The Huntington football team continued its march to the Suffolk Division II playoffs with a 28-0 shutout of Deer Park last Friday night.
The victory improved the Blue Devils’ record to 5-2 this fall. Huntington hosts first place Lindenhurst on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the regular season finale.
The Blue Devils continue to chase the perfect game. They didn’t come close to it last Friday night, despite the lopsided win. Huntington had far too many penalties than head coach Steve Muller would have preferred to see. There were other mistakes, too, but nothing the coaches believe cannot be corrected during practice this week.
The Blue Devils took an early 14-0 lead at Deer Park on a pair of one-yard touchdown runs by Nasir Youngblood, who rushed 21 times for 128 yards. The junior is in the midst of his best season ever with 1,047 yards on 117 carries for an 8.9 average gain per carry. His 15 touchdowns are second best in Suffolk.
“I feel like last night was an okay game,” Youngblood said. “We could have done way better than how we performed. I was actually upset with myself because I feel like I could have done better in the game. I felt like we were just a little sloppy. Yes, we were up the whole game, but we could have put up more points than we did. I feel that we are going to make it far this year. I can tell. We just have to keep working and fix the mistakes that we make.”
Huntington extended its advantage to 21-0 on a seven yard run by Josiah Melendez. The sophomore carried nine times for 94 yards. A 60 yard interception return for a touchdown by Tyriek Mays-McCoy in the fourth quarter gave the Blue Devils their final points of the evening.
Lex Colato turned in another stellar effort with 74 yards rushing along with excellent play on defense. The senior scampered for several long gains when Huntington really needed a lift.
“Last night was a business trip,” Colato said on Saturday. “It was a must-win for us and we executed. We need to buy-in and focus our efforts on Lindenhurst.”
Quarterback Torin Bograd was his usual efficient self against Deer Park, putting the ball in the hands of his receivers and executing running plays flawlessly as he ran the offense.
“Last night was a good win,” Bograd said. “It was a good lead into our biggest game this week. It is going to be a huge game for us and really important for the playoff rankings. It is going to be a tough and hard week of practice, which will get us ready for the game. Our team is ready and confident that we are going into playoffs. It’s going to be very fun.”
Tazadon Smith and Jon Koumas had 10 tackles each. Smith’s total included a pair for a loss and he also forced a fumble. Alex Bellissimo and Jaylen Bush both intercepted passes. Chad Rowe had 44 yards worth of receptions.
Huntington will continue striving for the perfect, mistake free game. Muller is optimistic that the Blue Devils are going to realize before the curtain closes on the season.
Blue Devil Notes: Youngblood notched a two-point conversion after scoring Huntington’s second touchdown . . . Placekicker Aedan McDonald drilled a pair of extra points.
