Football

Green supreme

Eldred survives 19-0 first-quarter deficit to beat LM/R to set up Class D title defense against Chester

By RICHARD A. ROSS

ELDRED, NY — Where is that fat lady?

The corpulent female referred to is the one Yogi Berra once immortalized by his statement, “It ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings.” Someone reported last seeing her singing an Eldred fight song on the hill, overlooking the Yellow Jackets’ field on October 24.

Eldred’s season looked to be over, as it fell behind the Livingston Manor/Roscoe (LM/R) Devilcats 19-0 in the first quarter. A loss to the Devilcats would have sent the black and white tide on to play Chester for the Class D title. But while green usually falls in autumn, Kean’s green machine arose from its own near ashes.

Here are the details from Section Nine’s Phil Dusenbury:

LM/R’s Troy Correa started the wild game off with a 72-yard opening kickoff return. The ensuing short kickoff was then recovered by LM/R and the subsequent drive was capped by a six-yard Correa TD run to make it 13-0. A fumbled punt on the Eldred four set up a score to make it 19-0.

Eldred roared back in the second quarter to take a 22-19 lead at the half. First, Ian Holloran finished a seven-play drive with a seven-yard TD run. Cody Conklin ran for two points after. Next, Joe Counts capped a six-play drive with an eight-yard TD run and Henry ran for two to close the gap to 19-16. Finally, just before halftime, a high snap on an LM/R punt gave the Yellow Jackets the ball at the LM/R 18. Henry scored on a two-yard run and Bobby Warden booted the PAT.

On the opening 10-play drive of the third quarter, Chris Martinez scored on a nine-yard run. The kick failed but Eldred led, 28-19.

The wild fourth quarter had five touchdowns.

A four-yard Martinez run and a two-yard Counts smash, plus a pair of Bobby Worden PATS, made it 42-19. But LM/R wouldn’t give up, and Correa hit Brandon Smith with a 40-yard TD pass. The score was then 42-25.

Worden then iced things with an eight-yard TD run for Eldred. The Devilcats answered with an 18-yard Ross Abbott-to-Claude Davis TD pass. The same duo combined for two PATs.

Freshman Correa ended with 17 rushes for 277 for LM/R.

“That kid is a runner and a half,” said Kean, “and very hard to tackle.”

For the ‘Jackets, Counts carried 15 times for 113 yards as Eldred ended up with 59 rushes for 310 net yards. Martinez was 13 for 64, Henry 11 for 53 and Conklin 8 for 50.

“Our offense came to play tonight,” Kean said, “but our defense needs a little special attention.”

Eldred (1-1 in the division and 4-3 overall) was scheduled to play Onteora Saturday but a series of suspensions, following a brawl between Onteora and Chester, means Eldred will play Liberty instead. LM/R (0-2, 2-6) is slated to play Spackenkill on Saturday.