Football

Witchcraft and wizardry

Eldred edges Tri-Valley in turnover fest on Compasso’s late capture of the elusive pigskin

By RICHARD A. ROSS

GRAHAMSVILLE, NY — Unbeknownst to the unsuspecting crowd gathered to watch a key Sullivan County football clash between Eldred and Tri-Valley on September 15, a young wizard on the lam from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry sat among them in the stands.

Armed with a wand deftly hidden inside a hot dog bun, the impish young prankster had a delightful plan: turn the football fray into a game of Quidditch by casting spells at key points in the action.

His spells turned the football into an elusive snitch that lurched out of ball carriers’ hands, changed course in midair from its intended receiver into the awaiting arms of an adversary, altered the course of a potentially game-winning point-after-touchdown kick, sparked plays that were downright magical and, in short, electrified the crowd and left them in a tizzy right down to the uncanny Eldred 20-13 victory.

The young magical maven also used spells to transfix the officials into making several calls that left both coaches spellbound, furious and ready to spit toads.

If you are one of the five people on this planet who never read any of the Harry Potter books and find this explanation implausible, simply skip a few paragraphs to the “facts.” The rest of us are ready to consider that witchcraft and wizardry may have come into play in one of the wildest and most entertaining games staged in recent years.

Only minutes before the final spell afforded Eldred the win, Tri-Valley seemed to be the beneficiary of lucky charms as it stormed back in the final four minutes from a 13-0 deficit to tie the game and nearly win it.

Wizard or no, Eldred and Tri-Valley’s defenses played an extraordinary game of take away, as each team forced the other to turn the ball over five times. The win may have carried the Yellowjackets’ season from the miasma of the mishap into the kingdom of the kingpins.

Though victory was snatched from Tri-Valley as quick as you can say “Expelliamus,” the Bears’ hard-fought effort will certainly steel them for the meaningful league battles to come.

By day’s end, Eldred had lost five fumbles to the Bears, who thwarted a couple of key Eldred drives. “Drowniomus,” the spell uttered by the impish wizard, unleashed the havoc wrought by Tri-Valley twins Sean and Kevin Drown, as three of those fumbles were pounced on by Sean. Later, the spell uncorked two breakout plays by Kevin, one a 77-yard receiver option touchdown pass unleashed from Sean, and a juke-and-jive run by Kevin, during which Eldred tacklers seemed to find only ethereal air.

Tri-Valley had great field position. But to its credit, Eldred’s defense, diligently schooled by defensive coach John LiGreci, kept the Bears from capitalizing on most of those opportunities.

The two teams played a scoreless first quarter that foreshadowed a game of hot potato. Eldred’s Kevin Prunka fumbled on Eldred’s first possession and Sean Drown recovered. But before the Bears could capitalize on the gift, Tri-Valley quarterback Charlie Edwards tossed the first of four interceptions. The first air theft was credited to Kojo Williams.

Eldred began the quarter with a fumble by Chris Leader (he’d have two more by day’s end). A fumble on a snap marred Tri-Valley’s first possession of the second quarter, and Edwards’ second interception, picked off by Eldred senior lineman Bob Moriggia, broke the stalemate.

Eldred’s first score came on a one-yard dive by Prunka. The precipitating drive featured a 36-yard screen pass play to Chris Leader and a 26-yard reception by Williams. Eldred took a 7-0 lead into halftime. Even though Tri-Valley had gotten into the red zone three times, they had come up empty.

Eldred’s defense limited the Bears, who had averaged 35 points per game over the first two weeks, to 13 and 104 yards of rushing on 42 carries. The Bears picked up 189 yards in the air but forked over four interceptions. One of those included a second snare by Moriggia, who galloped 18 yards with 16 seconds left in the third quarter.

Down 13-0 with a little more than four minutes to go in the game, the Bears, who last year scored a trio of touchdowns in 1:05 to stun Millbrook 35-25 in a key Class C league game, nearly worked a late spell again. After Leader’s third fumble was recovered by Dan Byrne at the Tri-Valley 36, Edwards connected with Kevin Drown on a 53-yard strike that set up a subsequent 11-yard touchdown pass to Nick Cassidy. A PAT by Bo Murphy had the Bears back in at 14-7. The Bear cheerleaders egged on the crowd as excitement was rising to frenzy.

Bears’ coach John Rusin called for an onside kick that bounced off a Yellowjacket and was recovered by Garrett Grey at the Eldred 47 with 4:14 remaining. But the Bears Mike Towt came up short on a fourth-and-two dive as the Jackets swarmed in.

Undaunted, the Bears smothered Eldred’s next drive and forced a punt with 1:54 to go. On the second play from the Bears’ own 23, they deployed a sterling receiver option play, as Edwards tossed a backwards pass to Sean Drown, who found his brother Kevin racing behind the Eldred secondary. The play went for 77 yards and a TD to tie it up at 13-all with 1:12 to go. All the Bears needed was the PAT but it was too soon for curtain calls. The wily wizard twirled his wand in his hand, and in a gust of wind after uttering “Stymify!,” Murphy’s kick rang off the crossbar, and it looked like the zany game was heading for OT.

Tri-Valley punted and Eldred took over on its own 36. The Bears were in a cover-four defense, but Eldred offensive coordinator Patrick Kean had noted that, on an earlier incomplete pass, Compasso had beaten his defender. The Keans (father and son) decided to pull that play out of the hat again. Actually, as Tri-Valley coaches later revealed, on that earlier play, the defender had actually fallen down, not been deceived.

Compasso was well covered by Byrne, but a perfectly thrown ball found the receiver’s outstretched hands, and 51 yards later, Eldred led 19-13. In Quidditch terms, Compasso had finally snared the elusive snitch. Bobby Warden split the uprights, and it was 20-13, but the magic show nearly didn’t end there.

On the ensuing kickoff, Kevin Drown was literally one block away from taking it to the house but was hauled down at the Eldred 45. Satisfied with his Saturday spellbinding, the wizard vanished into the air, unseen by the transfixed crowd by his last utterance of “stupefy.” In the waning seconds, Tri-Valley couldn’t alter the impending final result.

How close was this game? Not only did each team have five turnovers but their total yardage was nearly identical: Eldred 299, Tri-Valley 293.

“You guys played with heart right to the end,” said an emotional Frank Kean to his encircled Eldred troops. “You were focused this week to play football.” Kean implored his team to keep their intensity for the coming non-league fray with LMR on September 21.

Rusin was thrilled with his team’s efforts, which he saw as a far cry from last year’s meltdown versus the Yellowjackets. “Heart can’t be measured in x’s and o’s,” said the upbeat coach, who urged on his players enthusiastically during the entire fray. “Keep your head up, you’re fine,” he told Byrne after Compasso’s catch. Like his brother Kyle, who graduated in June, Compasso is going to be a difference maker down the line.

At halftime he said, “We’re a second half team,and we needed to run and block better.”

And they did. With a tiny more magic, they might have won.

Eldred (2-1) will travel to play LMR in a non-league game at Roscoe on September 21. Tri-Valley (2-1) will travel to Rye Neck.

Stat Line:

Eldred: (Rushing) Prunka 9/41; Leader 9/93; Compasso 11/48; Christian Martinez 3/7; Henry 2/9; Williams 1/5. (Passing) Henry 3/5/96. (Defense) Nick Simonelli 11 tackles, three assists; Williams two tackles on INT; Moriggia seven tackles, three assists, two INT’s one TD; Cody Conklin 13 tackles three assists; Leader one fumble recovery.

Tri-Valley: (Rushing) Musa 17/48; Byrne 11/55; Edwards 6/-20; Towt 4/4; Boncek 4/17. (Receiving) Musa 3/34; Cassidy 3/42 one TD; Towt 1/10; Kevin Drown 2/101.

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