Big Plays Propel Blue Devils
A series of big plays propelled the Huntington football team past Kings Park in a Suffolk Division III playoff game last Saturday at Blue Devil Stadium, 27-12.
Superstorm Sandy and a wicked nor'easter temporarily halted the season and forced classes to be cancelled for nine days, but Huntington got back into the swing of thing quickly before a crowd of about 1,200. "The kids were anxious to get on the field for a game and start hitting again," Blue Devil head coach Steve Muller said.
Huntington scored first when quarterback Ben Kocis (15 of 22 for 226 yards) scampered 28-yards for a first quarter touchdown. Pat Reilly followed with the extra point kick to give the Blue Devils a 7-0 lead. Kings Park immediately responded with a 75-yard touchdown run by Tom Venier, but the extra point failed to keep Huntington ahead, 7-6.
"Kings Park is a well-coached team," Muller said. "We knew this was going to be a real battle. We came into the game with a plan and we executed it well. Fortunately, we kept our mistakes to a minimum."
One of the most exciting plays of the afternoon came late in the first quarter when Josh Long blocked Kings Park's field goal attempt. The ball rolled free and Huntington's Troy Greene scooped it up and raced 35 yards to midfield. As Greene was being tackled, he managed to get off a lateral to teammate John Mallouk who ran the next 50 yards for the touchdown. Reilly's extra point attempt sailed wide to the left.
The Blue Devils scored their third touchdown after mounting a two-minute long, 82-yard drive, finally reaching the end zone on a 25-yard pass play from quarterback Ben Kocis to TJ Greenhill with 43 seconds remaining. Reilly followed with the extra point to give Huntington a 20-6 halftime lead.
After a scoreless third quarter, Kings Park edged closer when Luke Toscano ran 1-yard for a touchdown. The two-point conversion failed to keep Huntington ahead, 20-12.
The Blue Devils got the ball back, but turned it over when one of Kocis' passes was intercepted. With the Kingsmen driving toward the end zone as the clock ticked down, Long intercepted a pass at the goal line and raced 100 yards for the last touchdown of the day. Reilly split the uprights to give Huntington a 27-12 victory and a spot in next Saturday's Suffolk Division III semi-finals at Sayville.
Blue Devil Notes: Levar Butts led Huntington's defense with 12 tackles . . . Butts also rushed seven times for 31 yards . . . Kocis ran for 45 yards on eight carries . . . Reilly intercepted a pass . . . Mallouk recorded a quarterback sack . . . Devon Nelson caught a pass for 22 yards and rushed five times for 16-yards . . . James Byrnes had two receptions for 42 yards . . . Christian Jamison caught two passes for 29 yards . . . Greenhill hauled in six passes for 77 yards . . . Long caught four passes for 56 yards . . . Greene ran for 21 yards on four carries . . Anthony Puca carried twice for five yards . . . Former Huntington director of facilities Paul Rispoli visited the sidelines . . . Several Huntington School Board members were at the game.