Football

Turnover stirs Bears to action in win over Ellenville

Drown’s touchdown run after fumble recovery ignites Bears

By RICHARD A. ROSS and PHIL DUSENBURY

GRAHAMSVILLE, NY - Joining Eldred as the only other Sullivan County football team to post a win in week one, Tri-Valley capitalized on a third-quarter Ellenville fumble. Kevin Drown picked up the loose ball and headed for the end zone for the game’s first score on September 2. Throughout the wind and rain, the two teams played a scoreless first half dominated by good defense on both sides.

With the ball on the Tri-Valley 46-yard line, midway in the third quarter, Ellenville quarterback Steve Coutant fumbled the ball on a fourth-and-one keeper. Tri-Valley’s Drown scooped it up and ran 56 yards. Bo Murphy kicked the PAT and Tri-Valley led the rest of the way.

The Bears, who have worked long and hard on their preseason conditioning, gained momentum as Ellenville wore down. Early in the fourth quarter, the Bears took advantage of a high snap on an Ellenville punt to get possession at the Ellenville 46. Using a 25-yard run from Brendan Musa and powerful running by Dustin and Ryan Van Lieu, the Bears got a touchdown from Ryan with 9:26 remaining in the third quarter to go up 14-0.

With Ellenville moving deep into Tri-Valley territory, defensive back Gary North intercepted a Coutant pass at the 11-yard line and returned it to the 37. Eleven plays later, following steady running by Musa, Kyle Byrne, Kevin Smith and Ryan Van Lieu, Smith completed a pass to Musa, who ran down the sideline to score with 1:57 left, giving the Bears a 21-0 victory. Last year, Tri-Valley defeated Ellenville on the road by the score of 39-6.

Rusin was pleased with the win, pointing to his team’s stamina and the fine defense coaching by Joe Porcaro as factors in beating a tough Ellenville team.

Tri-Valley will host Delhi on September 9, a team that just ran roughshod over Sullivan West by the score of 58-13.

Stat line: Tri-Valley had 176 net yards of rushing to Ellenville’s 12 yards. Edwards completed three-of-10 passes for 24 yards. Coutant completed five-of-12 for 96 yards. Drown had an interception to go along with the fumble recovery.