Bears wage pitched battle but fall to Delhi in own den

Loss of quarterback Edwards to knee injury marks turning point of the game

By RICHARD A. ROSS

GRAHAMSVILLE, NY — The Tri-Valley Bears are on the prowl. Taking on a menacing Delhi team that steamrolled Sullivan West 53-18 last week, the smaller Bears never flinched on September 9, despite playing without stalwart running back Ryan Van Lieu, who injured his knee in the Ellenville game last week, and losing quarterback Charlie Edwards early in the second quarter.

Coming off of their week one 21-0 win over Ellenville, Tri-Valley knew that Delhi was going to be a tough opponent. That only fueled their fire against the Section 4 Bulldogs and got their attention and respect on both sides of the ball.

Prior to the opening kickoff, Tri-Valley coach John Rusin told his players, “Give me 48 minutes of your best football. Let them know what Tri-Valley football is all about.”

Rusin got exactly what he asked for. Though Tri-Valley came up on the losing end of the 34-0 score, due in great part to the loss of Edwards, Rusin’s team showed grit and heart.

Keeping the game and season in perspective, Rusin was thrilled with the fight his team put up against a daunting opponent.

The Bears received the opening kickoff and returned it to the 26. As Delhi braced to squash the run, Edwards threw a 12-yard pass to Nick Cassidy into the left flat, which he followed with an eight-yard screen pass to Brendan Musa.

If Tri-Valley could keep this pace and mix in the gritty running of Kevin Smith, Musa and Dustin Van Lieu, they might just strike lightning in the bottle. Unfortunately, they were struck by lightning instead, first on a penalty that called back a run by Van Lieu and later by the injury to Edwards, which would result from a fumble on the snap on a fourth-and-inches play.

After its initial success, Tri-Valley’s first drive stalled with a pair of incomplete passes and Delhi got the ball out to their own 36-yard line on a punt return. Going right to their bread and butter, they got a 13-yard run from Brenton Hood. But Tri-Valley got the game’s first turnover as Musa tipped a pass from quarterback Pat O’Connell and intercepted it at the Delhi 34.

Delhi’s defense held solid and the Bears turned it over on downs. Delhi took over on its own 24 and rode the running of Nate Rockefeller. After the Bears stopped Hood, Kevin Smith batted down an O’Connell pass to stall the Bulldogs’ drive. A fumble on the long snap to punter Alex Fletcher gave the Bears another golden opportunity at the Delhi 33.

But things just would not break Tri-Valley’s way. Edwards threw the ball right into the hands of defensive end James Card and Delhi had the ball again, this time on their own 11. Hood got 14 yards and then six more. Despite a good tackle by Kyle Byrne, the drive advanced to the Tri-Valley 38 where the Bears held on to force a punt.

It was a scenario that would repeat itself several times more.

With 2:44 to go in the first quarter, Tri-Valley got its third series started at its own 10. The first quarter ended in a scoreless tie. Runs by Musa and Van Lieu put the Bears only inches from a crucial first down when Edwards went down with the knee injury and Delhi took over on downs at the Tri-Valley 35.

Rockefeller and Hood took turns lugging the pigskin before Rockefeller took it in on a one-yard plunge at 9:07 for the 6-0 lead.

Delhi’s option pitch conversion play was no surprise to Tri-Valley. They had seen the Bulldogs use it repeatedly with great success against Sullivan West, so the Bears just stopped it cold.

Edwards tried to return but re-injured his knee. Van Lieu, who has had only a few reps at quarterback, took over calling the signals. Tri-Valley’s offense became much more one-dimensional and Delhi used its size to stifle the run. Without the threat of the outside passing game, Delhi defenders menaced Tri-Valley’s smaller backs and forced a punt.

Unfortunately Sean Drown’s punt was partially blocked, giving the Bulldogs the ball at the Tri-Valley 20. Four plays later, Hood brought it to the house on a two-yard carry and Delhi led 12-0 with 5:11 to go in the half.

The Bears stalled again and Delhi added to its lead with a 63-yard touchdown by Rockefeller on a short sideline pass from O’Connell with 2:23 to go. This time, the option pitch worked to Rockefeller and the Bulldogs now led 20-0.

But Tri-Valley refused to quit. Hitting hard and taking hard licks, the Bears gave it all on every down. Delhi led 20-0 at the half.

“We need to hit low and win the second half,” Rusin told his players. They held Delhi scoreless in the third quarter and stopped the Bulldogs twice in the red zone, once on a great hit on Rockefeller by Garrett Grey and another on a fumble recovery by Bo Murphy. But Delhi’s menacing running attack kept Tri-Valley’s defense on the field far too long, and Rusin’s plan to wear the opposing team down began to work in reverse as the fourth quarter began to unfold.

The Bears would put up another great defensive stand early in the fourth quarter. “You guys are doing great,” shouted Rusin, who is one of the most positive coaches this writer has encountered.

But Delhi got close again and this time Ryan Weale scored on a 13-yard touchdown to make it 26-0 with 6:33 to go. The expected pitch to Rockefeller worked and Delhi took a 28-0 lead.

Another blocked T-V punt put Delhi at the Bears’ 22 and several plays later, Weale scored his second touchdown on a one-yard plunge. The Bears defense made their final statement by stopping the conversion. Delhi led 34-0.

As time ran down, Tri-Valley mustered three first downs with great runs by Musa and Byrne.

In the end, the only thing that could get Tri-Valley to quit was the clock.

After the game, O’Connell gave a lot of credit to Tri-Valley. “They were a lot better than we expected,” he said, noting that the loss of Edwards tipped the game in Delhi’s favor.

Delhi coach David Kelly pointed to Tri-Valley’s game plan and said, “They did what we would have done in the same situation. They threw screen passes to the weak side of our defense. I have great respect for the coaching down here,” he said.

The Bears (1-1) will travel to Liberty (0-2) on September 16. Delhi (2-0) will take on Sidney (2-0), the only team that beat the Bulldogs last year.