Huntington Football Upends Rocky Point, 31-22
The Huntington High School football team won an exciting game last Friday night at Rocky Point as the Blue Devils scored in all four quarters en route to a 31-22 victory that kept the squad perfect in Suffolk Division III play.
Huntington quarterback Ben Kocis completed nine passes for 161 yards and the Blue Devils' powerful running backs rushed 40 times for 253 yard to pace the offense.
Huntington opened an early 7-0 first quarter lead, extending the advantage to 21-10 by halftime. The Blue Devils gained the advantage despite a few mishaps along the way, including a fumble on the four yard line.
An enthusiastic crowd of about 750 cheered Rocky Point's every effort, making for a fun night of football. The Eagles stayed in the game with several big passing and running plays, keeping the Blue Devils on their toes until the final seconds of the contest.
"Rocky Point played a tough game against us," said Steve Muller, Huntington's head coach. "It was great to see our ground game and our passing game both clicking. We are playing with confidence and people are stepping up when we need them to."
Huntington's defense rose to the occasion when it needed to. Big Blue deflected three passes, forced one fumble and recovered another, blocked an extra point, intercepted two passes and recorded 34 solo tackles, six assists and six tackles for a loss.
Blue Devil running backs Devon Nelson (18 carries for 90 yards) and Troy Greene (11 carries for 87 yards) were workhorses for Huntington, grinding out yardage with punishing runs. Nelson, Kocis (six carries for 46 yards) and Anthony Puca (three carries for 12 yards) all scored touchdowns on the ground.
Kocis' tight spirals found Josh Long open five times for gains of 106 yards, including a 44 yard touchdown pass. Tyler Greenhill hauled in a pair of passes for 17 yards. The Blue Devil passing game was ambitious at times, but Huntington had to be daring to keep Rocky Point off-balance.
Placekicker Pat Reilly also enjoyed a big night, booting a 43-yard field goal, four extra points and notching two kickbacks on kick-offs. "Pat is doing a really nice job for us," Muller said. "He's a strong kicker and is a big part of our team."
Huntington had many defensive stars against Rocky Point. Levar Butts made six solo tackles, two assists and four tackles for a loss for Huntington. Devante Evans recorded an interception, two pass deflections, recovered a fumble and two solo tackles. Greene, Greenhill and Christian Jamison all had four solo tackles. John Mallouk made five solo tackles, assisted on another and forced a fumble. Nelson had three solo tackles, an assist and a pass deflection. John Cimetta made three solo tackles. Long had a solo tackle and an interception. Shaheem Lewis made two solo tackles, had a tackle for a loss and blocked an extra point.
Huntington will host Eastport-South Manor (0-2) on Saturday at Blue Devil Stadium at 2 p.m.