Blue Devil Football Wins Thriller at Deer Park

The Huntington football team fell behind barely one minute into last Saturday’s game at Deer Park when the Falcons were unstoppable in a brutally effective opening drive. But the Blue Devils rallied for 25 unanswered points over the first three quarters to build an 18 point lead before having to hold on in the final minutes for a 25-22 victory, the first win of the season for Huntington.

Deer Park marched down the field on its opening possession to take a 7-0 lead, but Huntington followed by scoring four consecutive touchdowns to take command. Yet if the Blue Devils thought the game they were sadly mistaken as the Falcons rebounded to score 15 points to pull within three in the final minutes.

Trailing 25-22, Deer Park recovered an onside kick and quickly moved the ball close to the end zone over the next several plays before the Blue Devil defense came up big and forced the Falcons to turn the ball over on downs. Huntington failed to get a first down and run out the clock and it, too, had to turn the ball over to Deer Park, which mounted one final drive.

The closing minutes saw the Falcons again move closer to the end zone before Huntington junior Thomas Smith stripped the ball from Deer Park’s grasp and senior Gabe Abreu recover the fumble to clinch the Blue Devils’ first win of the fall.

Jahmar Francis scored two touchdowns for Huntington on a 50 yard run and a 33 yard pass from quarterback Jacob Guzik. Keishan Miller scored a touchdown on a 32 yard run. Smith scored on a 53 yard touchdown pass from Miller.

It was Homecoming Day for Deer Park, which came into the game with a 4-1 record. “To beat a well-coached Deer Park team on its home field is something special,” Huntington head coach Ron Wilson said. “They have very tough players. We knew they would play hard to the final whistle. They kept coming after us. We really pulled it together today. We were beat up with a lot of injuries and players on the sideline, but the kids on the field did a great job.”

Rain fell throughout most of the game and slippery balls got away from the Blue Devils on more than one snap. But somehow, the team kept its composure.

Huntington rushed 30 times for 278 yards and completed four of six passes for 110 yards. Christian St. John led the ground game with 15 carries for 118 yards. Francis and Miller combined for 152 yards on 12 carries. Francis also caught three passes for 57 yards.

Smith led the defense with 12 tackles, including two for a loss, a pass deflection and two caused fumbles. Keegan Malone had five tackles and a quarterback sack. AJ White made four tackles along with a fumble recovery and a quarterback sack. Three of Navado Petro’s four tackles were for a loss. Titan Elysee has a pair of tackles for a loss and a quarterback sack.

Huntington hosts Half Hollow Hills East (5-1) on Saturday (October 21) at 1:30 p.m.