Blue Devil JV Football Pulls Off Opening Game Upset
The Huntington junior varsity football team started off the year by upsetting powerful Half Hollow Hills West, 14-6 after late game defensive heroics.
The Blue Devils started the game strong with sophomore Paul Aramanda kicking off into the Hills West end zone, pinning the Colts on their own 20-yard line. When sophomore Ricardo Caballero blocked Hills West’s ensuing punt, Huntington found itself on the five yard line, but after a touchdown was called back and following an assortment of first game woes, including penalties, the team had nothing to show for it all.
The first half defensive battle continued until the final minute when Blue Devil running back Calvin Bollar finally broke through the line of scrimmage and scooted downfield to the 25-yard line.
Freshman quarterback William Coffey then connected with sophomore Lonnie Harris for an eight-yard gain and made it 2-for-2 when he found Aramanda open for a 16-yard advance down to the Colts’ one-yard line. Huntington used a quarterback sneak to get into the end zone as Coffey made the one-yard plunge to put the Blue Devils ahead.
The second half was just as exciting as the first one, but with more “air shows” from the Colts, who began passing the ball. Hills West finally got on the scoreboard in the third quarter when broken coverage in the Huntington secondary led to a Colts touchdown. An attempted two-point conversion was stopped by sophomore defensive end Pat Einhorn, who recorded a quarterback sack for a loss.
Leading 7-6 with about five minutes remaining in the game, Huntington’s offense mounted a 59-yard drive, behind repeated six-yard carries by James and a final 27-yard touchdown run by Bollar to give the Blue Devils a 14-6 advantage.
Hills West still wasn’t finished. The Colts put together a drive that began on their own 35-yard line, marching 55 yards to within ten yards of the end zone with 1:23 left on the clock. Then Huntington’s defensive came up big. Sophomores Tom Grossman and Aramanda combined to swat down three passes as the Blue Devil defensive line hurried the quarterback. The final sequence also saw freshman defensive tackle Alex Gennaro record a huge sack as the Men in Blue hung on for the upset.
“The team played very well together,” said Ron Wilson, who coaches Huntington along with Tim Madden. “They listened to each other and helped each other out from the sideline to the field.”
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