The opening day kickoff is still about five months away, but Section XI has already developed tentative 2018 varsity football schedules.
The Huntington football team will play a very challenging slate, with games set against last year’s Suffolk Division I and Division II champions as well as against a Division I semi-finalist and the Division II runner-up.
The first day of high school football practice in Suffolk County will be Monday, August 13. Game play will begin on Friday, September 7. Huntington is seeded No. 7 in the 14-team Suffolk Division II.
The Blue Devil schedule includes: (week and seed indicated)
Week 1: Huntington at No. 1 Lindenhurst
Week 2: Huntington at No. 11 Deer Park
Week 3: No. 5 North Babylon at Huntington
Week 4: No. 14 Copiague at Huntington
Week 5: Huntington at No. 9 Newfield
Week 6: Huntington at No. 3 Northport
Week 7: No. 13 Smithtown East at Huntington
Week 8: No. 2 West Islip at Huntington
The first round of the playoffs will be held on Saturday, November 3 with the semifinals set for Saturday, November 10 and the county championship game schedule for Saturday, November 17 at Stony Brook University at 12 noon. The Long Island championship game will be played at Stony Brook on Saturday, November 24 at 12 noon.
The Huntington football team recently learned of its 2018 schedule (Darin Reed photo.)
Lindenhurst won the Suffolk and LI Division I titles last year. Northport reached the Division I county semifinals. Both teams have dropped down into Division II following enrollment declines. North Babylon is the reigning Division II champ. West Islip finished second in Division II. Newfield is another perennial Suffolk power and won the 2015 county and LI titles.
Huntington finished the 2017 regular season with a 5-3 record, advancing to the playoffs where it was defeated by Half Hollow Hills East in the closing seconds of the game, 14-10.
The Blue Devils are losing the following seniors to graduation: Brian Pierre, Aaron McQueen, Luke Eidle, Nat Amato, Alex LaBella, Sam Bergman, Colby Martin, Liam Boyle, Robert Meagher, Anthony McDonald, Michael Marziliano, Elay Galdamez, Shamek Parler, Clayton Jamison, William Perez, Treyvon Perkins and Arkim Pierre.
Current juniors and members of Huntington’s backfield John P. Paci IV, Eric Sands and Sebastian Abreu will lead the cast of returnees. Each of the three players earned All-Division honors last fall.