Greene Lifts Blue Devils over Hauppauge, 28-14
Troy Greene put on a show, rushing for more than 200 yards and scoring two touchdowns as the Huntington High School football team battled its way past Hauppauge before a crowd of about 2,500 last Saturday night, 28-14.
Greene was on a mission, taking the ball play-after-play and running to daylight. The 6', 185 lb. junior was relentless, pounding his way through the line and breaking free for several long gains. "Troy did a fantastic job for us," head coach Steve Muller said. "He showed great acceleration through the line. He was hard to contain."
The two teams played to a Hauppauge homecoming day full-house. The usual 5 p.m. start time and carnival-like atmosphere surrounding the field, created a backdrop to one of the most diversified performances turned in by the Blue Devils this fall.
Hauppauge (2-5) opened the game by controlling the ball for nearly five minutes, before the Huntington defense finally exerted itself. The Blue Devils then marched down the field and scored the game's first points when Greene darted three yards into the end zone and Patrick Reilly followed with the extra point.
Huntington (5-2) scored again on a perfectly executed 20-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ben Kocis to Tyler Greenhill. Reilly again booted the extra point to make it 14-0. While Greene was the team's backfield workhorse, the Blue Devil offense utilized runs by Kocis, Josh Long, Levar Butts and Anthony Puca to keep Hauppauge off-balance.
The Eagles came back, helped along by several Blue Devil miscues and costly penalties, scoring the team's first touchdown of the night in the second quarter to narrow Hauppauge's deficit to 14-7 by halftime.
A contingent of about 150 Blue Devil fans made the trek down Veterans Memorial Highway for the game. The group was vocal in its support during a game that saw the return of Devon Nelson, who missed two contests after sustaining an injury in the fourth game of the season.
Kocis capped off an early third quarter drive with a three-yard touchdown plunge and Reilly again followed with the extra point to give Huntington a little breathing room at 21-7. But, Hauppauge wasn't down for the count yet, coming back once again to score later in the third frame to pull the Eagles within seven points at 21-14, much to the delight of the huge home crowd.
Huntington utilized strategic running and passing to set up the final points of the night. "The last thing we wanted was to let up," Muller said. Greene's second touchdown came on a six yard run. After Reilly made it four-for-four by splitting the uprights for the last time, the Blue Devils had a 28-14 victory.
"Our defense played a really good game," Muller said. "We held tough when we needed it and came up with some big plays." Long picked off a pass and 6'7, 260 lb. senior lineman Shaheem Lewis recorded a quarterback sack.
The Blue Devils will host Kings Park on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the final game of the regular season.