Football

Rain-grizzled Bears maul Devil-Cats

LMR fights hard but Knox-led Bears are sharp as a tack

By RICHARD A. ROSS

ROSCOE, NY — This was the wrong week for valiant up-and-coming Livingston Manor-Roscoe (LMR) to catch the Bears. Coming off of arguably their worst performance of the year last week against Eldred, the blue and red mavens of the den were nobody to mess with.

The Devil-Cats were hoping to steal a honey of a win on October 7, but they were mauled from the get-go instead, as Tri-Valley’s offense became LMR’s pain in the rain.

Wasting no time in sending the message, Danny Knox burst for a 66-yard touchdown run on the Bears’ first play from scrimmage. Using blinding speed, Knox was into and through the secondary, and the Bears led with just 19 seconds off the clock. It was not the last time the Cats would be burned by the explosive back.

The first quarter belonged exclusively to the Bears, who got another two touchdowns. A steady march got the den to the LMR five where fullback Ryan Van Lieu rumbled across the goal line with 3:39 left in the frame. James Connolly split the uprights with his second point after touchdown (PAT) and the Bears led 14-0. A mere three minutes later, Knox was off again, this time on a nice 40-yard cutback run. With Connolly’s perfect kick, Tri-Valley had the Devil-Cats declawed at 21-0.

Coming off what head coach Dave Viglione characterized as one of their best weeks of practice, the Bears continued to pour it on as senior quarterback Joe Garigliano got into a groove. A pair of touchdown passes were the result. The first was a 10-yard strike to Jimmy Walsh in the right-hand corner of the end zone and the second was a gorgeous 44-yard completion to wideout Connolly to give Tri-Valley a commanding 34-0 lead heading into halftime.

The third quarter witnessed a number of fumbles, as the wet ball slid around as if it was greased. LMR picked up a couple of first downs on nice runs by Dan DeVantier and Mike Perry, but Tri-Valley never let things develop into a scoring threat. With 5:35 to go, Knox got his third score of the night. Cutting back to the left after crossing the line of scrimmage, the speedster took off up the left sideline and vanished into the gloom on a 44-yard dash to make it 41-0.

Viglione pulled a number of his starters to keep them intact for the crucial upcoming league wars against Sullivan West on October 22, and Pine Plains the week following.

LMR got things on track with a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Mike Perry connected with Troy Kirchner on a six-yard strike, but a pass for a two-point conversion failed. As the game neared its end, Lance Brookins salvaged a botched running play by reversing field twice before heading around the left end to get the score from nine yards out. Perry completed a pass to Kirchner for the conversion and the final score registered at Tri-Valley 41, LMR 14.

After the game, LMR coach Kevin Clifford urged his team to consider the fact that their season now hangs on their performance on October 14 at Eldred. Coming off a terrible practice week that featured the absence of a number of key players, Clifford minced no words in challenging his players to play football or watch their season slip away.

Viglione admitted to being nervous before this game but told his players following the victory, “This was a very good football team you just beat. They are the most improved team in Section Nine.”

Viglione was effusive in his praises for his line. “It’s not about the backs, it’s about the line.” He proceeded to extol the play of a number of his players including Gary North who he cited for his fearless tackles of fullback Lackey. Next week Tri-Valley takes on winless Webutuck before the critical encounters with Class C Sullivan West and Pine Plains. Now even at 3-3, the Bears seem to be rounding into shape at just the right time of the season.

As for the 1-5 Devilcats, next week is the true acid test. A win over Eldred would be huge and would throw the entire Class D mix into a boiling cauldron, which could spill over with some startling results.

Tri-Valley stat line: Knox had 13 carries for 256 yards and three touchdowns; Danny Walter had three carries for 55 yards; Van Lieu had six carries for 42 yards and one touchdown; Garigliano had eight carries for 41 yards; Kevin Smith had three carries for 16 yards. Team totals were 33 carries for 410 yards.

Garigliano had two-for-five passes for 51 yards and two touchdowns. Connolly had one catch for 44 yards and one touchdown; Walsh had one catch for 11 yards and one touchdown.

For LMR, Lackey carried the ball 22 times for 86 yards; DeVantier carried the ball seven times for 50 yards.

The Roscoe Kiwanis Club donated the lights for the game.