SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY—In life, as in un-homogenized milk, cream rises to the top. Midway through the fall season that is certainly the case. In girls soccer, the Eldred Lady Yellow Jackets (7-2, 2-0 OCIAA) warrant an “A” grade thus far, especially behind last week’s triad of wins including a 7-2 win over league rival Chapel Field and 2-0 and 7-1 wins over Class A Port Jervis and Monticello respectively.

Behind the voluminous scoring of Lynzee Kelty and Jordan Lepes, Eldred is on a tear, as they look to defend their Section IX, Class D title and hopefully return to the state Final Four. Kelty is currently the girls Section IX leader with 39 points, comprised of 16 goals and seven assists. In boys soccer, Liberty (6-2-1) avenged an earlier 2-1 loss to rampaging Fallsburg (10-2) by beating the Comets 3-1 in the Van Etten Tournament with goals from Christian Fuentes, Daniel Diaz, and Killian Bloat. It was the third straight year the Indians garnered that honor. The two teams will play again on their last game of the season before the playoffs, where they may indeed meet again. In cross-country at the Tri-Valley Invitational, participated in by Eldred, Livingston Manor, Liberty, T-V and Mineola, it was T-V’s Ian Kurzrock (18:10) and Autumn Bender (23:15) who prevailed. T-V’s girls prevailed in the meet as did the Mineola boys. Eldred’s Kayla Maas (23:42) was second, while in the boys race T-V’s Aidan McHugh (20:04) marshaled third. In football, Sullivan West won by a forfeit as Rensselaer cancelled the game due to injuries sustained in a prior game against Cambridge. That gave the Bulldogs (4-0) a bye week to prepare for their first league tilt, a clash against Millbrook on October 5. The Blazers 3-1 lost by one point to Highland on a late field goal. Meanwhile in other Class C action, Liberty (3-1, 1-0 OCIAA) trounced Tri-Valley 3-1 (0-1 OCIAA) in a league tilt. The Indians created an onsides kick landslide as they recovered a bevy of the short boots to pull away from an early punch-counterpunch affair. They led 34-13 at the half. They got a pair of TD’s from Patrick Fitzpatrick, who rushed for one and caught a pass for another. Other Indians who scored included Isiah Jackson, Brett Fiske, Kevin Morgans and Shane Black. Tri-Valley’s scores were accrued by seniors Justin Swarthout and Jared James. Homecoming ceremonies also honored seniors John Killian, Kainin Justiniano, Andrew Raymond, Joshua Johnson, Michael Glinski and Donovan Flores. Senior Cheerleaders included Brianna Worden, Cheyenne LaPolt and Dorothy Monforte. T-V has a bye week ahead, before traveling to Millbrook. Liberty travels to Spackenkill on October 3. Monticello (2-2) beat those Spartans 48-37 as Sterling Morrison rushed for 135 yards and scored on runs of 25, 38 and 65 yards. Shaun Jackson and Harriel Mangual returned interceptions for TD’s as well. In a key Class D league clash, Livingston Manor (2-2, 1-0 OCIAA) downed host Eldred 19-12 as quarterback Matt Janik fired an 18-yard TD pass to Ocean Heintz with 2:50 left in the game. Manor got TD’s via a 55-yard run by Austin Shaver and a 60-yard prior jaunt by Janik. Eldred looks to even its league record as it travels to winless Pine Plains. Manor plays a non-league game at Pawling. Finally Roscoe/Downsville fell to Deposit/Hancock 27-6. R/D travels to Chester for a league fray on October 2. For ongoing stories visit www.sportsinsightsny.com, and be sure to look in on www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com with a panoply of county superstars. Parents from Sullivan West, Eldred and Tri-Valley, who are interested in having Richard shadow their sons or daughters for the season to provide them with a DVD of outstanding action shots at the end of the season, should e-mail rross@sportsinsightsny.com.