Carson Ciaio's two interceptions lead strong defensive performance for Northport
Carson Ciaio of Northport celebrates after an interception late in the fourth quarter to preserve a win over Huntington in a Suffolk Division II football game at Huntington on Saturday. Credit: David Meisenholder
Northport’s defense was pitching a shutout in the second half and needed one more stop to close out a signature win.
With Huntington facing fourth-and-7 from Northport’s 29-yard line, Carson Ciaio answered the call.
The senior dove at the 8-yard line for his second interception with 50 seconds left to seal the visiting Tigers’ 16-14 win over Huntington in Suffolk Division II football Saturday afternoon.
The win kept Northport in sole possession of first place in the division and gave the Tigers their first 6-0 start to the season since 2009. Did the Tigers, seeded seventh in the preseason, expect to be atop the division this late in the season?
“No,” coach Pat Campbell said. “We didn’t return one starting or backup lineman from last year on either side of the ball. I knew our skill guys were going to be good. I didn’t know that any of these linemen were going to show up and they have. They’re doing a great job. Our line coach, Nick Gueits, has done a tremendous job with them.”
Northport’s defense forced a turnover on each of Huntington’s four drives in the second half. Ciaio’s first interception came in the end zone on Huntington’s penultimate drive with 7:37 left.
Luke Loiacono added an interception and Sean Morrissey recovered a fumble earlier in the half.
“Our defense is great and we just stick together no matter what,” Ciaio said. “We let up 14 points early on. It’s awesome to have a defense that can just lock it down the entire second half.”
Gevonne Henderson caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Guzik on Huntington’s opening drive. Ethan Lawless recovered a fumble on the Northport 1-yard line to set up a Yasir Jones TD run to give Huntington a 14-0 lead with 10:27 left in the second quarter.
After Huntington forced a turnover on downs on its own 4-yard line, Ray Giehl made a tackle for a loss of 2, and Greyson Cabrera followed it with a tackle in the end zone for a safety.
On Northport’s ensuing drive, Cabrera ran a wheel route, hauled in a pass from Simon Blissett and juked out a defender for a 28-yard touchdown pass to cut Huntington’s lead to 14-9 at halftime.
“Greyson’s a special athlete,” Blissett said. “There aren’t many of him around.”
Blissett showed off his special arm on the third play of the second half. On third-and-11, Blissett stepped up the pocket and was leveled by a defender as he uncorked a perfectly thrown deep ball to Ciaio for a 55-yard touchdown to give Northport the lead with 10:06 left in the third quarter.
“I closed my eyes,” Blissett said. “Carson is my guy. He ran under it and I got up off the ground and saw everyone celebrating, so I was like, ‘Well, someone must’ve caught it.’”
Blissett completed 7 of 12 passes for 119 yards and two TDs and ran 11 times for 39 yards. Loiacono had 10 carries for 69 yards and a 22-yard reception.
Lawless had two sacks and Jones ran for 54 yards and caught five passes for 35 yards for Huntington (4-2).
It marked the fourth annual Town of Huntington Army/Navy game honoring veterans from all wars. Northport was presented with the Veterans Memorial trophy by Huntington Town Supervisor Ed Smyth after the game. Northport beat Huntington, 27-6, in last year’s Army/Navy game.
“It’s the second year that we got it,” Campbell said. “It’s great to be able to represent and take this home. The Town of Huntington does a great job with this.”
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
