Levar Butts and Troy Greene give Huntington a rush
Huntington's Levar Butts runs in a touchdown during the second half. (Nov. 30, 2013) Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
As the fourth seed in the Suffolk III football playoffs, Huntington had a tough path to a potential Long Island championship.
The Blue Devils did make it to Saturday's Long Island Class III championship game against Lawrence, but the road got even more difficult less than four mintues into the game as Huntington fell behind by 14 points.
Huntington responded with the next two touchdowns but failed on the two conversions -- and the Blue Devils never caught up in their 41-32 loss to Lawrence.
After Lawrence took a 34-18 halftime lead, the Blue Devils got within 34-26 early in the third quarter on Levar Butts' 44-yard touchdown run and Troy Greene's two-point conversion run.
"Me and Troy put it in our heads that every time we touch the ball, we're going to get five and 10 yards a clip," said Butts, whose team gained 270 rushing yards.
Butts had 133 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries and was a force on defense, logging 121/2 tackles, including three for a loss, and 11/2 sacks.
Greene finished with 131 rushing yards and a touchdown on 19 carries but had a fumble that was recovered in the end zone for a touchdown that gave Lawrence a 41-26 lead.
"Things didn't really go the way we wanted them to, but I'm really proud of my team -- we played hard," Butts said. "I can't say any more. Lawrence is a really good team but they can be beat and we could have beat them, but it just didn't happen."
After quickly falling behind, it took only a few minutes for Huntington (8-4) to make it a game in the first quarter. Greene scored on a 20-yard run and Butts ran it in from a yard on the Blue Devils' next drive to bring Huntington to within 14-12. But the Blue Devils would get no closer.
It was the second consecutive week the Blue Devils trailed early. In the Suffolk III championship game, they fell behind Sayville, 12-0, before scoring 20 second-quarter points in a 26-18 victory.
"It was a tough game and we made a lot of mistakes," Huntington coach Steve Muller said of the Lawrence game. "But like last week, we persevered. We always talk about the last team swinging is the team that wins, and there's no quit in Huntington."
