Jack Kamenstein, Huntington pull away from Bellport in Suffolk II football
Jack Kamenstein of Huntington makes a catch with Bellport's Malcom Eli in pursuit during a Suffolk Division II football game on Saturday in Huntington. Credit: Steven Zaitz
Huntington’s Jack Kamenstein had a chance to shift the momentum against Bellport, but it slipped through his hands. Luckily for him, he got another shot.
With Huntington leading by seven in the third quarter, Jacob Guzik’s deep pass went in and out of a wide-open Kamenstein’s hands. But that didn’t faze the senior wide receiver.
Two plays later, Kamenstein hauled in a contested slant route, then followed it with a 23-yard touchdown snag over a defender in the back of the end zone to help give Huntington a 14-point lead en route to a 42-21 win in a Suffolk II matchup on Saturday.
“I was really down on myself,” Kamenstein said. “But my coaches and teammates picked me up. I realized I needed to step up and do my role. Then I had a nice slant and the touchdown — my QB trusted me and threw it up, and I caught it over him. It was just a great feeling.”
Kamenstein had eight receptions for 131 yards and two touchdowns.
In the fourth quarter, with Huntington ahead 35-21, Guzik found Kamenstein for a 27-yard diving catch. A few plays later, the duo connected again for a 19-yard touchdown — sealing the win. It was Guzik’s third scoring pass of the half.
“Honestly, we have playmakers all over the field,” Guzik said. “Once they started to key on the run, we went to our wideouts and threw it over the top.”
Just 40 seconds into the game, Bellport struck first. On the second play from scrimmage, Braydon Cipp burst through a lane and raced 57 yards for a touchdown.
The Blue Devils responded immediately as Geovonne Henderson returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a score.
On Huntington’s first offensive drive, Yasir Jones collected 41 rushing yards and powered through a defender for a 9-yard touchdown to give the Blue Devils a 14-7 lead with 3:01 left in the first quarter.
Bellport (4-3) kept pace. Elie Malcom slipped behind the secondary, and Cipp found him for a 33-yard touchdown to tie the score at 14 with 9:59 left in the second quarter.
“I liked the way we came out, especially on the road,” Bellport coach Jamie Fabian said. “We did some good things early, but at the end of the day we made too many mistakes.”
Huntington’s next drive lasted nearly nine minutes and covered 69 yards. Despite multiple penalties, Jones capped the drive by diving into the end zone to put the Blue Devils ahead 21-14 with 57 seconds left in the half.
After Kamenstein’s touchdown in the third quarter, Huntington’s Titan Elysee recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Guzik then found Chase Northrop over the middle for a 37-yard catch-and-run touchdown.
The momentum had completely shifted, and Huntington led by 21 with 9:08 left in the third quarter.
“After last week, we realized we needed to keep the foot on the gas all 48 minutes and keep pushing through,” Kamenstein said.
With the win, Huntington improved to 5-2 and is in prime position to clinch a home playoff game.
“Last week we made mental errors,” Huntington coach Ron Wilson said. “So this week we had a tough practice to clean them up. I told my team this is Bellport — they live and breathe football — and our boys answered the call.”
