Blue Devils Host Night Football Game on Thursday

The Huntington varsity football team will play its first home night game in 84 years on Thursday when the Blue Devils host West Babylon at 6 p.m.

A big crowd is expected for the Suffolk Division II contest and Huntington players are pumped up. The Blue Devils are coming off a season opening loss to No. 1 West Islip, 38-13. But head coach Ron Wilson saw enough good things from his young team to keep his optimism running high.

The two teams will begin warmups at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The Huntington Highsteppers will be performing at halftime and cheering during the game itself. Liva Camarata will sing the national anthem. The Booster Club will be selling an array of food and refreshment items.

West Babylon topped Copiague, 40-0 in the season opener for those two teams. Huntington and West Babylon have previously faced each other 19 times with the Blue Devils winning 16 of those games.

It’s the 100th anniversary for the Huntington football program and a festive atmosphere surrounds the team. A team dinner thrown by parents is planned for Wednesday night.

Last Friday night against West Islip, sophomore quarterback Jacob Guzik completed 10-of-18 passes for 98 yards and a touchdown toss to Keishan Miller. Jahmar Francis and Miller had three receptions apiece.

Christian St. John rushed nine times for 52 yards and a touchdown. David Dax carried the ball seven times for 45 yards. AJ White had four rushes for 17 yards.

Defensively, Miller made seven tackles and Timmy McDonald had five tackles. Thomas Kline and Thomas Smith recorded three tackles each. Joseph Zink deflected a pass. The Blue Devil defense as a whole made 31 solo tackles.

West Islip returned the opening kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown. Huntington responded with a touchdown of its own to tie the game at 7-7. But the Lions dominated play the rest of the way. West Islip was ahead 21-7 at the end of the first quarter and 31-7 at halftime.

Wilson and his assistants gave impassioned halftime talks to motivate the Blue Devils, who played hard despite the lopsided score.

Huntington has many new faces in its lineup, including a group of freshmen and sophomores. Wilson feels that fans will see big improvements from week to week and game to game as the underclassmen rapidly mature.