Football

Bears overcome size edge to beat Ellenville

By JIM WALSH and RICHARD A. ROSS

GRAHAMSVILLE, NY — You could feel it at training camp this summer. Tri-Valley is on a mission. The two-time defending Section Nine champions approached the start of the 2005 season with quiet confidence and skill wrought by tough practice and heady skull sessions in front of the chalkboard as they looked ahead to their season opener on September 3 against Class B Ellenville. The Bears came in to that fray pumped up and raring to go.

Ellenville won the toss and chose to receive, but the Blue Devil’s saw their first play from scrimmage result in a loss with a tackle by Tri-Valley’s Bo Murphy.

Ellenville’s strategy was to pit its edge in size against the Bears’ speed as they ran the ball right through the Bear’s defense. After some initial difficulty, the Bears’ defense got into a rhythm of its own and stopped Ellenville inside the Tri-Valley 20-yard line.

Tri-Valley’s first offensive play was an off-tackle run by all-star senior running back Danny Knox for nine yards, but Ellenville stopped the Bears on fourth down, and Ellenville scored first on a screen pass to Bryon Karow, who went for a 60 yard touchdown. The extra point was missed.

Undaunted by the defensive lapse, Tri-Valley responded on the ensuing kickoff as Knox returned the kickoff down Ellenville’s sideline for an 80-yard score. The extra point was missed due to a bad snap, and the teams stood deadlocked at six each.

On Ellenville’s next drive, Blue Devil quarterback Steven Countant was sacked by Tri-Valley’s Kyle Byrne and Garret Grey to bring up third and long. The deep pass attempt was deflected by Tri-Valley senior defensive back James Connolly to force a turnover on downs.

Tri-Valley coach Dave Viglione figured to wear down Ellenville’s defense by mixing up his team’s running attack to the inside and outside. On the next series, Knox ran off tackle for a 25-yard gain and subsequently swept to the outside for a 35-yard score. The two-point conversion failed, but Tri-Valley had taken the lead they would never relinquish.

The strategy of trying to wear down the Blue Devils started to payoff as the Ellenville Devils showed signs of exhaustion. An option play was stuffed on second down and five by Tri-Valley sophomore linebacker Nick Cassidy. Penalties hindered the Blue Devils even further and they were forced to punt.

On their next drive, things went from bad to worse as a sweep was stopped in the backfield by the Bears’ sophomore defensive lineman Garret Grey. Senior defensive back Danny Walter then intercepted an Ellenville pass on fourth and long to give the Bears possession. Though Tri-Valley didn’t capitalize on that turnover, it seemed as if the writing was on the wall for Ellenville.

After a Knox sweep for 20 yards and a fumbled option recovered by the Bears, senior quarterback Joe Garigliano hit James Connolly on a deep fade for a touchdown. The extra point was good. Tri-Valley took a 19-6 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Bears received to start the second half and didn’t wait to get moving. Garigliano went deep to James Connolly for their second passing touchdown of the game. The extra point was missed.

As the game progressed, Tri-Valley’s defense continued to raise its level of play. An option attempt by Ellenville’s Bryan Alexander was stuffed in the backfield by junior defensive end Kyle Byrne. Alexander was then stopped on fourth and long to give the Bears yet another possession.

Unchecked, the Bear’s drove down the field delivering strike after strike from the line of scrimmage, including a rollout pass to senior tight end Jimmy Walsh for eight yards, a pass to Danny Walter for a first down, a sweep to Knox for 23 yards and another rollout pass to Walsh for a first down. After a fumbled snap, Garigliano scrambled in for a touchdown. The extra point was good.

Ellenville’s energy and drive were completely sapped by this time as the Bears closed the game out on the next drive. Two sweeps to Danny Walter were good for first downs. The next sweep to Walter resulted in a touchdown. The extra point was good.

After Ellenville couldn’t capitalize on a kickoff, which went out of bounds, freshman Ryan VanLieu picked off a Blue Devil pass to end the game. The final score was 39-6, a far cry from last year’s opening day 62-0 loss to Walton.

Knox rushed for 152 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns. Garigliano was 7-for-11 for 81 yards, including a pair of passing touchdowns. He also rushed for a touchdown. James Connolly had two receptions for 46 yards and two touchdowns. In addition to the fine execution by the offense and defense, special teams played well.

“The line started to gel towards the end of the game,” remarked senior tackle John Borkowski. The Bear’s line features five new starters.

Tri-Valley (1-0) will travel to Delhi next Saturday for a non-league match up with the Bulldogs of Section 4. Ellenville (0-1) will travel to Burke Catholic to play the Eagles in their first league game of the season.