LIVINGSTON MANOR — It took a few games, but the defending 8-man champs are finally in the win column this season as they completed a wire-to-wire win over Livingston Manor/Roscoe on Saturday evening, 36-6.

The Wildcats, who had to cancel their first game and forfeit the second, were at risk of not having a varsity program this season due to dwindling numbers, but were able to pull through and open their season on Saturday at home against Tri-Valley, reintroducing the Livingston Manor Wildcats jerseys for the first time in a decade.

The Wildcats returned the opening kick and quickly made some upfield progress before the Bears defense began pushing them backwards and forcing a punt.

The Bears slowly but surely made their way up the field, needing the rest of the first quarter to punch in a touchdown on the last play of the quarter to take a 6-0 lead.

Livingston Manor started with the ball before the drive stalled, and the Wildcats set up to punt it away, but the Tri-Valley special teams unit blocked the punt, giving the Bears great field position as they started their second drive.

Shortly after, with 8:04 left in the second quarter, the Bears scored again, and with a successful 2-point conversion increased their lead to 14-0.

On the Wildcats’ next drive, they got up to around midfield, ultimately losing a fumble in Tri-Valley territory.

The Bears drove down again, and Josh Fanslau tossed his second passing touchdown of the evening with 1:36 remaining to give the Bears a 22-0 lead before the break.

The Bears started the third quarter with the ball and continued to move the ball up the field methodically, scoring with 9:16 in the quarter to increase their lead to 30-0.

The rest of the third quarter was quiet with neither team finding the end zone and just exchanging field possession.

After another lost fumble by the Livingston Manor offense, Tri-Valley was able to score their final touchdown of the night with 7:51 left in the fourth quarter for their final score of the night.

Livingston Manor got their offense going late, finding the end zone on their final drive of the night just before the final whistle, cutting the lead to 36-6, where it would stand when the final whistle sounded.

“We had a couple injuries that hurt us,” Livingston Manor/Roscoe Coach Mike Hill said. “After a solid first quarter we rolled over a bit. It was a good starting point for the guys, they’ll get better, and we want to keep them healthy. We’re playing and that’s the best part.”

“We’re building every week,” Tri-Valley Coach Kevin Crudele said. “It always makes you nervous going into a game with no film, but we knew what we needed to do. There are still some little tweaks that we have to work on.”

Fanslau finished with 63 rushing yards and a touchdown as well as 124 passing yards and two passing TD’s.

Colin Monell had 51 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground as well as 45 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown.

Misha Khodakovski had 62 receiving yards and a touchdown and Spencer Scanna had 16 rushing yards and a touchdown.