Blue Devils football falls to North Babylon in playoffs

Blue Devils football falls to North Babylon in playoffs

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The Huntington football team lines up against North Babylon. Photo from Huntington school district

Huntington’s football team never really got started last Saturday at North Babylon. The Blue Devils struggled throughout the Suffolk Division II quarterfinal round game, ultimately falling to the Bulldogs 36-7 before a crowd of 750.

Huntington’s vaunted ground game was ineffective for most of the contest. The Blue Devils were able to move the ball through their air attack, but were unable to mount sustained drives.

North Babylon (7-2) put the first points on the scoreboard on a 10-yard touchdown pass and later extended its lead to 14-0 before Huntington responded with a 36-yard touchdown from Blue Devils quarterback Will Wright to Jared Leake to cut the deficit to 14-7.

The Bulldogs scored again before halftime to extend their advantage to 22-7. The teams battled through a scoreless third quarter before North Babylon found the end zone two more times in the final frame.

“North Babylon is a well-coached team and they executed their game plan successfully,” Huntington head coach Steve Muller said. “They did what they had to do in order to win the game.”

Huntington (5-4) enjoyed a handful of big plays, but was never able to capitalize on any of them and gain any momentum. After their only touchdown of the game, the Blue Devils recovered a North Babylon fumble on the ensuing kickoff, but the team’s drive fell flat.

Play was stopped in the fourth quarter after some on-field fisticuffs, but when order was restored, both teams played hard until the final whistle.

The loss ended Huntington’s season. North Babylon will now advance to the county semi-finals, where the team will play No. 1 Newfield.