Yasir Jones Captures John Paci, Jr. Award

Yasir Jones enjoyed a superb fall season in the Huntington varsity football team’s backfield. His performance was dizzying at times with two games of more than 200 yards rushing and three touchdowns. The team’s coaching staff has high expectations for the junior next fall.

Huntington varsity assistant coach Anthony McDonald presented Jones with the John Paci, Jr. Outstanding Offensive Back Award at the recent Blue Devil football team dinner at the Halesite Fire Department.

“Yasir combines power, skill and acceleration on both sides of the ball,” head coach Ronald E. Wilson said. “Offensively, teams found it very hard to bring him down. When our quarterback went down in the second series in a game, Yasir stepped up as QB and accounted for over 200 yards on the ground and three touchdowns in one game. He would go on to start the following week and have another 200 plus yard game and another three touchdowns.”

All-Division in 2023 and 2024, Jones rushed 73 times for 703 yards and 10 touchdowns. Defensively, he recorded 29 solo tackles, including eight for a loss, one QB sack and a fumble recovery.

The Paci Award goes to a player who has “showed a tremendous amount of talent on the offensive side of the ball.” Paci helped develop two recipients of the Hansen Award, which is presented annually to Suffolk’s best player.

Born in New York City, Paci moved to Long Island as an eight year old. He began his football career playing tackle and defensive end for Our Lady of Lourdes CYO team in Massapequa Park. Determined to play quarterback, he spent the next summer reading every book he could find about the position.

Paci won the starting quarterback spot at Farmingdale Junior High School and went on to play on the Farmingdale High School varsity for three years under famed head coach Don Snyder. He also played on the Dalers’ basketball team and threw the discus on the track and field team, setting a school record in the event.

Full Scholarship to Hofstra

After earning a full football scholarship to Hofstra University, Paci played running back under head coach Howdy Meyers. He and Donna Beretsky married in 1967 while he was playing football and completing his education at Hofstra. The pair celebrated their 47th wedding anniversary this year.

Upon graduating college in February 1969 with a BS degree in electrical engineering, Paci was inducted into the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant, with a reporting date of June 1969. With his wife teaching in Farmingdale, Paci began work as a substitute teacher prior to reporting for active duty. After one week, he became a permanent sub teaching math at Mill Lane Junior High School. There he assisted one of his former coaches, Ed Balboni coaching the lacrosse team that spring.

Bronze Star in Vietnam

From June 1969 through May 1970, Paci was a test officer at the Electronics Proving Grounds at Fort Huachuca, Arizona working on the OV1D Mohawk Camera Systems. He went on to serve one year in South Vietnam where he received the Army Commendation Award, the Vietnam Service Ribbon and the Bronze Star, as well as the highest award presented by the Republic of South Vietnam.

Following his discharge from U.S. Army, Paci returned to Long Island and went to work as an electrical engineer at Sperry Systems in Lake Success. His position involved testing the ESG Gyroscope for the new Trident Submarine System, which required him to travel to North American Rockwell in Florida and California.

After the birth of his son, John Paul III, Paci was eager to stop traveling and to start coaching. Encouraged by his wife to change careers while she was still teaching, he applied for a technology teacher position at Huntington High School and was hired on the spot. After resigning his position at Sperry, he was in a classroom two weeks later.

Co-Coached 1973 JV Team

Paci’s first contact with the Huntington football program came when he met veteran head coach Joe Lucey and started volunteering with the 1973 team. The following year he co-coached the JV team with Bob Brush while continuing to teach and earning a master’s degree in education at New York University. After successfully coaching the JV together for nine seasons, the pair moved up to the varsity staff in 1983.

As one of Lucey’s trusted lieutenants, Paci served as offensive coordinator and coached the offensive and defensive backs. When Lucey retired in 1988, Paci assumed the head coaching position and held the post for seven seasons through the 1994 campaign.

Paci earned Coach of the Year honors twice, qualified for the playoffs six times and served as president of the Suffolk County Football Coaches Association. The Blue Devil legend said it was a privilege to coach so many students who pursued their dreams of continuing to play football in college. He said he was “most proud of those who not only played, but graduated from college and went on to successful careers outside of football.”

Sons Were Star Quarterbacks

Those many success stories included his own two sons, John and James. Both were star Huntington quarterbacks, helping to set the stage for many exciting afternoons at Blue Devil Field.

John P. Paci III went on be the starting quarterback at Indiana University and later played in the NFL and NFL Europe. He currently resides with his family in Huntington and is a managing director at Morgan Stanley. He also served two terms on the Huntington School Board.

James Paci played defensive back and wide receiver at Yale University. He currently resides with his family in Cold Spring Harbor and is an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell with a specialty in sports medicine.

Having missed many of his son John’s games with Indiana University, retiring from coaching gave Paci the opportunity to watch both sons play football, James at Yale and John with the NY Jets. He savored the experiences.

28 Year Teaching Career

By the time his teaching career wrapped up, Paci had been in a classroom for 28 years, enjoying a close relationship with his students and football players. He has served as a mentor to many. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t meet a former student or parent in Huntington village. Many of his students own successful local businesses in the fields of auto body repair and mechanics, landscaping, carpentry and construction, masonry and tile installation, tree services, drainage, paving, plumbing, electricians, etc. He has hired many of them as he pursued various endeavors over the years, including developing personal properties.

Paci said it has been his “pleasure to live, teach, coach and retire in Huntington.”