Football

Hoodwinked

Sullivan West falls victim to New Paltz trickery in non-league battle for bragging rights

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — Magic tricks are less impressive when you know how they work. So for Sullivan West (3-2), victimized by three such arts of deception that they had previewed all week, the bitter joke was on them as they permitted the New Paltz Huguenots (5-1) to win their fifth straight game since losing their opener to Rondout Valley 20-12.

Mental lapses led to the Huguenots’ successful tomfoolery, evinced in two fake punts and an option reverse pass, all of which they turned into scores. Inexplicably, the Bulldogs seemed slow to react to things they’d been assiduously schooled to anticipate.

In particular, a 32-yard option pass from Jordan Clarke to John Speedling with just 41 seconds left in the first half had Sullivan West coaches fuming. That play sent the Dawgs into the break down two scores in a game they should have been winning.

A victory against this strong Class B title contender would have raised the Bulldogs’ stock immensely, but by night’s end, they had squandered that opportunity.

Central to that lost chance were a number of passes overthrown by Sullivan West quarterback Jim Moloney, which missed their intended receivers, and one that he inexplicably threw into the hands of New Paltz freshman safety Jonathan Diaz at the one-yard line as the Bulldogs were on the march to regain the early lead.

Fortunately, the Bulldog defense, led by John Whittaker, effected a safety to get the lead back at 8-7. But those two points might well have been seven or eight. Moloney had his bright spots, though, as he threw 13/29/233 yards with two touchdowns.

The Dawgs won the toss and elected to receive. Starting at their 20, they made quick headway on a keeper by Moloney and a screen pass to Dan Figueroa. A motion penalty and an incomplete pass halted the drive.

New Paltz quickly uncorked senior running back Robert Buther-Jones, who dashed for 18 yards breaking tackles. Buther-Jones would rush 12 times for 77 yards with one TD before the night was over. His running mate Clarke was even more active, with 20/164 and two TDs by night’s end. But on this drive, New Paltz stalled and sent up a very short punt that gave the Dawgs the ball at their own 43.

The Bulldogs won the early battle in the trenches and advanced the ball. Moloney capped off the drive as he hit Jason Leewe with a 17-yard TD pass at 6:30 to take a 6-0 lead. Last week, kicker Artie Norden was seven for seven and earned the title, “No Miss Norden.” This week, he didn’t live up to the hype, as the first of several failed attempted PATs went awry.

New Paltz answered back at 8:21 on a 27-yard jaunt by Clarke. The PAT by Adrian Capulli was good and the Huguenots led 7-6. The Dawgs got a great return by Figueroa to their 40; Will Schlott was gaining yardage, but on a third and four at the 21, Moloney sent up a floater that was picked off by Diaz.

The ensuing safety gave Sullivan West an 8-7 lead and the ball back on a free kick as the first quarter ended. The Dawgs couldn’t make hay of that extra possession and yielded a big return by Brandon Egan-Thorpe, who would gobble up 112 yards on five returns on the night. Figueroa nearly picked off a pass by David Clayton who had come in early to replace starter Mike LaBrosse, who jammed his fingers in the opening minutes.

A 16-yard run by Buther-Jones at 8:36 of the second quarter gave New Paltz the lead at 14-8, which they would not relinquish, after another successful PAT.

A Reimer return resulted in a fumble, but an alert Steven Stephens plucked it out of midair. The drive stalled and the Dawgs punted it back, yielding Egan-Thorpe another big return. Sullivan West played a cover-two defense as the half was winding down, but got torched on the 32-yard option pass from Clarke to Speedling at 11:19. The PAT made it 21-8 at the half.

New Paltz appeared to have stalled on its first drive of the second half after receiving the kickoff. A faked punt allowed Leo Gomez to ferry the ball to the Sullivan West 17. Clarke carried it in from there at 2:17. The PAT made it 28-8 as New Paltz was stealing the momentum.

The Dawgs answered on their next drive as Moloney used a third-and-20 opportunity to hit Figueroa with a 39-yard pass play for the score. The PAT failed and the score was now 28-14 at 9:50 of the third quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, Moloney missed a wide-open Reimer on the left sideline and the Dawgs punted. A big return by Egan-Thorpe and a second faked punt availed Gomez another big gain, leading to 71 total yards on the two ruses. Buther-Jones marshaled the ball to the Dawgs’ 10. On fourth down, Clayton found David Rose for a 10-yard TD pass to make it 35-14 with the PAT.

Will Schlott scored on a two-yard run at 10:22 to make it 35-20. Norden’s kick was blocked by Chris Savosh, completing the usually picture-perfect kicker’s night of botched booting. New Paltz had its own share of blemishes in the game, notably three calls for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Sullivan West expects to get back on track at its homecoming on October 13 versus Spackenkill. New Paltz will host Washingtonville on October 12.

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album of pictures and game stats.