Hurricanes Top Blue Devil JV
Despite an uneven performance, the Huntington junior varsity football team was in a position to win its first game of the season last Saturday morning on the turf at Blue Devil Stadium. But, it just wasn't meant to be.
Huntington saw its 22-14 lead evaporate as visiting Westhampton Beach scored 15 unanswered points to grab a 29-22 victory before a crowd of about 300 fans.
"We controlled the first half of the game out scoring the opposition 14-0," said Ron Wilson, who coaches the Blue Devils along with Todd Jamison. "They couldn't stop us offensively.
Ben Kocis was effective leading the Blue Devil offensive unit until midway through the third quarter when he suffered a hard hit and had to be taken out of the game for a couple of plays. "That's when things went wrong for us," Wilson said. "The momentum switched and the Hurricanes started to rally."
Huntington took an early 14-0 lead and stayed in front into the fourth quarter. Westhampton Beach scored twice in the third quarter to narrow its deficit to 22-14. The Hurricanes scored again with about eight minutes remaining in the game, tying the score 22-22.
Westhampton Beach played great defense, putting a fierce rush on Huntington and sacking the Blue Devils' quarterbacks a dozen times. It was a vivid display of how the game's momentum had shifted.
As Huntington's defense suffered repeated lapses, the Hurricanes scored again with 1:14 remaining on the clock to move ahead for the first time all morning, 29-22. The Blue Devils mounted one final drive.
"We had every opportunity to score, because we had a great return by Troy Greene and got the ball on their 35 yard line with two time outs remaining," Wilson said. But, the Blue Devils couldn't convert their good field position into points on the scoreboard as Westhampton Beach sealed its victory in the final seconds.
Huntington will attempt to win its first game of the season when it hosts Bellport on Saturday at 9 a.m.
Blue Devil Notes: Mike Malerba recorded 10 solo tackles and two assists . . . Quarterback Ben Kocis completed 13-of-17 passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns . . . Christian Jamison caught six passes for 80 yards and two touchdowns . . . Sirbashin Watkins caught one pass for 12 yards and returned three kickoffs for 52 yards . . . Troy Greene rushed five times for 31 yards and one touchdown and caught four passes for 53 yards. He also returned two kickoffs for 27 yards and made six solo tackles . . . Christian Gonzalez recorded five solo tackles and one assist.