Backs To The Wall
Liberty Is Victorious Over Ellenville In A Quagmire To Keep Playoff Hopes Alive; Covington and Jaycox Score Two TD’s Apiece In Mud War Against Struggling Blue Devils; Win Caps Off Pride Weekend Success
Liberty 25, Ellenville 6
By RICHARD A. ROSS
rross@sportsinsightsny.com
An epic win keeps playoff hopes alive: Liberty defeats Ellenville to stay in the hunt for a berth in the Class C afterlife (Clockwise) Anthony Covington makes a great gain as he is finally wrestled by his jersey by Blue Devil Robert Borriello. Liberty QB Marshon Williams and Covington lead the line as muddied Liberty players get ready for the handshake. Kenny Jaycox sets off on a 45-yard TD run. He and Covington scored two TD's apiece. Liberty cheerleaders dance in the rain and splash in the puddles. Ellenville's Tyler O'Bryant avoids a diving tackle attempt by Ryan Henry as he returns a second half kickoff to the house for the Blue Devils' only score of the game.
Editor’s note: Heading off to Monticello for the game vs. Saugerties. I will add more photos to the text below tonight.
LIBERTY, NY—Sports build character. Of that there can be little doubt.
Perseverance, teamwork, leadership and courage in the face of adversity are required to marshal the strength to pick oneself up off the mat and forge on when things don’t go your way.
Liberty did just that following its heart-rending 14-13 loss to O’Neill a week ago, a game they had in their control at the end and failed to capture.
Gathering around and anxious to take to the muddy field,, Liberty players get some tips on the sideline.
Evincing a dominating 25-6 win over Division I rival Ellenville by putting the hammer down early against the Blue Devils, was fitting as the denouement to Pride Weekend already alluring behind girls and boys soccer wins and a victorious tennis match.
The winning effort was a testament to the gritty nature of the Indians and the inspiration they derive from their coaches, fans and adoring community.
Faced with the prospect of being eliminated from playoff contention with a potential loss against the 2008 and 2009 Section Nine Class C Champions, Liberty took to the soupy field amidst a rainy maelstrom and took care of business.
With weather conditions such as they were, the Indians knew they’d have to rely on their ground attack and as Coach John Wilhelm would later note “We’d have to get the ball to our playmakers in space,” in order to maintain an advance against an Ellenville team facing the same elimination threat. As it would soon become apparent, those playmakers included quarterback Marshon Williams and running backs Kenny Jaycox and Anthony Covington.
Their heroics will soon be recounted in detail as this game story unfolds.
But truth be told, the notion of losing this game was never seriously entertained by the upbeat Indians who put last week’s debacle in the rearview mirror and played a ferocious brand of football on both sides of the ball.
As for me, clearly the only photo journalist on hand to document this crucial game, and not wanting to take the risk of damaging thousands of dollars worth of photo equipment, this already –sodden sports maven took to the booth and relied on his nearly 300mm worth of zoom lens capacity to zero in on the action.
Liberty received to start the game but stalled deep in their own end behind a lack of traction in the quagmire and Ellenville’s staunch defense. After a three and out they punted and the Blue Devils began their first series at their own 46. Indian defense swarmed in and Ellenvile QB Robert Borriello recovered his own fumble only to be smothered by LibertyTyrelll Ivory. Liberty got the ball back via a punt and Williams ripped off a 20-yard run on a keeper giving the Indians a first at the Ellenville 43 as he evaded as series of Blue Devil tackles.
Williams continued to carry the load, churning his feet in the muddy pudding as he marshaled another first down to the 16-yard line. Efrain Baez got five but a fumble put Liberty up against a fourth and five from the 11. Williams got the first down to the five.
Kenny Jaycox scored on a one-yard run with 1:34 remaining in the first quarter to give Liberty a 6-0 lead. The PAT was blocked. Liberty used a quick kick by Ryan Henry, which was Efrain Baez offering Liberty the first takeaway of the night.
Liberty set up at the Ellenville 37-yard line and soon faced a fourth down sand short as the quarter ended. Jaycox got the corner around right for a first down. On third and eight Covington broke loose for a 13-yard TD run at 9:52 of the second quarter for the 12-0 lead. The two point conversion pass was knocked down by Ellenville’s Tyler O’Bryant.
Henry sent a squib kick skittering across the mud that Ellenville’s Kyler Conner recovered at the Blue Devils’ 44. Ellenville tried to run inside to no avail. Its pitch plays also made little or no headway against the pursuing Indians who had practiced to content with such. With such poor traction, O’Bryant’s blazing speed would be severely hampered. That said, as Ellenville Coach Tony Borriello would later note, despite plans to run an inside game, more runs to the outside would have offered better prospects for advance.
Liberty took over on downs at midfield. Liberty committed a holding penalty but that didn’t prevent speedy Jaycox from uncorking a 45-yard TD run with 5:12 remaining for the 18-0 lead. A delay of game by Liberty, pass interference by Ellenville and ultimately a failed conversion try resulted in no additional points added to the already-burgeoning Liberty lead.
Henry’s kick gave Ellenville the ball at its own 20. Borriello had a nice run on a keeper but Ellenville still faced a fourth and three with 3:10 at their own 25. A completed pass to Victor Perez gave Ellenville a needed first down at their own 33. O’Bryant caught a screen pass and now faced a fourth and four but a big tackle by Danny Ramirez gave the Indians the ball back.
On the first play of the next series with 35.8 seconds remaining in the half, Covington broke away for a 41-yard TD run to make it 24-0. Henry’s PAT gave Liberty a 25-0 lead which it would take into the half. A facemask penalty against Ellenville on Covington’s run was declined.
Liberty kicked off to start the second half and in perhaps the only Indian miscue of the day, he sent it deep to O’Bryant. Having watched the Ellenville game against Sulliivan West and O’Bryant’s speedy return to start that clash won by the Westies 26-14, they already knew what the track sprint champion was capable of.
O’Bryant snared the ball at the ten and raced 90 yards for the score with 11:13 remaining in the third quarter to make the scorre25-6. The pass on the conversion try was incomplete.
Ellenville would evince a much better second half as it would hold Liberty scoreless. They tackled better and penetrated the gaps and while they certainly didn’t stop Liberty’s advance between the twenties, they kept them out of the end zone and afforded themselves far more time of possession than they had in the first half.
For its part Liberty’s defense remained stalwart following the O’Bryant TD. Muddied but grinning, they’d return to the sideline after each stand sensing the impending win and all that means for their continued presence in the Class C picture.
Ellenville got some breaks including a fumble recovery of a slippery ball that escaped from Jaycox, but Liberty responded by putting up an unassailable defense that ended with Ellenville’s intentional grounding of the ball on a third down.
Meanwhile the rain was creating a sideshow as Liberty cheerleaders stomped in the puddles to splash each other and happy-go-lucky fans rolled down the muddy hill. Given the weather, the large number of fans on hand was quite impressive.
At the game’s conclusion 2011 Liberty grad Jessica Dunnigan returned for a cameo appearance. The NYS Division II 200 meter champion was honored. The field will now convey her legacy as it will bear witness to her stellar achievement. Dunnigan is now at Northeastern University.
Ellenville Coach Tony Borriello crossed the field to congratulate Liberty Coach John Wilhelm. The mentor to his former player, Borrielllo expressed his well-wishes to his friend and props for a great game played by his team.
Turning to this writer, the affable and classy Borriello acknowledged the ups and downs of success that are part and parcel of athletics, particularly in small schools.
“We were looking for the little things and that’s what I was happy about tonight. I thought we played a much better second half. We went inside and talked about missed tackles that killed us. The kids did what they had to do in the second half, “ he noted.
“Liberty is a good team. They executed well, a lot better than expected in the mud and we didn’t. We’re young and still need to shore up in some spots. Success comes and goes. It’s their turn now and hopefully they’ll do something with it. As for John, he is definitely going places and is going to do well,” he noted.
Falling to 0-4 and 0-2 in Class C essentially means Ellenville’s season is over in terms of postseason play. But for the coach and his staff who think football all year long, even in track season, the work is already about next year.
Wilhelm put the situation succinctly. “Our backs were to the wall and the team responded after the loss last week. We knew we probably weren’t going to throw much and had to rely on our run game. Even as a spread team, we run the ball more than we throw it. In our Class you’ve got to win two of three league games and we got one tonight.
Liberty will travel to Pine Plains next week for a non-league game before taking the journey up the road to Sullivan West the week after for another do-or-die scenario. Following its crushing 20-16 loss to O’Neill with 50 seconds remaining in their game down at Highland Falls, the Westies are in the same boat. O’Neill clinched the Division and the top seed leaving the two teams it stunned late to battle it out for the right to face Division II’s top seed which is probably Burke in the first round of the playoffs.
Liberty improved to 3-1 (1-1 Class C); while Ellenville fell to 0-4 (0-2 Class C).
Liberty stat line:
Passing: Marshon Williams 1/4/4
Rushing: Williams 13/92; Anthony Covington 9/69 with two TD’s; Kenny Jaycox 10/99 with two TD’s; Efrain Baez 1/5.
Receiving: Efrain Baez 1/3
Defense: Javier Baez nine tackles; Williams four tackles and a forced fumble; Danny Ramirez seven tackles and a sack; Joe Franke two tackles and an interception; Tony Saravia seven tackles.
For an album of photos visit www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com
There Comes A Time
Sullivan West Roars Back From Early Deficit With 26 Unanswered Points To Down Nemesis Ellenville For First League Win; Victory Places Bulldogs Just One Win Away From Playoff Berth
Sullivan West 26, Ellenville 14
By RICHARD A. ROSS
rross@sportsinsightsny.com
Iconic moments from a key Sullivan West league win over Ellenville (clockwise) Tom Mootz breaks loose on a big run. Mootz had 90 yards on 17 carries and caught a 35-yard TD pass. E.J. Franskevicz scampers for a big gain. Franskevicz did most of his damage in the air as he threw for a trio of TD's and completed 9/20/162 yards. Jared Meola runs behind the blocking of Tom Mootz for a big gain. Meola rushed for 67 yards. Ellenville's Tyler O'Bryant scores his second TD of the night on a 12-yard run. Ellenville QB Robert Borriello calls the signals. O'Bryant crosses the goal line on a two-point conversion run. He scored all 14 points for the Blue Devils. Sullivan West's defense comes up big as Erlwein and Mootz bring down O'Bryant on a key stop.
LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY—In bygone years Ellenville has certainly had its way with Sullivan West. But as the old saying goes, “Every dog (Dawg) must have his day.” And this September 16 reunion with their old nemesis proved to be just that for the Westies.
After a tough loss last week to Chester and early tribulations against Ellenville, the Bulldogs gnashed their teeth and showed grit and gumption as they got off the deck and came back from a 14-point early deficit to thrash a team that has a history of making their lives miserable.
This writer sensed some displeasure from Dawgs’ coaches related to last week’s blog about the Chester game, a story that certainly did accentuate the Hambletonians’ success and Sullivan West’s troubles. Good sports writing is by definition both factual and neutral and I pride myself on heeding to both of those precepts. This week’s tale is based on a significant improvement by the Dawgs as will soon be noted.
A hard week of practice and a strong resolve proved efficacious as Sullivan West simply played its best football to date on both sides of the ball to emerge with a treasured win.
In the abbreviated world of a three-game league season, winning two of those games is a prerequisite to making the playoffs. In 2010, the Bulldogs were 1-2 in league play and found themselves on the outside looking in, though Ellenville was not a part of the story as the Blue Devils were thrust into Class B by virtue of a mere ten extra students in grades 9-11.
This year, to the relief of Ellenville Coach Tony Borriello, they’re back down in Class C. But an 0-2 start with losses to Walton and Burke had Ellenville more than anxious to right the ship.
That said, Borriello was quick to point to his young team’s inexperience and lack of depth in a chat before kickoff. With the only returnees in quarterback Robert Borriello, linemen Jeff Nunez and Preston Bazemore, Borriello noted that most of the other guys were prior backups.
We had guys that were with us for three years but now it’s a different story,” he added.
In its first two games, Ellenville got off to good starts but made mistakes which proved costly. That paradigm would resurface again in this outing. “We gave Burke the ball inside our five twice. Inexperience is what has killed us,” said Borriello, a comment he would repeat later following his team’s 26-14 loss on this night.
The Ellenville/SW history
Prior to last season, the two schools have a brief but intense history; one that Sullivan West was anxious to update.
From 2004-2006 the Bulldogs ran up a streak of three consecutive Section Nine titles including a 2004 Class B win over Marlboro and Class C wins over Tri-Valley in ’05 and ’06. The Dawgs lost to the Bears in ’07 playing in their fourth consecutive championship game.
Enter Ellenville:
In the season-opener of the 2008 season the Bulldogs unveiled their new spread offense with Brad Reimer at quarterback and easily handled the Blue Devils. The Dawgs went on to run the table against their opponents until they met up with Ellenville again in the Class C title game. Ellenville won that clash handily 34-20 and then beat Liberty in the title game in 2009 after the Indians had stunned Sullivan West in the semifinal set to.
In Ellenville’s absence in Class C last year, it was Millbrook that emerged victorious with an upset win over Burke in the title game.
Ellenville had beaten Sullivan West during the regular 2009 season and that was the last time the two teams met.
So after a one-year hiatus of not playing each other, the two squads got set to dial it up again, this time with more on the line as each team looked to propel itself halfway towards a playoff berth in Division I, a realm also occupied by Liberty and O’Neill.
Ellenville certainly lost a lot of talent to graduation, but also gained some in Section Nine track sprint champion Tyler O’Bryant. The speedster wasted no time in making his presence felt as he returned the opening kickoff to the Westie’s 15-yard line. Three plays later he carried it in from the two and then ran in the two-point conversion to give the Blue Devils an early 8-0 lead with 9:54 remaining.
How sweet it is: Sullivan West players erupt in a victorious celebration following the key league win. Next week they travel to O'Neill who edged out Liberty 14-13. The winner of that game will lock up a playoff berth.
Sullivan West took the early adversity in stride as Tom Mootz began what was soon to become a resounding performance with a nice breakaway run out to the SW 49 but the drive stalled. The Dawgs defense stiffened and Ellenville punted as Borriello sent a ball into the end zone for a touchback.
The Westies showed early success in the air on a screen pass to Kitt Borowski and effective running by Mootz and Sawyer Erlwein. A vast improvement in blocking was key to the ground success that by night’s end would yield 237 yards on 32 carries by the Bulldogs.
The drive stalled with an incomplete pass at the Ellenville 17 and the Blue Devils took over on downs.
O’Bryant quickly scooted out to the SW 49 and then to the 30. “Contain” barked the Bulldogs coaches. But O’Bryant continued to elude tacklers who failed to wrap him up. With 7:37 remaining in the first quarter, O’Bryant ran it in from the 12. The two point conversion run failed by the Blue Devils now led 14-0.
The Dawgs’ fortune began to change on the next drive as Borowski caught a tipped ball and on a third and 20 from his own 40 and hefted it to the Devils’ 35. Mootz ferreted it to the 21 for another first down. A pass from E.J. Franskevicz to his brother Cody gave the Dawgs a first on the nine-yard line The formula worked again on a five-yard brotherly love TD pass with 3:21 remaining in the second quarter. Sawyer Erlwein booted the PAT and the Dawgs were halfway back.
Credit Sullivan West’s defense big time as they were about to play a bit more than three quarters without yielding another score. Ellenville showed another weapon in senior Adrian Echols who was beating Sullivan West’s secondary. A long pass play came back on a motion penalty as Borriello’s words about his team’s miscues and inexperience proved to be accurate.
Echols dropped a pass in the endzone and Sullivan West was able to take over on downs.
Franskevicz went to the air as the quarter wound down hitting Erlwein and Jared Meola Meanwhile Borowski was consigned to the sideline for the rest of the game after suffering an injury early in the fray. He had remained in and tried to gut it out but now he was lost to the cause for the duration of the fray.
Franskevicz launched a 33-yard pass to Erlwein who caught it in the end zone as the half expired. He got himself up off the grass, dusted himself off and went right back out to kick the game-tying PAT. With the score tied at 14-all the teams headed to the locker room. With the ball coming to them at the start of the third quarter, the Bulldogs felt the momentum of the game had shifted their way.
Mootz and Meola gobbled up huge chunks of turf with electrifying runs to start the third quarter and with 10:14 remaining in the period, Mootz hauled in a 35-yard pass from Franskevicz to give the Dawgs a 20-14 lead. The two-point conversion try failed.
Leading by a precarious six points, the Dawgs needed a stop but it looked like O’Bryant was out to show off his speed again but he failed to get a first down on a third and five attempt a the 33. Ben Kline called for a fair catch at his own 35 on the punt.
The Dawgs went three and out and the Blue Devils dialed it up againg. Marshaling the talent of O’Bryant and Echols, the Devils were on the march but once again the Bulldogs’ steely defense held , this time on a fourth down try by Justin Rose came up short.
The Westies took over on their 38 and Erlwein got great blocking to help foster a run to the EV 23. The third quarter ended with the Dawgs threatening but Echols picked off a Franskevicz pass in the end zone a the start of the fourth quarter.
The Blue Devils tried a gadget play as Borriello flipped it to O’Bryant who tossed it back to the QB who sent a completion to echols. But the play was called back as Borriello had passed the line of scrimmage. Penalties against Ellenville and a great stop by Andrew Parsons had the Devils going the wrong way and the Dawgs soon had the ball back again.
With 7:09 remaining and having not been able to sustain another offensive series, the Dawgs punted it back. “We’ve got to play defense,” barked SW Coach Ron Bauer and his team answered the call as Kline recovered a fumble by O’Bryant.
The Dawgs capitalized on the miscue with a 38-yard TD run by Meola on the first play from scrimmage with 5:21 remaining. The Dawgs now led 26-14 as the two-point conversion try failed.
The game was far from over as the Blue Devils marched quickly down the field to the SW 12 on passes to Echols and O’Bryant runs. Facing a fourth and two at the three, Ellenville was victimized by another fumble, this one recovered by Sullivan West’s Todd Roeder.
Sullivan West was able to marshal first downs and run out the clock for the impressive win.
Borriello summed things up this way: “Our previous discussed liabilities reared their ugly head, I probably shouldn’t have said anything quipped the affable coach. “Inexperience and mistakes, like I told you. We have some guys out here playing for the first time. We dropped some balls. Six seconds left on the clock we don’t drop back into the needed coverage. It’s been our story this year. We keep giving teams chances and let teams back in. It’s like you throw blood in the water and sharks will smell it,” he added.
Borriello acknowledged that his team doesn’t have its former ground and pound capability but he was pleased with the way the squad moved the ball. “We ran the bal better tonight than we did all year. We had to run a different offense tonight because of the loss of some running backs and we had to move our center for awhile. We’re playing around with personnel.
Next week Ellenville travels to Liberty for what is now a must-win game for the Blue Devils. Liberty faces league rival O’Neill today (September 17) for its first league encounter.
Sullivan West Offensive Coordinator Kurt Buddenhagen praised his troops. “That’s a big win. Just think what we can continue to play that kind of football,” he said.
Coach Ron Bauer said, “We blocked! They were bigger than us. We got great play calling tonight and that was a big catch by Erlwein right there just at the half. We played good sound football. It’s a big win but next week we’ve got another one (at O’Neill) and then against Liberty. Our line play was much improved over the last two weeks.
Sullivan West Stat line:
Rushing: Mootz 17/90; E.J. Franskevicz 7/64; Borowski 1/1; Erlwein 2/19; Meola 5/67; Total rushing 32/237..
Passing: Franskevicz 9/20/162 with three TD’s and one interception.
Receiving: Borowski 2/36; Erlwein 3/70 with one TD; Cody Franskevicz 2/17 with one TD; Meola 1/17 and Mootz 1/35 with one TD
Leading tacklers: Erwein 16 tackles; Mootz 17 tackles including two sacks; Roeder ten tackles including one sack and a fumble recovery.
Sullivan West improves to 2-1 (1-0 OCIAA); Ellenville falls to 0-3 (0-1 OCIAA).
For an album of photos visit www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com
