Football

Final destination

Eldred tunes up for Class D final with win over Liberty; Indians close season of missed opportunities

By RICHARD A. ROSS

ELDRED, NY — Like two ships passing in the night, Eldred and Liberty played their unscheduled regular-season coda on November 1, preparing for diverging paths in the week to come.

The non-league Eldred 37-8 victory left one to wonder why one team finds itself vying to defend its title, while the other exits a season of disappointment and missed opportunities.

For Eldred, a team that found the will to survive its most daunting challenge of the year against LM/R to earn a berth to defend its Class D title on November 7, this game was a prelude to what the Yellow Jackets hope will be yet another historic Section Nine finale against, who else, Chester.

The elusive opportunity to play a postseason game was not for Liberty this year. Following its stunning 6-2 season a year ago, the Indians departure at 2-7 leaves coach Jim O’Connor and his noble tribe to ponder what might have been.

A year ago, Liberty defeated powerful Eldred 15-14 as Brandon Tompkins blocked a late field goal. Consider what a difference a year has made.

Eldred (5-3) will enter the glorious confines of Faller Field in Middletown to take on its nemesis, while Liberty finds itself on the outside looking in again, thinking about three games, any of which might have turned tits season northward.

Losing Ryan VanLieu in the season opener against Delhi was the first stroke of misfortune. His absence was a major factor in the Indians’ week-two 26-13 loss to Sullivan West.

That game, which was one play away from a season-changing upset, was the tightest one Sullivan West faced all year. Liberty’s defeat at Chester the following week added insult to injury as the Indians squandered their advantage by dint of miscue after miscue.

Even after losing to Tri-Valley, Ellenville and still winless, Liberty got back in the mix with a win over Pine Plains. Then, nursing a 20-7 lead over Millbrook heading into the third quarter, the Indians were poised for a dramatic reversal of fortune. A win by 10 points over the Blazers would have catapulted Liberty into the final playoff spot by virtue of its subsequent win over Spackenkill, but as O’Connor describes it, “we just melted down,” and Millbrook went on to win that game and make the postseason.

Missing Ivan Rivera hurt, too. “You just can’t lose two of your best players and expect to win,” said O’Connor.

This game began as Eldred junior Dave Mellan suffered an ankle injury on the opening kickoff. Nevertheless, Eldred quickly set the tone as Steven Combs intercepted a Chris Lake pass and, two plays later, Cody Conklin scored on a one-yard dive that had Eldred leading 6-0 at 8:00. Bobby Warden’s PAT failed.

Liberty’s Jordan Merklin had a nice return and the advance was furthered by a completed pass to Brandon Tompkins and an Eldred late hit. But two plays later, Eldred’s Christian Martinez stole the ball in the Liberty backfield for a key turnover. Soon thereafter, Conklin registered his second TD at 2:31 on a 20-yard run.

A two-point conversion pass to Combs from Bryan Henry made it 14-0. Lake completed a nice pass to Steve Hewlett and runs by Akeem Granum and Connor Hinton advanced the pigskin as the quarter ended. Then, Lake was injured and had to come out for the remainder of the game. Tompkins took over at QB.

Another Liberty fumble was recovered by Martinez, this time at the Liberty 26. Eldred added to its lead with a 15-yard TD run by Joe Counts at 9:40 to make it 20-0. Another conversion pass to Combs widened the gap at 22-0.

Hinton’s powerful return gave Liberty good field position again. He and Granum ran it well. Liberty scored on a square-out pass to senior Tony Hernandez at 3:17. Tompkins ran in the two-point conversion to make it 22-8.

Halloran’s return set up Eldred’s late-scoring drive. Henry scored with seven seconds remaining in the half, running it in from the six-yard line to make it 28-8. Halloran scored on the conversion and Eldred took a 30-8 lead into halftime.

Eldred received to start the second half and drove the ball as far as the one-yard line, but Liberty held Eldred out as the fourth quarter began.

Soon Liberty was forced to punt. The short kick only made it to the 12, giving Eldred an easy chance to add to its lead. Bobby Warden carried it in from the one to make it 36-8. He ended his PAT drought as his kick finally sailed through the uprights to make it 37-8.

From there out, Eldred coach Frank Kean subbed in his bench players. He allowed his seniors one last chance but a holding penalty marred that opportunity.

Kean was grateful to Liberty for playing the game. “This gave us a chance to tune up for the game against Chester. Last year, we had a bye and that hurt us,” he said.

O’Connor praised his team’s efforts and mulled over the lost opportunities of the season. This was the last game for seniors Mark Bertram, Tyler Bossert, Nelson Gabriel, Tony Hernandez, Steve Hewlett, Connor Hinton, Chris Lake, John Maxwell, Wilbur Ramirez and, of course, for the injured Ryan VanLieu.

O’Connor will look to the strong leadership of Brandon Tompkins to anchor next year’s squad. A downcast Hinton walked to the bus, still trying to figure out what went wrong. For the senior who played his heart out and never quit, this ending was painful.

Next up for Hinton is basketball.

As for the Yellow Jackets, hope springs eternal that by late Friday night they will hold that trophy aloft and carry their beloved coach on their shoulders one more time.

Chester scouted this game and clearly has other ideas.

Stay tuned.

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album of photos.