Fallsburg returned to the football field for its first game in almost two years, taking on Ellenville in an eight-man football matchup that ended with the visitors pulling away for a 54-20 victory.

Ellenville established its ground game immediately, marching downfield on its opening possession despite several penalties. Facing fourth down with less than five yards to the end zone, Ellenville powered the ball up the middle for the game’s first touchdown and converted for two points to take an 8-0 lead.

Fallsburg wasted no time answering. On the ensuing kickoff, the Comets broke the return all the way to the end zone for a touchdown. The two-point attempt was unsuccessful, leaving Ellenville ahead 8-6.

Ellenville struck again before the end of the first quarter, breaking a run around the outside for another touchdown to extend the lead to 16-6. Fallsburg recovered Ellenville’s ensuing onside-kick attempt, but the Ellenville defense responded with three consecutive sacks to force a punt.

A 40-yard completion on third down kept Ellenville’s opening drive of the second quarter alive and eventually led to another score, making it 22-6. After Fallsburg turned the ball over on downs, Ellenville went back to the ground, steadily pushing its way downfield before scoring behind a wedge block to extend the advantage to 28-6.

Fallsburg’s special teams provided another spark before halftime. Xavier Lewis returned his second kickoff of the afternoon for a touchdown, and this time the Comets converted the two-point attempt to cut the deficit to 28-14 heading into the second half.

Ellenville quickly regained control after the break. An early touchdown made it 34-14 before a deep completion set up another score, pushing the lead to 42-14 with approximately 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The teams traded defensive stops for much of the remainder of the period, but Ellenville found the end zone once more with about two minutes remaining to carry a 48-14 advantage into the fourth.

Fallsburg continued fighting despite the deficit. The Comets’ defense came up with a strong series featuring multiple sacks with about six minutes remaining, and the offense followed with a touchdown to make it 48-20.

Ellenville, however, answered immediately with a kickoff return for a touchdown of its own, pushing the score to 54-20. With roughly a minute remaining, an Ellenville fumble recovery ended Fallsburg’s final opportunity to add points before the final whistle.

Despite the loss, Fallsburg coach Dominick Scanna said he was encouraged by the effort from a team returning to competition after a lengthy absence.

“After being off about a year and a half these guys fought hard,” Scanna said. “I always look at losses as self-reflection and I need to go back to the drawing board and call better plays next time. But the guys came out and played hard and that’s all you can ask for as a coach.”

Fallsburg will now look to build on its season opener after showing flashes on special teams and continuing to compete throughout all four quarters.