Blue Devils Win Home Opener, Go 3-0

The Huntington football squad dominated winless Eastport-South Manor on Saturday, going 3-0 in with a 34-7 victory.

Undeterred by a brisk wind coming in from the southwest, Huntington produced a balanced offensive game -- 266 yards rushing from six different runners, and 121 aerial yards -- and benefited from a strong defensive line effort in its home opener.

“We’re a young team and we made a lot of little mistakes, missed some tackles but the kids played hard and it’s good to get a home win,” said coach Steve Muller.

The running game was led by Devon Nelson (9 carries, 109 yds, 1 TD), Anthony Puca (10 carries, 40 yds, 1 TD) and Troy Greene (8 carries, 53 yds, 1 TD).

Junior QB Ben Kocis was 7 for 10 passing for 121 yards and 2 TDs, and ran for 29 yards on two carries. His two big targets were Tyler Greenhill (3 receptions, 49 yards, 1 TD) and Joshua Long (1 reception, 45 yds, 1TD).

It was Kocis’ third 100+ passing game of the season, including last week when he went 9/18 for 161 yds against Rocky Point.

Huntington was in control for the entire first half, scoring on three successive possessions while keeping Eastport from getting any traction. After a 34-yard scamper on the opening Blue Devils play by Long, Kocis engineered an 8-play, 86 yard TD drive to get his team on the scoreboard. Two more TD drives, capped by a 16 yard toss to Greenhill and a 1 yard run for Puca, put Huntington comfortably ahead 21-0 at the half.

The second half was a different story. Huntington gave up a cheap touchdown on the opening play of the half on a bad snap that wound up recovered in the Blue Devils end zone.

Huntington struck back with a 5 play, 80 yard drive punctuated by receptions of 30 yards and 45 yards, respectively, for Greenhill and Long, but on its next possession, coughed up the ball on an interception. “They developed some momentum at that point, but we decided we weren’t going to let that bother us,” said Muller.

In fact, the Blue Devils defensive line doubled down. While Eastport was able to hold the football for much of the third rest of the game, they were unable to put the ball in the end zone.

For their part, Huntington paid their last visit to paydirt of the day when Nelson bulled for 11 yards with 1:02 remaining in the third.

Muller was buoyed by the home win, but looking forward to homecoming next Saturday. “Amityville always has a good team,” said Muller. “If we tackle like we did today, it’s going to be a long day.”

Homecoming is 2 pm next Saturday.