Blue Devil Football Commemorates Season at Dinner
The Huntington High School football program commemorated its most recent season during a team dinner that drew about 150 players and their family members to the school cafeteria last week.
An extensive buffet consisting of hot and cold items filled about 75 feet worth of tables. The range of desserts was equally impressive. Most players sampled a little bit of everything. Some carried two plates back to their seats.
Blue Devil coaches spoke with pride about their respective teams. Numerous trophies were presented to the program’s top players on each of four levels, including the J. Taylor Finley seventh and eighth grade teams.
“It was a rebuilding year for our program,” said Steve Muller, the longtime varsity head coach. “We are continuing to work hard in the off-season to get ready for next fall.” Huntington is moving up to Suffolk Division II, where it is seeded ninth out of 14 teams for 2015.
Junior Infinite Tucker earned All-County honors last fall to lead the pack of Huntington football players that garnered post-season recognition. Tucker played a variety of offensive positions, including quarterback, running back and receiver and also returned kicks, but he really shined on defense, regularly tallying a double-digit number of tackles in each game.
Seven other Blue Devil players earned post-season awards. Davonte Evans, Tim Mattiace and Mike Lonergan were named to the All-Division First Team. Amaru Jones, Keegan Reilly, Doug Taylor and Matteo McNeil were selected All-Division Second Team.
The annual awards dinner is always an enjoyable evening for the coaches, players and parents. Muller spoke about his varsity players, one by one, offering comments on their performance and potential and adding some behind the scenes stories that were at times touching or funny. Senior Jimmie Nelson even sang for the crowd.
T
he teenagers came to the dinner with huge appetites. Parents were ready, having prepared hundreds of pounds of food. Many of the teenagers and coaches took the opportunity to go up for seconds and even thirds. Once everyone finished eating, it was time for the award presentations to begin.
Near the end of the three-hour affair the large crowd was given a special treat. Huntington parent and professional photographer Darin Reed had prepared a 10-minute highlight film that included many of the season’s thrills.
This year’s honorees included:
Offensive Awards:
The John Paci Award (outstanding offensive back): Doug Taylor
Outstanding Receiver Award: Infinite Tucker
Outstanding Offensive Linemen Award: Michael Lonergan
Most Outstanding Offensive Player Award: Davonte Evans
Defensive Awards:
Outstanding Defensive Back Award: Keegan Reilly
Outstanding Linebacker Award: Amaru Jones
Outstanding Defensive Linemen Award: Matteo McNeil
Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award: Infinite Tucker
Special Teams Award:
Special Teams Player of the Year: Justyn Tesoriero
The Joe Lucey Award: 
Coaches Award: Tim Mattiace
Christopher Pettit Award:
Scholar-Athlete: Justin Weigold
The Steve Henry Award:
12th man Award: Tasean Betts
The Most Improved Award:
Hard working/dedication: Dylan Stieve
The Most Valuable Player Award:
Team MVP: Davonte Evans