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.
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