Kocis Passes Blue Devil JV to Victory
A victory is always satisfying for a sports team, but this one was especially so for the Huntington junior varsity football team, which topped previously undefeated Kings Park, 27-0.
Huntington coach Ron Wilson called the game "another great defensive and offensive performance." The Blue Devil defense flexed its muscles early when it pried the ball loose on the first play from scrimmage following a joint tackle by freshman Troy Greene and sophomore Gordon Lamour. Greene recovered the fumble to give Huntington excellent field position on the Kings Park 49-yard line.
It took Huntington's offense six plays to score what proved to be the winning touchdown on a 23-yard run by sophomore Tyler Greenhill. Patrick Riley booted the extra point through the uprights and just like that the Devils had a 7-0 lead.
The Blue Devil defense came up with several big plays, but the team's offense stalled partly as a result of penalties. "We continued to play our type of football and that's 'go-right-at-you-wear-you-down-football,'" said Wilson, who coaches the team along with Todd Jamison and several volunteers.
Huntington (2-1) scored again late in the second quarter on a 29-yard pass play from freshman Ben Kocis to freshman Nick Arleo. Greenhill made a two-point conversion to expand the Blue Devil lead to 15-0.
With 2:47 remaining in the first half, sophomore John Mallouk intercepted an errant Kings Park (2-1) pass and Huntington's offense was able to quickly move the ball down to the one-yard line. A five yard penalty pushed the Blue Devils back to the Kings Park six-yard line, but Kocis ran an isolation play with Greenhill, who was brought down one-yard short of the end zone. Kocis took it in from there on a sneak as time expired.
Penalties continued to dog Huntington in the second half. After the Kingsmen put together a series of plays to drive down to the Blue Devil 27-yard line, Huntington's defense forced another fumble and Greene just so happened to be in the right place at the right time, grabbing the ball.
The teams exchanged possessions several times before the Blue Devils scored again midway through the fourth quarter to give the team an insurmountable 27-0 advantage. Freshman Sirbashin Watkins intercepted a Kings Park pass in the game's waning moments to preserve the shutout.
Blue Devil Notes: It was a big day for both Greenhill (29 carries for 197 yards) and Kocis (9-of-13 passing for 121 yards) . . . Huntington plays on Saturday at Miller Place. Kickoff is set for 9 a.m. . . Kocis also carried the ball 12 times for 52 yards and Greenhill caught five passes for 68 yards.