By MATT VINES, Journal Sports

HAMMOND — Huntington has experienced short playoff lifespans in Select Division I, falling at home in recent seasons while playing the regular season in Class 4A.

But these Raiders moved up to 5A and were seasoned by an incredibly difficult schedule that included a deep District 1 lineup and non-district bouts with West Monroe and Calvary Baptist.

It paid off Friday night as No. 17 Huntington went down south and dominated No. 16 Hammond in the opening round of postseason to the tune of 34-6.

The Raiders (6-5) pitched a shutout until late in the contest, scoring the game’s first 34 points.

“The defense played great, and that’s a credit to the entire defensive staff,” said Huntington coach Stephen Dennis. “We blocked a punt, got at least one interception, forced two fumbles, and recovered an onside kick.

“Both of our quarterbacks played well, both of our running backs ran well, and the offensive line played through the ceiling tonight.”

The Raiders got scores from Adrian Johnson on a long touchdown catch, a Kam Davis rushing touchdown, a Jatarian Montgomery touchdown on the blocked punt, a Nyles Hullaby rushing score and receiving touchdowns by Tyler Welch and Jamarion Washington.

It’s Huntington’s first playoff win since 2021 and first since moving up to the Division I Select playoffs.

“It’s been a learning curve, and we drew a Jesuit team and a Woodlawn-BR team that were really battle-tested the past couple of years,” Dennis said. “We played the most difficult schedule we could to prep for Week 11.

“The coolest feeling is knowing that I’ll get to coach these guys this coming week.”

The Raiders had lost four of their last five games, but three of those losses were one-score outcomes to Byrd, Calvary Baptist and Airline.

Huntington will head back down south next Friday to face No. 1 seed Edna Karr in New Orleans.

Contact Matt at sports@journalservicesllc.com