Junior Nasir Youngblood ran for 202 yards and scored five touchdowns to help the Huntington football team cap-off an incredible Homecoming Day as the Blue Devils cruised past visiting Copiague, 55-7 before a crowd of more than 1,500 on Saturday afternoon.
On a picture perfect day, Youngblood and his Blue Devil teammates electrified fans. Huntington shook off an opening weekend loss to West Islip and took control of the week two game early, scoring 14 unanswered first quarter points. The advantage grew to 41-0 by halftime.
Huntington head coach Steve Muler. (Darin Reed photo)
On 14 carries Youngblood found the end zone five times on the best day of his career. Teammate Lex Colato had 89 yards on 16 carries and also successfully converted seven-of-eight extra point attempts.
“I feel that we played like a team today,” Colato said. “Everyone did their job and we came out with the win. Now we have to go back to work and focus on Centereach for next Saturday.
Junior quarterback Torin Bograd kept the offense organized as Huntington gobbled up yardage and first downs against Copiague. The Blue Devils committed few obvious mistakes in the game and executed their offensive and defensive plans well.
“I thought today was huge for us,” Bograd said. “Bouncing back the way we did from last week was a big confidence builder. We need to take that energy into next week. But it was just the beginning and I know great things will happen from here. I am very excited for our team and the rest of the season.”
The Blue Devil scoring barrage also included a 58 yard touchdown run by junior Alex Bellissimo and a 30 yard interception that was returned for a touchdown by sophomore Tyriek May-McKoy, who added six tackles. Huntington accumulated 450 yards of total offense.
Youngblood’s five touchdowns came on runs of one, 16, 34, 26 and 30 yards. It was a spectacular performance and Blue Devil fans serenaded the teenager with cheers and chants of his name.
“Today’s game was full of excitement,” said senior Jaylen Bush, who plays wide receiver and defensive back. “It was a great feeling to play with my amazing teammates in front of the whole town. It was a statement game and a must win and we dominated the whole game.”
Huntington (1-1) plays at Centereach (1-1) on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Cougars topped Bellport in the season opener, 28-6 before falling last weekend to West Islip, 24-17.
“Centereach is a very well coached football team with great players,” Huntington head coach Steve Muller said. “We are looking forward to a good week of practice to get ready for them.”
