Clan of the great Fall Bears

Tri-Valley’s fall sports award night honors teams and standouts

By RICHARD A. ROSS

GRAHAMSVILLE, NY — In a fitting conclusion to a remarkable season, Tri-Valley athletes, coaches and parents gathered in the school’s state-of-the-art theater on November 14 to celebrate the achievements of the fall season with stirring words, awards and a musical slideshow tribute.

Athletic director Joe Iatauro introduced each coach, who had his or her team come to the stage to receive certificates. Each coach designated several players for special awards. Girls soccer coach Mary Feusner, who just completed her 30th year at the helm of the Lady Bears, talked about meeting goals. The Bears went 11-6-2 and fulfilled their hopes and expectations, including having at least half of their goals be products of assists, qualifying for sectionals and beating Tuxedo in the postseason for the first time after seven prior losses.

Feusner celebrated each player’s efforts and gave special thanks to the team’s 11 seniors. Seniors Rachael Pompeii and Laurel Wilsen were chosen as Co-Most Improved Players (MIP). Sophomore Amanda Martin was designated as the Most Valuable Player (MVP).

Iatauro described this fall as a “history-setting season,” with 237 athletes participating from modified to the varsity level.

Boys soccer coach Becky Piechuta discussed the issue of numbers and urged the student body to help in the recruiting process. This year’s team focused on improvement. Piechuta named Jaxon Denman as the team’s MIP and David McDonald as the MVP.

Iatauro heralded his young boys cross-country team, which won the Division V title this year. Having just coached his 100th season in the school’s legendary running programs, Iatauro celebrated the efforts of senior Nick Denman, the team’s MVP, for his great leadership of the team. Jeremy Kinney was named as the team’s MIP.

The girls cross-country team, while small in number, was huge in accomplishments. They finished fifth at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association state meet in Class C, won Division V for the eighth straight year and were ranked sixth among the state’s 197 Class C teams. The Lady Bears were Section Nine champions and it was the 21st time that Tri-Valley was in states, 19 of those years coached by Elaine Iatauro.

Other highlights included finishing second at Disney and third at the Lackawanna Invitational. Iatauro noted that Tri-Valley is “the winningest small school in state championships.”

Senior Courtney Roosa was chosen as the team’s MVP. Roosa qualified for states five times, was a four-time Division V champion and a two-time Section Nine champion.

Freshman Caroline Bertholf and junior Shannon Hornbeck earned team MIP awards.

Cheerleading coach Janna Warden has been coaching at T-V for 10 years, and has been involved in the sport when she was in seventh grade, 20 years ago.

Warden described this year’s team as “the most talented, dedicated and hard-working” in her memory. She cited their serious work ethic.

Warden named Marissa Ricco and Jessica Vernooy as co-MIP’s. Kristina McKay was chosen for the Spirit Award, Jessica Lee as the team’s Most Outstanding Cheerleader and Lyn Forget as the team’s MVP.

Junior varsity football coaches Joe Porcaro and Scott Gray celebrated the effort of the young Bear gridders.

Head coach John Rusin called the varsity team to the stage and discussed what he termed “a very successful year.” Citing his team’s great effort in the loss against Walton, Rusin felt that the game against “The Orange Crush” was the turning point of the season.

Beating Sullivan West 13-7 on homecoming day was, however, a significant milestone, as it reversed a string of three consecutive losses to the Bulldogs and guaranteed the Bears a return to the Class C title game at Dietz Stadium.

This year, the Bears’ hard work paid off with a dramatic 18-6 win, giving them the Section Nine title. Despite losing to Dobbs Ferry, this year’s probable state champion, Rusin told the audience his team never quit.

The Bears finished 4-0 against Class C teams and 7-4 overall.

Twelve seniors were onboard for the remarkable run and Rusin talked about each one, citing their accomplishments this season.

Kevin Drown averaged 39 yards per reception. He scored four TDs and brought back 22 kick returns. His brother Sean threw a 27-yard TD and averaged 34 yards per punt. Offensive tackle Ed Bonnell incurred only one penalty all year. Nick Cassidy had 11 catches and averaged 12 yards per catch. He made 66 tackles of which 54 were solos.

Quarterback Charlie Edwards had six TDs and passed for 561 yards.

Junior Dan Byrne was selected as Most Improved Offensive Player. He carried the ball 87 times for 529 yards. The highlight of the season was a 63-yard touchdown run in the division title game against Sullivan West.

Mike Mickelson never missed a single practice and had four sacks. Mickelson received the Coaches Award. Tanzeel Khan was a “force to be reckoned with,” said Rusin. He had 50 tackles and three sacks. Khan won the award for Most Improved Defense.

Running back Brendan Musa was named as the Most Outstanding Offensive Player. He ran for 864 yards, a 5.4-yards-per-carry average. He had 128 receiving yards, 11 offensive TDs and two defensive TDs, including the Cable Six Play of the Week in his theft of a ball from Sullivan West’s Dan Figueroa that he ran for a 30-yard score in the title game.

Bo Murphy was the team’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player. “A major disruptive force” is how he was described by other coaches. He had 78 tackles and eight sacks. He was named the title game’s Most Valuable Defensive Player.

Team MVP Garrett Grey recorded 109 tackles, 84 of which were solos. He had six sacks and averaged 6.4 yards per carry as a part-time fullback most useful on third-down conversions.

The evening concluded with a memorable musical slide show put together by this writer.

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album of awards pictures.