Huntington senior Titan Elysee could have easily stayed on the sidelines in street clothes for the second half of Saturday’s game against North Babylon. His teammates would have understood.
The standout defender injured the AC joint in his right shoulder in the second quarter and had to be helped off the field. Afterwards, he admitted he wasn’t sure if his day was over.
“Football is everything to me,” Elysee told Greater Long Island. “I didn’t know if I could play, but I kept telling the trainers I need to get back in there.”
Not only did he return — he ended up making the biggest defensive play of the game.
North Babylon had just recovered an onside kick and had the ball at Huntington’s 30-yard line, down six with under 10 seconds left. Everyone knew the Hail Mary was coming. But as the quarterback dropped back, Elysee burst through, got a hand on the ball, and knocked it away.
Game over. Huntington survived, 40-34.
“My coach told me not to blitz, I had to contain. So I just pushed the tackle back. I was so excited, I just went in and got it,” Elysee said.
“He’s a dawg,” said senior running back Yasir Jones. “I didn’t think he was going to be able to come back in but I’m happy he did and I’m proud of him.”
Jones unstoppable on offense
While Elysee was the star on defense, Jones was the difference on offense.
The senior back opened the game with a pair of 9-yard rushing touchdowns to give Huntington a 13-0 lead. But North Babylon answered behind junior Dominic Prestano, who scored twice in the second quarter to even things at 13.
It was tied at 20 late in the third when Jones delivered one of the highlights of the season. Taking the handoff from Huntington’s 38-yard line, he bounced off three would-be tacklers like a pinball before sprinting to the end zone.
“I was actually shocked myself that I scored,” Jones said. “They tried to tackle me high and I don’t like to be tackled high. So I just broke off the tackles and ran in.”
Jones finished with four touchdowns, including a late score with 3:15 to play that put Huntington up 40-27. Fans began filing out, but North Babylon refused to go quietly, cutting the deficit to six with 18 seconds left before recovering an onside kick.
That’s when Elysee came up with his game-sealing play.
Huntington is now 2-0, but Elysee said the Blue Devils have bigger goals in mind.
“Our goal is to go 8-0 and then win the Long Island Championship.”
Players of the game
Offensive Player of the Game: Yasir Jones (RB, senior), Huntington
Defensive Player of the Game: Titan Elysee (LB, senior), Huntington
Photos
Photos by Eric Micallef
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