Tri-Valley 28

Ellenville 14

GRAHAMSVILLE -- Youth, inexperience, a sputtering lack of early offense, a new quarterback in sophomore Austin Hartman taking over for the two-time Sullivan County Democrat Player of the Year Keegan Streimer: all factors auguring a struggle in T-V's opener. That uphill climb seemed even more to be the case playing Ellenville, a team that has had their number, having most recently defeated the Bears in their attempted back-to-back Section 9 quest last year in the championship game.

One might have presumed that Tri-Valley was in for a rough day in their non-league opener against the Blue Devils. Guess again. One cannot say enough about the defensive coaching of guru Jon Allison.

Shouting out formations and cues all day long, his defensive packages did an excellent job of containing Ellenville's obvious athleticism, in Saturday's 28-14 non-league home win.

The Blue Devils were coming off a close league victory over Dover. This game, however, was seen by both coaches more like a scrimmage since non-league tilts don't count in the standings. They'll meet again in two weeks to see which one gets the two-point prize to abet their ascendance in the division.

Tri-Valley scored its only first half points on a seven-yard TD run by Austin Hartman. He ran in the conversion for the 8-0 lead with 7:44 to go in the first quarter. In the second quarter Ellenville's David Wright took it in from the three, but the conversion failed giving the Bears an 8-6 lead at the half.

Enter the Hartman show. Let's get something straight from the outset. Size is touted as a big factor in football. Certainly it does weigh-in (pun intended) but Hartman's diminutive size belies his toughness. The kid is fierce on both sides of the ball. To wit, he would go on to rush for two more touchdowns and throw for a fourth score via a 35-yard pass to Colin Mickelson.

The Bears led 16-6 after three quarters and then added an additional 12 points in the final frame, outscoring Ellenville 12-8 to garner the 14-point non-league win.

“We got the monkey off our back,” quipped head coach Tri-Valley Coach Greg Botsford smiling across at Allison. Complimenting his players on their upbeat start to the season, Botsford was quick to caution his players that the real work begins next week as they prepare for a road league game against rival Sullivan West.

The Bears did lose two fumbles but they won the turnover game recovering three cough ups by the Blue Devils. They amassed 207 yards of offense on 40 plays averaging 5.2 yards per play.

Hartman was one-for-three passing with his TD toss to Mickelson. T-V rushed 37 times for 172 yards. They accrued 10 first downs. On the defensive side of the ball Hartman led with 12 tackles and six assists. He was strongly abetted by Dylan Poley who notched nine tackles and ten assists. Brian Kelly weighed in with seven tackles and seven assists.

It's back to work this coming week for the Bears who will review film of the Roscoe upset over Sullivan West.

T-V Assistant coach Kevin Crudele will break down the film and give each player a packet which will outline all of SW's plays that they run out of their formations. Playing the Bulldogs, especially in Lake Huntington will be a formidable challenge but in this shortened season with its new method of determining which division team will play in the Sectional championship, every game is the equivalent of a playoff game.

For the Westies, another loss could be fatal and they know that. Tune in to the Sullivan County Democrat for the kind of insightful lowdown and crisp action shots as the gridiron season, now underway in what is officially spring, goes forward.