Football

Killer bees and wizened warriors

Eldred punctuates homecoming with an emphatic win over Manor

By RICHARD A. ROSS

ELDRED, NY — Flash!

Entomologists at the University of Kentucky’s Department of Agriculture report, “Yellow jackets are extremely aggressive when their nest is disturbed.”

In plain English, don’t mess with the bees.

Duh!

Someone should have alerted Livingston Manor’s football team before it incited an angry swarm of Yellowjackets on October 1. The Wildcats stirred things up on the second play of the game with a 55-yard touchdown run on a well-executed option toss from quarterback Josh Mendez to running back Mike Perry. It was reminiscent of early action on September 11, a game the Yellowjackets won 28-0. While that was a non-league contest, this was a divisional match up.

After a tough loss to Millbrook last week, the juiced ’Cats celebrated their early success, but their howls of joy were soon drowned out by the menacing drone of an awakened hive. Its raging denizens set out on an airborne and ground assault that left the visitors feeling as if they had run headlong into a hornets nest.

The subtext of the rough and tumble game that ended in the one-sided (49-6) defeat of Manor was a tale of two warriors clashing, and they deserve special recognition. Neither one withered in the face of great adversity. Both seniors showed immeasurable toughness, resolve and leadership.

They are Livingston Manor’s quarterback/defensive back Josh Mendez and Eldred’s standout runner/linebacker Kyle Schneider.

By all rights Schneider was too sick to play football. Suffering from severe bronchitis, his role was supposed to be limited to offense, but after Manor’s option play roared right by his replacement, that plan was scrapped. Schneider proceeded to take the field on both sides of the ball, and he played with unflagging drive and effort.

Mendez, who is a superior athlete, withstood the punishing hits and sacks doled out by Eldred’s menacing defense, while on the opposite side of the ball, he was in on the majority of tackles. He also was the team’s punter.

As the clock was expiring on a game long since lost, he ran the width of the field to tackle Mark Thornton, who scored the night’s final touchdown. Asked about his unrelenting intensity, the soft-spoken player replied, “I’ve got to show heart for Livingston Manor. I’ve got to be a leader.”

Manor’s first-year coach Kevin Clifford wished he had more like him. Eldred coach Frank Kean had great praise for Mendez as well.

Manor’s first score turned out to be its last. Angered that their divisional rival had come into “their house” and scored first in front of a large homecoming night crowd, Eldred’s defense became impenetrable. They stuffed the two-point conversion and most of everything else the Wildcats attempted.

Coach Clifford could only shake his head. Fielding a severely undermanned and inexperienced team is making for a tough first year.

Eldred’s offense, which has sputtered at key times this season, morphed into “The Fast and the Furious.” Nick McCormick became a latter-day Dan Marino, completing three of five passes for 137 yards including three touchdowns. He began his night with a perfectly placed pass to Patrick Kean, which turned into a 62-yard score. Taylor Diuguid’s point-after kick was a prelude to seven straight PATs, and the ’Jackets led 7-0.

Schneider turned a cross buck run into a 63-yard score; Jonathan Counts galloped 63 yards for another; McCormick rolled out and hooked up with Kean, who ran for a 62-yard touchdown; and Schneider capped off the first half 35-6 onslaught with a 14-yard completion from McCormick.

Halftime brought on the homecoming court of Kieran Pierce, Catlan Sardina, Candace Martin, Crystal Ruiz, Megan Shafer and Jennifer Guttman.

Second half scoring featured an 11-yard run by Schneider and sophomore Mark Thornton’s first varsity touchdown.

Coach Kean extolled his team (2-2, 1-0 OCIAA) and immediately set his sights on undefeated Millbrook, the team that currently sits at the top of Class D. Eldred’s October 9 game at Milbrook will present a key hurdle to winning the league and/or getting to the Section Nine championship.

“The last time we got to Dietz was in 1991,” Kean said. “We lost that game 2-0 to Delaware Valley.”

The ’Jackets will need to sharpen their sting for both Milbrook and Chester if they want to get to the Promised Land the first weekend in November.

Ode to the unsung heroes

It’s great blocking that enables a team’s offense to run and crisp tackling and pass defense that inhibits the opposing team’s progress. Eldred’s Walter Kreidell, George Fountain, Corey Proscia, Tim Hallock, Bryan Daboul, John Adams, Kyle Bosch, Jeremy DeForge and J.T. Vogt are key players in the trenches.

Stat line: Schneider: 14 carries for 193 yards with three touchdowns (TD); Counts: four-for-164 yards with one TD; Kean: two-for-117 with two TDs; Corey Proscia had three tackles, a QB sack, an interception and a fumble recovery; Bryan Daboul had five tackles, three QB sacks and two assists; and John Adams had seven tackles and three assists.