Fresh off a 55-7 Homecoming Day victory over visiting Copiague, the Huntington varsity football team will travel to Centereach on Saturday for a big Suffolk Division II showdown. Kickoff is at 2 p.m.
Huntington rebounded from an opening week 21-0 loss to West Islip to cruise past Copiague before more than 1,500 fans. The Blue Devils accumulated more than 450 yards of total offense, led by running back Nasir Youngblood who rushed for 202 yards and five touchdowns.
Centereach is a very good football team. The Cougars toppled Bellport in the season opener, 28-6 before falling to West Islip in a close game, 24-17.
“Centereach is a well-coached team with great players so we have to play mistake-free football and be on our ‘A’ game on Saturday,” said Steve Muller, Huntington’s longtime head coach. “We’ve had a great week of practice and we’re confident we’ll give our best effort.”
West Islip, Lindenhurst and Newfield are all 2-0 and sit atop the Division II standings. North Babylon, Huntington, Connetquot, Smithtown East, Centereach, Deer Park and Half Hollow Hills East and Smithtown West are all bunched up with 1-1 records. Bellport, Copiague and Northport are all 0-2.
“This game is huge for us,” said junior Torin Bograd, Huntington’s quarterback. “We have been practicing very hard and really putting in a lot of time and effort to win this game. It should be very exciting and I can’t wait to get out there.”
The Blue Devils are led by captains Jon Koumas, Lex Colato, Jaylen Bush and Aedan McDonald. Huntington has outscored its two opponents this fall by a 55-28 margin.
Players are ready for an epic struggle on Saturday in what some consider a “must win” game for both teams. “It looks really good,” Rowe said. “It’s going to be a dogfight.”
After struggling offensively in the opening week against powerful West Islip, the Blue Devils roared last weekend. Youngblood enjoyed a career day as the junior rushed 14 times for 202 yards and five touchdowns on runs of 1, 16, 34, 26 and 30 yards.
Colato had 89 yards on 16 carries and also successfully converted seven-of-eight extra point attempts. The Blue Devil scoring onslaught 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.
Centereach will most certainly be prepared for Saturday’s game and the Blue Devils know it. “It’s going to be another battle like the West Islip game and we’re going to have to play until the whistle on every play,” Bush said.
