Jayden Bryan's 173 yards, four TDs carry Hills East to win in semis
Half Hollow Hills East's Jayden Bryan runs in a touchdown in the second quarter during a Suffolk Division II football semifinal aaginst Huntington on Saturday at Half Hollow Hills East. Credit: Bob Sorensen
Jayden Bryan can absolutely fly.
He and the RedHawks have been soaring lately.
The sophomore took 10 carries for 173 yards and four touchdowns to lead No. 2 Half Hollow Hills East to a 49-21 win over No. 3 Huntington in the Suffolk Division II football semifinals Saturday in Dix Hills.
After dropping their first two games of the season, including a season-opening 28-14 loss to Huntington, Bryan and the reigning Suffolk II champion RedHawks will ride an eight-game winning streak into Stony Brook University to face top-seeded East Islip in a rematch of last year’s county final at 6 p.m. next Saturday.
Daniel White rushed for 273 yards and four scores in last year’s county final. He had 13 carries for 129 yards and a TD on Saturday.
“It’s definitely a competition,” Bryan said. “Just him mentoring me and teaching me… He’s really shifty. That’s not really me, but I’m starting to get it. Evading tackles and stuff like that. It’s really good to have him.”
“He reminds me of a younger me,” said White, a senior. “Watching him play and go off like that is amazing.”
Bryan ran for TDs of 38, 33, 10 and 62 yards and White’s TD went for 34 yards.
Bryan and White ran behind the offensive line comprised of tackles Keith McDowell and Trevon Cole-Jenkins, guards Alex McDowell and Sebastian Damis, center Alejandro Gonzalez, tight end Chase McCoy and H-back Tony Keahey.
“They made our job easy,” Bryan said. “We were running untouched.”
Keahey added eight carries for 66 yards and a TD as Hills East totaled 376 rushing yards.
“It’s just great communication,” Cole-Jenkins said. “There are times where Sebastian and I are talking about who we’re going to block and we pick them up perfectly. Then Chase will pick up the outside and we can just let those three run free.”
“For them to look good, we look good. And when we look good, they look good,” Keith McDowell said.
On the second play of the second half, Nick Sevilla launched a 51-yard TD pass to Adrian Merchant to give Hills East a 21-7 lead. Coach Alex Marcelin dialed up an onside kick on the following kickoff. Noah Reinstein’s kick bounced off one of Huntington’s upmen and Alex Floropoulos recovered it to give the RedHawks possession.
Bryan ran in his third TD a few plays later to take a 28-7 lead with 7:44 left in the third quarter.
“Sometimes, you’ve just got to go with the flow and take chances,” Marcelin said. “Our kicking coach, Billy Holscher, put the idea in my ear and we ran with it. Reinstein has ice in his veins, just making things happen. It was a great kick and a great execution of the play.”
Huntington answered, as Jacob Guzik fired a pass to Jack Kamenstein, who pitched the ball to Yasir Jones for a 42-yard touchdown with 6:34 left in the third.
On the first play of the RedHawks’ ensuing drive, Bryan bounced his run to right and followed White down the field for a 62-yard score.
Vincent Banculli forced a fumble and Ryan Soto recovered it for Hills East (8-2). RJ Peters had an interception and Damis had two sacks.
Jones totaled 125 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns for Huntington, which finished 7-3.
“We took a giant step with our program,” Huntington coach Ron Wilson said. “Getting these kids to buy in and work hard. I just told them, ‘I’ve been a part of some championship teams in the past, but there’s no other place I’d rather be right now than with you guys, even while you’re in your sadness.’ They had a phenomenal season.”
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
