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Week in review
Fanfare in the forest
Eldred emerges from close fray with memorable win over rival Chester
By RICHARD A. ROSS
CHESTER, NY — Sometimes, we can’t see the forest for the trees. That would seem to be the case as readers are bombarded with pages about the exploits of large school football in newspapers. Not surprisingly, this reporter bore sole witness to yet another chapter in one of Section Nine’s fiercest grid rivalries, namely Eldred vs. Chester, reaffirming the notion that small is indeed large, huge, in fact, given the nature of the rivalry and the intensity of play year after year.
Eldred won this game 13-12, which had been postponed from its Friday Night Lights scheduled outing by the absence of lights as a short rendered the field dark. Eldred’s win came by dint of two 25-yard TD runs by senior Ian Halloran, a fortuitous PAT by Bobby Warden that would be the difference and two critical interceptions by Bryan Henry that staved off would-be Chester scoring drives.
History abounds between the two schools. A glance through the archives will reveal titles that suggest the drama over the past half decade: “Razor’s Edge,” “D-Day,” “Any Given Friday,” “Abiding Faith” and “Safety Squeeze” taken cumulatively will reveal the saga that has led to each team owning the Section Nine twice in alternating fashion since 2004.
For the full telling, check in with sportsinsightsny.com under the title “Mettle in the Mud.”
So herein lies a series of pictures, captions and quotes that may shed some light on one of the biggest games of the year, albeit one played by two of the region’s tiniest schools.
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| Photo by Richard A. Ross, sportsinsightsny.com | |
| Ian Halloran eludes Chester’s Victor Cruz as he scores the game-winning touchdown in the third quarter on a 25-yard run. His first 25-yard TD and Bobby Warden’s PAT gave Eldred a 7-6 lead, which they held at the half. “They’re a hard hitting team, a good team but we fought hard and never gave up,” said the mud-encased Halloran.
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| Photo by Richard A. Ross, sportsinsightsny.com | |
| Bryan Henry’s pair of interceptions staved off defeat against relentless Chester whose quarterback was ejected. Chester was playing without a bevy of injured starters but might have won anyway were it not for Henry’s heroics. “For Eldred, this is the biggest game every year. We really want to beat this team,” he noted.
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| Photo by Richard A. Ross, sportsinsightsny.com | |
| Dylan Kulik led Eldred with 15 tackles and is, by the assessment of defensive coordinator John LiGreci, the team’s best one-on-one tackler. “All week, we practiced really hard. Our entire team deserves the credit. Our defensive coordinator Mr. LiGreci teaches us all we need to know. This is the biggest game of the year so far ’til sectionals,” said Kulik.
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| Photo by Richard A. Ross, sportsinsightsny.com | |
| Eldred Coach Frank Kean didn’t sleep for a week prior to this game, which had been postponed due to an electrical failure on October 16 that nixed the lights. No doubt he slept better after the win. Now his insomnia will return as he looks forward to LMR at Port Jervis and hopefully beyond to the Class D rematch with defending champ Chester. “This is the fifth time we played here and we’re 3-2 here. In every one of our wins here, we started out by giving up the ball early and we were able to come back and get the victory. They’re a power team and these field conditions played right into their hands but we never died,” he said proudly.
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