Football

Liberty shows heart in loss to New Paltz

Effective Indians’ air attack is a plus but New Paltz backs run rampant

By RICHARD A. ROSS

NEW PALTZ, NY — Sometimes the hardest fought football games are between teams that are struggling for a much-needed win. Such was the case on September 30 as New Paltz (1-3) hosted Liberty (0-4) in a Class B grid war. New Paltz’s only win this season came against Spackenkill, the same team Liberty should have defeated a week ago. Liberty pushed the Spartans all over the field last week but some untimely fumbles cost them the win.

New Paltz coach Tom Tegeler noted before the game that he had a mix of experienced senior running backs in Kyle Martin and Joshua Papka, along with a quick first-year junior in Alex Barberio. Having pared down his team by eliminating other juniors who weren’t getting with the program, Tegeler’s team is rife with sophomores and is rebuilding. “Our strength is our running game,” Tegeler said, whose backs wasted no time in proving him right.

New Paltz received the ball and went right to the ground game. A drive that began on their own 30 soon found its way to the Liberty 41 via carries by Papka and Martin. Barberio proceeded to run a counter play in from there for the Hugenots’ first score. The point after kick was good and New Paltz led 7-0 with less than three minutes gone by.

But Liberty brought some luster of its own.

Speedster Dave Brown picked up the ensuing kickoff on a hop and found a seam up the middle for a 90-yard touchdown return. Brown did the same thing last week against Spackenkill. Justin Green’s kick made it a tied game at seven up.

New Paltz answered right back with a huge run by Papka that took the ball all the way to the Liberty seven. Two plays later, Martin dove over the goal line for his first touchdown of the night. The kick was good and New Paltz regained the lead they would never relinquish.

On Liberty’s first series from scrimmage, the Indians showed they could throw the ball underneath and run it as well. Brown broke a tackle and carried the ball to the New Paltz 24. Pete Panagakos caught a pass from Corey VanKeuren that got the ball to the 16, but New Paltz’s defense held off Liberty’s short yardage runs and got the ball back on downs. It was not the first time that Liberty would be in the red zone with a chance to score.

New Paltz could not be stopped on the ground. Using all three backs, they chewed up real estate in chunks and by 10:36 of the second quarter they had Papka scoring his first touchdown on a nine-yard jaunt. New Paltz led 20-7 but they weren’t done. Helped out by an interception of a VanKeuren pass by Vincent Bordino, the Hugenots mixed in a pass to Brian Frey to get the ball closer to the end zone. Martin needed only one carry, a 20-yard beeline towards the pylon to make it 26-7.

But despite the deficit, Liberty was far from out of this game. Using an effective vertical passing game, VanKeuren connected with Sarno and then Panagakos to get a first down at the 12. Penalties moved the ball back. Two potential touchdown passes to Panagakos were overthrown and for the second time in the evening, Liberty came up short on a scoring threat. New Paltz took that lead into halftime while Liberty nursed two injured players in Joe Valentine and Kane Davis, who were lost for the game due to knee and ankle injuries, respectively.

Liberty did score on its first drive of the second half after Panagakos got the Indians to the New Paltz 14. A run play was stuffed, but VanKeuren then threw an end zone strike to Sarno to give Liberty its second touchdown. The scoring brought them closer at 26-14.

Back to the ground assault, New Paltz proved to be unstoppable. Eating up clock and yardage, the Hugenots went the distance as Martin took the ball in from the one with his second touchdown of the night. New Paltz now led 32-14 after the Indians thwarted the two-point conversion attempt.

Liberty’s hopes faded with VanKeuren’s second interception. This one was picked off by Robert Buther-Jones and returned 20 yards into Liberty territory. Two plays later, Papka scored his second touchdown with a 10-yard run. The play ended the scoring. Martin ended up with three touchdowns and New Paltz racked up 445 yards on the ground. Martin had 150 yards on 19 carries. Papka ran for 160 yards on 20 carries and Barberio rushed 11 times for 130 yards.

Despite the loss, Liberty coaches were pleased with their team’s effort. “You guys moved the ball effectively. You smacked and scared the heck out of them. If we had executed a little better, we might have had at least two or three more scores. You scared them with that vertical attack. I’m really proud of you guys,” said head coach Jim O’Connor.

Liberty (0-5, 0-4 Class B) has its tough schedule continue next week against James I. O’Neill, who just came up short against Burke. New Paltz (2-3, 2-3 Class B) will play Ellenville.

Liberty’s stat line: David Brown had 10 carries for 98 yards and a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown; Peter Panagakos had three carries for 27 yards; Corey VanKeuren had three carries for 33 yards; Troy Bertholf had one carry for five yards. VanKeuren completed 13-passes for-89 yards with two interceptions.

For additional photos of the Liberty-New Paltz game, visit www.riverreportersports.com and click on Liberty to find the article by the same title.