Identity Crisis
Monticello Gets A Class A Win Over Saugerties But Coach Buddenhagen Calls His Team Out For Lackluster Showing; Squad That Got Great Win Over Minisink, Not The One Of Past Two Weeks Is The One Needed To Face Upcoming Road Battle Vs. Unbeaten Wallkill
Monticello 34, Saugerties 13
By RICHARD A. ROSS
rross@sportsinsightsny.com
Scenes from Monticello's Class A win over Saugerties (Clockwise) Sean Reuss barrells across the goal line following a first quarter TD catch from Shane Jackson. Saugerties Adam Bacon cannot deter Reuss from his appointment with the goal line. Anthony Gray hauls in a TD pass for the first score of the day. Saugerties running back Anthony Spadaro finds some rare open space. Shane Jackson gets into the open field. Jackson ran for a pair of TD's and threw for three more. Connor Briggs hauls in a fourth quarter TD pass from Jackson. It was his first TD reception this season.
MONTICELLO NY—Somewhere in between two time-honored quotes lies the upcoming fortune of the Monticello Panthers Football Team. According to the late Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers,
“Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.”
Winning at all costs or winning even when a team’s play is questionable at best? Those issues have seen Lombardi’s mantra criticized over the years by people who espouse another time-honored maxim:
“It isn’t whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.”
That precept suggests that the only thing that matters is that you give the game your best effort and that ultimately, that has far more value and lifelong shelf life than just recording a victory.
For fiery Matt Buddenhagen, the no-nonsense coach of the Monticello Panthers, there can be no doubt that winning is a paramount priority. Whether it was his steering Cornwall to a state title game, revamping the program at Sullivan West or now reviving the 75-year old moribund Monticello football program, Buddenhagen pushes his team to the edge, knowing full well what it takes to win against the toughest competition. He did it as a player in high school and college so he knows whereof he speaks.
But that said, winning in a lackluster and sloppy fashion such as his team did in its 34-13 win over Saugerties on September 24 showed Buddenhagen to be quite attuned to the second of the aforementioned quotes.
To watch and listen to the Coach both during and after the needed league victory, one would have thought his team had spit the bit and lost, which they certainly did not. They had a 20-0 lead on Saugerties in the first quarter of the game and appeared to be on the verge of being on the polar end of a lopsided score than they were a week ago as they were upended 52-7 by Cornwall.
Heads-up plays like this recovery by Monticello's London Gandy on a Monticello kickoff are what make for winning football.
But even early on as the Monties scored a trio of first quarter TD’s there were signs that all wasn’t right with the ship. Missing receivers, abundant penalties, missed blocks, spotty line play, failure to heed calls like “down and distance,” and missed assignments on both sides of the ball had Buddenhagen spitting bullets.
Make no mistake, the Coach and his players were glad for the win. The problem has more to do with what the title of this piece alludes to, namely the team’s identity crisis. “Ever since the Minisink Valley win, that Monticelllo team hasn’t been present in my eyes,” said the Coach.
That iconic victory in Week Two, the Monties first win over a Class AA team in this new era seemed to augur great success for the Panthers who looked forward to the challenge of facing nemesis Cornwall.
Credit the Green Dragons for their dominating play and Coach Marcus Hughes for his strategy, but Monticello did not bring the fire it had against the Warriors with them. Nor was the razor sharp execution present. Both critical elements were also AWOL in this victory.
“We’ve got to play at our level. The kids know it,” he said. Following the early scoring burst Monticello failed to accrue any points for the rest of the first half. Statistically speaking, the Monties had the numbers which included Shane Jackson’s 219 yards of passing that included TD throws to Anthony Gray, Sean Reuss and Connor Briggs.
But Jackson wasn’t at his best with his 11/19 completion rate and was often scrambling and not taking the best reads on the defensive inclinations of Saugerties’ D-backs which were not changing. Sports is always about learning and striving to improve. Jackson is bright and a superior athlete and there is no doubt in this writer’s mind that the experiences from both the wins and losses this season are being turned over in his mind with an eye toward evincing the best he has to offer.
In that regard, he is not alone on this team populated by some kids who eat, drink, sleep and live the game of football.
On the ground, Jackson was trying to evade Sawyer tacklers, juking and reversing as he wove in and out of tacklers. He accrued what for him was a modest 67 yards on the ground on nine carries and rushed for a pair of TD’s .
Given the nature of this game, a detailed blow-by-blow description of the action seems unwarranted so here are the highlights:
Saugerties junior running back Jon-Taylor Elmendorf gets it going but Saugerties never got into an offensive flow thanks in great part to Monticello's stingy defense.
Before Monticello kicked off to start the game, Buddenhagen challenged his troops to, “get down there and set the defensive tone of the game. “ Angelo Niforatos kicked the ball off and Saugerties began at its own 26. The Monties’ defense forced a quick three and out and Jackson had an electrifying return of the punt to the Saugerites 29.
Jackson then tossed a 28-yard TD pass to Anthony Gray at 10:23 for the 6-0 lead. Niforatos added the PAT and the Monties were rolling. Saugerties was having issues with the Montie defense as its pitch plays were snuffed before QB Russell Neglia sustained a big loss on a snap that went over his head.
The Monties got good field position on the punt on its own 49. Jackson uncorked a pair of inaccurate passes first to Sean Reuss and then to Anthony Gray leading to a punt. Reuss pinned the Sawyers on their own seven with a booming punt. Reuss was ominipresent as he was in on tackles.
Saugerties punted again as Jon Taylor-Elmendorf’s kick gave the Monties a short field again at the Sawyers’ 30.
With 4:20 left in the first quarter, Jackson hit Reuss over the middle for a 36-yards. Saugerties’ corner back Adam Bacon tried to head Reuss off at the goal line but the aggressive and powerful Reuss simply bowled him over as he vaulted over the goal plane for the 13-0 lead. Niforatos added the PAT and the Monties now led 14-0.
Monticello’s London Gandy recovered the kickoff to give his team an impressive take-away. The Monties now had the ball at the Sawyers’ 29. A reception by Gray gave the Monties a first down at the 16. Mike Rogers made it first and goal with a nice reception at the seven.
Jackson then ran it in from the six with 1:14 to go in the first quarter to swell the lead to 20-0.
Surprisingly then, Monticello went blank and failed to score again for the next 13:14 of the half.
Penalties for encroachment, holding, illegal motion and blocks in the back neutered the Monties’ agenda of putting Saugerties away for good in the first half.
Jackson seemed to be running for his life and turned a busted play into a completion to Connor Birggs. The play was called back as Jackson was ruled to be beyond the line of scrimmage when the threw the ball.
Montie miasma was in no short supply . On one scramble Jackson was knocked out of bounds into a sideline puddle as his royal blue uniform turned navy due to the soaking.
Reuss lofted a 30-yard punt and Taylor-Elmendorf made headway on a counter play. He then had a nice carry to the Montie 22 with 5:12 remaining in the first half but the Sawyers couldn’t convert on a fourth and 11 when a pass by Neglia was picked off by Mike Rogers who failed to heed Buddenhagen’s cry of “down and distance.” The interception gave the Monties a worse field position than an incomplete pass would have and the Coach was not a happy camper.
Opponents' worst nightmare: Shane Jackson on the run--a threat to break it on the ground or as in this case, fire it down the field for an aerial strike.
The Monties took their 20-0 lead into halftime just in time for the Coach to tell them that they had played a miserable half. Enough said.
The Monties received to start the second half. José Cruz took the ball on the first two carries and a reception by Connor Briggs advanced it to the Sawyers’ 17. Gray received the ball and fought his way through defenders to the five.
Cruz alertly recovered a fumble to sustain the drive. Jackson was run backwards on a sweep attempt and the Monties appeared to be set up for a field goal. Jackson who was the holder took the ball and ran around left end for an 10-yard TD with 7:38 remaining in the third quarter. Jackson hit Gray with the conversion pass for the 28-0 lead.
Saugerties moved the chains on a reception by Anthony Spadaro but the drive stalled as Gray anticipated a pass and made a great tackle for a Sawyers loss. A missed block left Jackson exposed on the ensuing punt. Fortunately he got right up after being subsumed by a Sawyer tackler.
Juking and jiving made for a nice Jackson run but a penalty called it right back. Jackson went east-west-east to the Saugerties 31. The advance continued despite having a touchdown by Cruz called back for a holding penalty.
All ended well though as Jackson connected with Connor Briggs on a third and 15 from the 20 yard line. It was Briggs’ first TD of the season. Niforatos had his kick blocked and the Monties now led 34-0.
Defensive coaches urged the team to bring home the goose egg but Saugerties would score twice in the fourth quarter, first on a dive play by Spadaro and then on a breakaway by Scott Melville registered against the Monties’ second and third string. The fact that everyone got to play was one saving grace as Buddenhagen saw it. “You’ve got kids that practice every day, never get their names in the paper but are an important part of the team,” he noted.
Up and over and a shut out ends in a TD dive by Saugerties runner Anthony Spadaro.
Sawyer’s Coach LeeMeisinger talked about his team’s efforts to keep Jackson contained which didn’t always pan out. Saugerties (1-3, 0-2 Class A) now faces an uphill battle to garner a playoff spot as they still must face Cornwall and Wallkill.
“We kind of put ourselves in a hole in the first quarter and then stiffened up a bit defensively for a while there. We never really got in a flow offensively,” said Meisinger. ” Saugerties beat Goshen but lost to Port Jervis in prior league encounters. They lost a non-league game to FDR.
Buddenhagen’s final take: “We have to step it up.” Asked if he thought his team could beat Wallkill, Buddenhagen fired back, “Absolutely. On any given night any team can win. It’s high school football.” But he was quick to add that his team that beat Minisink is the one that will be up to the task, not the one that played the past two weeks.
“It was very sloppy today and that’s a fact. I’m not going to sugar coat it or lie to the kids. We should have taken care of business a lot earlier.
A time to reflect; Monticello Coach Matt Buddenhagen calls out his players and challenges them to relocate their assertive identity last seen in the epic win over Minisink Valley.
Monticello stat line:
Passing: Shane Jackson 11/19/219 with three TD’s and no interceptions
Rushing: José Cruz 11/42; Jackson 9/67 with two TD’s; Mistah Ali 1/13.
Receiving: Anthony Gray 5/76 with one TD; Sean Reuss 3/81 with one TD; Mike Rogers 1/6/ Connor Briggs 2/56 with one TD.
Monticello improved to 2-2 (1-1 Class A).
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