Deer Park tops Huntington, improves to 4-1
Huntingtons Danny Plant is sacked by Deer Parks Dimitry Russ (50) and Aaron Thompson during Deer Parks 21-20 victory over Huntington. (Oct. 9, 2010) Credit: Lee S. Weissman
Give 6-3, 225-pound Dimitry Russ of Deer Park some extra credit for this one. Perhaps add two points to his grade-point average for gym class.
After all, Russ blocked two extra-point kicks, including one early in the fourth quarter, allowing the Falcons to swoop past Huntington for a tense 21-20 victory Saturday before an overflow homecoming crowd of 1,200 at Deer Park. "This is the biggest win for our program since the 1990s," Deer Park coach Ron Langella said.
That's because the victory raised ninth-seeded Deer Park to 4-1, already one victory more than they had all of last season. Feisty Huntington dropped to 3-2. "We knew what was at stake," said Falcons linebacker Vince McAnuff, who made one of several key defensive plays. His sack of Blue Devils quarterback Danny Plant deep in Deer Park territory with 5 minutes, 11 seconds remaining resulted in a fumble recovery by teammate Vinny Vitale that ended a potential game-winning drive.
"That's the game right there," Langella said. "They probably take it in and score if we don't make that huge play."
And who knows what the outcome would have been if Russ hadn't, quite literally, stepped up twice on PATs, launching his huge body straight up the gut to make two clean blocks. "All week my coaches were telling me I would block one," said Russ, who added two big sacks from his defensive end spot.
Vitale, also the Falcons' fullback, gained 52 yards on 10 carries, including an 8-yard TD burst up the middle with 3:56 left in the third quarter that gave Deer Park a 21-14 lead after Kenny Jones' extra point. "I guess they were thinking that Austin was going to keep it. There was a huge hole."
Plant was sacked five times but he still completed 19 of 31 passes for 249 yards and three touchdowns. He hit Tyre Brown on a slant route for a 32-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter that cut it to 21-20. But Russ' rejection of the extra point prevented a tie. It did not, however, prevent Plant from giving the Blue Devils another chance to win.
He drove Huntington to the Deer Park 8-yard line before a rollout right. "We blitzed but held the edge," McAnuff said. "I knew we needed a big play. I wrapped him up, but then I don't know what happened. I just saw the ball on the ground."
So did middle linebacker Vitale. "I was rolling with him when I saw [McAnuff] make the play. I saw the ball right in front of me near the sidelines. I fell on it and made sure to keep my feet in bounds."
Huntington got the ball back one more time, on its own 23 with 1:55 remaining. Plant hit three passes to advance the ball to the Deer Park 43. But four incomplete passes under duress allowed the weary Falcons to take a knee and a victory.
"I was tired," Russ said. "But losing hurts a lot more than fatigue."
