Football

Kean’s green machine shreds Tri-Valley

Eldred forces six turnovers and McCormick throws four TD’s in non-league rout

By RICHARD A. ROSS

ELDRED, NY - Eldred rode a fine defensive effort and outstanding quarterbacking by Nick McCormick to a resounding 37-7 win over Tri-Valley.

While everything worked in Tri-Valley’s favor in their comeback win over Millbrook last week, against Eldred, the Bears couldn’t get out of their own way.

Eldred capitalized on six Tri-Valley turnovers by turning most around for quick scores. As Tri-Valley coach John Rusin pointed out after the game, “You can’t give a fine team like Eldred all those extra opportunities.”

Touted as one of week six’s top games, this non-league match up between 4-1 Eldred and 4-1 Tri-Valley was a tough one to call.

Prior to the game, the Tri-Valley team presented its youngest cheerleader, Briana Worden, with a teddy bear in a red and white football uniform. Worden, the daughter of Tri-Valley cheerleading coach Janna Worden and high school principal Robert Worden, suffers from neurofibromitosis, a condition that causes tumors of the nerves. She will enter Boston Children’s Hospital this week for spinal fusion surgery. Briana has severe scoliosis and the Bears wanted to wish her well, prior to her last cheerleading enterprise of this season.

Worden has an amazing spirit and it looked as if the Bears were going to take a page from her courage by starting their day with plenty of their own.

After Eldred turned the ball over on a failed fourth down on its first drive, the Bears leveraged great field position into pay dirt. Quarterback Dustin Van Lieu connected with Brendan Musa on a 55-yard screen pass with 9:13 to go. Alex Calabrese kicked the PAT and the Bears looked ready to roar.

Those roars were short-lived.

Eldred’s subsequent three-and-out gave the Bears the ball on their own 48, but a fumble was recovered by Eldred’s Sean Colley. The Yellowjackets made the Bears pay dearly, as McCormick hooked up with Colley on a 34-yard strike to make it 7-6. Phillip Talley hit Eldred’s only PAT of the day and the score was tied with 6:48 to go.

Tri-Valley’s first penalty forced them to punt. Eldred’s offense stalled but its defense didn’t.

Stan Smith picked off a pass by Van Lieu and Eldred took over on the Bears’ 45. On the first play of the series, McCormick hit Colley with a 43-yard strike and two plays later, Kevin Prunka took it in from the two to make it 13-7 with 2:58 to go in the first quarter. The conversion kick failed.

The Bears’ troubles were just beginning.

On their next possession, Musa was rocked by Eldred’s Nick Simonelli, causing a fumble that was recovered by Marcus Chandler for turnover number three. Eldred didn’t capitalize on this gift and ended up punting it back.

Eldred’s defense was revved up and Smith blocked the Bears’ punt as the second quarter got underway.

Eldred’s drive continued as the Bears were flagged for roughing the passer. At 11:07, a two-yard run by Chris Leader made it 19-7. Talley’s kick sailed wide right.

Holding on the kickoff had the Bears pinned at their own 17. Van Lieu made headway with a 16-yard pass to Nick Cassidy, but suffered his third sack at the hands of Kojo Williams, which ended the drive.

McCormick heaved a 54-yard pass to Williams and followed up with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Colley with 5:45 to go in the half to make it 25-7. A two-point conversion failed.

Prunka and Colley tallied Eldred’s fourth sack and an ensuing penalty made things worse. Van Lieu completed a pass to Musa over the middle to the Eldred 49.

Flooding the zone to the right nearly paid off as Eldred’s defense was outmanned, but the pass to Max Fiedler was incomplete.

Van Lieu’s next pass ended up in McCormick’s hands for turnover number five.

Eldred parlayed that mistake into six more points after Tri-Valley was flagged for roughing the kicker. That extended the drive to the Bears’ 27. Unthinkably, Tri-Valley was flagged for pass interference. McCormick translated that into a three-yard touchdown pass to Prunka and Eldred took a 31-7 lead into halftime.

The Bears received to start the third quarter, but mishandled the kick and ended up with the ball on their own five. Nice progress on a run by Kevin Smith went for naught as Van Lieu was sacked for the sixth time and fumbled. Eldred’s Hilton “Bus” Johnson recovered the ball.

One quick 32-yard pass to Colley made it 37-7. The two-point conversion failed again.

Eldred punctuated their victory by stopping Tri-Valley from scoring when the Bears had a first-and-goal at the five, and later extended a drive on a fourth-and-inches play with a Prunka dive play for a first down.

Aside from Musa’s touchdown run, Tri-Valley’s highlights were an interception of a McCormick pass by Musa and a superb kickoff return by Kevin Drown that saw the deft back weave through traffic for 65 yards.

The Bears finished the game with another opportunity to Eldred when Brian Henry picked off another Van Lieu pass. After McCormick threw a 30-yard pass to Williams, the Yellowjackets took a knee to run out the waning seconds of the game.

Rusin said he was not surprised by Eldred’s fine execution but he was somewhat taken aback by his team’s turnovers and penalties. “We had some early drives that stalled,” Rusin said.

“Four turnovers in the first half set the tone. We’ll tweak things and make adjustments,” he said, regarding his team’s upcoming fray with undefeated Chester at home next weekend.

Rusin had strong praise for Garrett Gray and Nick Cassidy defensively. Each had 12 tackles and Gray had eight assists

The loss bears no impact on the Bears’ goal to hold onto their Division IV title, or redemption for the loss of the Section Nine title to Sullivan West.

Rebounding from a tough loss to Chester a couple of weeks back, Kean’s green machine seems to have righted the ship. After beating Webutuck, Liberty and now Tri-Valley, the Yellowjackets continue their league quest with a game at home versus Livingston Manor/Roscoe next Friday night.

“You played your hearts out today,” Kean told his team. “We’re taking care of our own destiny.” Kean and fellow coach John LiGreci have stressed tough practices during the week, working on the essentials that make good football teams.

When Tri-Valley takes on Chester next weekend, you can be sure that Eldred coaches will be watching carefully. The Hambletonian scouts scoped out the Eldred/Tri-Valley game as Chester has some planning to do of its own.

Stat line:

Eldred rushing: Kevin Prunka, eight carries for 92 yards; Nick McCormick, three-for eight; Hilton Johnson, nine-for-48; Chris Leader, seven-for-four; Tom Compasso, three-for-13.

Tri-Valley rushing: Kevin Smith, eight-for 41 yards; Brendan Musa, 12-for-41; Kyle Byrne, five-for-29.

Eldred passing: Nick McCormick, 15-for-24 for 286 yards with four touchdowns and one interception.

Tri-Valley passing: Dustin Van Lieu, three-for-nine for 86 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

Eldred receiving: Sean Colley, four-for-123 yards; Kojo Wiliams, three-for-82; Tom Compasso, three-for-68; Kevin Prunka, two-for 16; and Chris Leader two-for-two.

Tri-Valley receiving: Nick Cassidy, one-for-11.