Football

Bulldogs shoot down Bombers

Dominant performance versus Pine Plains puts Bulldogs atop Class C

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LAKE HUNTINGTON NY — Playing on the new field in Lake Huntington for the first time ever, the Sullivan West Bulldogs turned a rainy, chilly Homecoming game against Class C Pine Plains into a cause for celebration.

Displaying the kind of dominant football in evidence ever since the team lost (but really won) up at Walton, the Bulldogs slammed down the gauntlet in Class C by knocking off the first of its two rivals. Two weeks hence, Sullivan West will visit Tri-Valley and encounter the Bears, who got on a roll the night before with a resounding win over LMR.

But today it was all about shooting down the Bombers.

Pine Plains won the toss and received the ball. Their first series turned out to be a foreshadowing of their dire day against the Dawgs. After going three and out, Pine Plains went to punt. The wet ball sailed over the head of Shane Vankeuren, who picked it up and was drilled into the ground at the Pine Plains 37.

Sullivan West’s physical play dominated the line of scrimmage and its running backs tore off gains in soggy chunks. On the first offensive series, Jim Erlwein and Brett Youmans advanced the ball, as did quarterback Jim Moloney on a keeper. Three plays later, Yeomans ran it in from the 10. His point after touchdown (PAT) made it 7-0 as the clock read 5:27 remaining in the first quarter.

Yeomans’ booming punt was downed at the 12 when the receiver touched his knee down on the soupy field. The Bulldogs’ menacing defense soon forced a punt from the six, giving Sullivan West a first down at the Bombers’ 27.

It only took two plays before Erlwein rambled 22 yards for a touchdown with 2:06 left in the frame. The PAT was missed and the Dawgs led 13-0.

On the ensuing kickoff, Bulldog Brian Hubbert ran into the Pine Plains receiver like a runaway freight train. The ball popped loose, as if it was a greased watermelon, and the Bulldogs recovered it at the Pine Plains 20. Steve Daley ripped off a nice cutback run to give the Dawgs a new first down at the three, just as the first quarter expired.

As the second quarter began, the Dawgs were momentarily set back on an illegal procedure penalty before Moloney ran it in on a keeper and the score burgeoned to 19-0. The PAT was blocked.

The Bombers were never able to get on track.

Two series later, Brett Youmans returned a Pine Plains punt to the eight yard line and appeared to be hurt on the tackle as the Pine Plains defender’s helmet drove into his thigh. As he lay there in the mud, the team and fans pondered what the loss of one of the team’s most valuable players might mean.

Yeomans was entertaining no such thoughts.

Seconds later, he popped up and was in on the next play. After Moloney recovered a fumbled snap, Yeomans proved his health with a two-yard touchdown. The Bulldogs took that 25-0 lead into halftime.

Confident and loose, Sullivan West players took their warm-up drills prior to the second half start and were itching to get right back out there. It’s not likely the Pine Plains team on the opposite side was feeling the same way.

The second half witnessed a series of fumbles by both teams, as the wet field and slippery ball began to wreak havoc with handoffs and snaps from centers. One such Pine Plains fumble set up Sullivan West’s next score, a 27-yard pass to wideout Paul Pitz who hauled in a beautifully thrown ball by Moloney and ran it up the left sideline to give the Bulldogs a 31-0 lead. Yeomans’ PAT made it 32-0 and the clock read 4:31 remaining in the third quarter.

Unable to keep the ball in their possession, the Bombers continued to give it over to Sullivan West, who seemed to have a much better idea of what to do with it. Looking to strike again, Moloney rolled out for a pass, but a Pine Plains defender jarred the ball loose and the Bombers had their first break of the day.

Well almost.

On their first play from scrimmage near the red zone, Bombers’ quarterback Jimmy Boyles lost the ball and the hungry Dawgs gobbled it up. Determined to stop the bleeding, the Bombers loaded the box with eight defenders, but seconds later Erlwein burst through the line of scrimmage behind a tremendous block and ran 76 yards for the day’s final score giving the Bulldogs a 39-0 edge.

For the remainder of the game the teams played wet potato with the football, fumbling it back and forth. Sullivan West got its jayvee players in on offense, including its two female gridders Corri Banks and Kayla Olsen.

Post-game celebration included pizza and cake and up-close-and-personal snapshots by the photographers from the Eddie Adams Workshop, as well as those taken by this reporter.

After the game, Pine Plains coach Tom Giorgio noted, “Sullivan West is a hard-hitting football team. We came in here needing to play our ‘A’ game and we just didn’t have it today. They’re a well-coached team. Last week we had a heartbreaking loss to Red Hook, but this week we came out and couldn’t execute anything against this team. No excuses, they played in the same weather conditions that we did,” Giorgio said.

Sullivan West’s coach Ron Bauer praised his team’s energy and effort. “They really wanted this one and it showed,” said Bauer. “The team played really well today. I think playing Walton was the turning point of our season,” he added.

Stat line: Erlwein had seven carries for 121 yards with two touchdowns; Yeomans had 10 carries for 39 yards and two touchdowns; Will Schlott had six carries for 34 yards; Moloney had four carries for 39 yards; Jon Figueroa had one carry for eight yards. Altogether, the Dawgs had 32 carries for 268 yards. Moloney completed one of three passes for 29 yards. The Bulldogs recovered four fumbles and Erlwein registered 13 tackles.

Sullivan West (4-2, 1-0 Class C) travels to Class A Onteora next week while Pine Plains (4-2, 0-1 Class C) travels to Section One to take on Haldane.