaches Ron Wilson and Tim Madden threw together a game plan at the last minute after their team worked with the varsity for most of the week. “The varsity got hit with some injuries and since they had an already small roster, they needed the JV players to run effective practices,” Wilson said.
Once the Blue Devils lined up against Hauppauge, everything fell into place. Huntington kicked off and pinned the Eagles on their own 28-yard line, but they quickly drove 61 yards to the 11-yard line before turning over possession on a broken play with sophomore Pat Einhorn recovering the fumble.
Huntington’s high powered offense then went to work, taking eight plays to go 86 yards as David Herring carried the ball across the goal line for the game’s first touchdown. Hauppauge tied the game with a second quarter touchdown pass, but Einhorn (three solo tackles, two tackles for a loss) stopped the attempted two-point conversion.
The Blue Devils roared back with a long touchdown run by Calvin Bollar, who finished the day with four touchdowns and 251 yards on 16 carries. He also caught a pass for another 24 yards and is being pegged as a future football star.
With halftime looming and Huntington ahead, 12-6, the Blue Devils punted and when Hauppauge let the ball literally slip through their hands, freshman linebacker Anthony Napolitano (four solo tackles, two assists) was there to make the recovery. A couple of minutes later, Ricardo Caballero booted a 29-yard field goal to put the blue and white up, 15-6.
“The second half was just as exciting as the first,” Madden said. Bollar scored three of his four touchdowns in the final two quarters and also recorded 12 solo tackles, assisted on two others and brought down two players for a loss. “I played hard for the team that played hard for me,” Bollar said, adding the stand alone word, “Brotherhood,” a term the team adopted as its philosophy this fall.
The Blue Devils received exceptional second half defensive performances from Thomas Grossman (six solo tackles), Peter Kingston (five solo tackles, two for a loss), Keith Smith (four solo tackles, three for a loss), Alex Gennaro (four tackles, three for a loss), Louie Lopez (three solo tackles) and Caballero (five solo tackles for a loss).
Huntington finished the game with 385 total yards (349 rushing, 36 passing). It was a memorable performance in a year of special moments. The highlight of the season came on the game’s final play. Jack Russo, who played in a back-up role this year, broke through the line and sacked Hauppauge’s quarterback, bringing the crowd to its feet and the entire team out onto the field in celebration.
“That tackle will be remembered by all who played on this team,” Wilson said. “They will talk about it for years to come. I think it left him with a permanent smile. This team chanted his name all the way back to the locker room; Jack, Jack, Jack.”
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