LAKE HUNTINGTON AND GRAHAMSVILLE –– “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

So noted Winston Churchill, emphasizing the true rewards born of perseverance and courage. It is those attributes that the seniors on the Sullivan West and Tri-Valley football teams have evinced over their careers, which in some cases, have spanned six years of devoted contributions to the sport.

As Churchill so aptly pointed out, neither success nor failure need be a permanent reality if one can marshal the fortitude to go on. This weekend for the Sullivan West seniors and their younger cohorts, success continued apace with a 52-0 overpowering win over Eldred. But the Bulldogs understand that such success is anything but final. Their aspiration is to garner the Section Nine Eight-Man Football championship, and as a group, they are putting their success to date in the rearview mirror as they look to face the coming weeks in a division that is looking increasingly competitive.

For the Tri-Valley Bears, the failure to win either of their league games thus far, including this week’s 26-8 loss to Ellenville, will demand renewed faith in the other part of Churchill’s maxim, “failure is not fatal.” If anything, the losses should summon an even greater effort given that this team has not a trace of quit in its collective psyche. Regarding both teams, senior leadership will be key to keep the keel steady and the compass pointing northward towards their stated objectives. That said, win or lose, giving one’s best in terms of effort and dedication will augur a lifelong victory for the valiant. Those rewards will replay themselves in all of life’s venues for warriors who left it all out on the field.

Undefeated Bulldogs cruise to victory over Eldred

Sullivan West 52, Eldred 0

For the rampaging Sullivan West Bulldogs, senior night lauding elder statesmen, Tarrell Spencer, Mike Roth, James McElroy, Ryan Joyce-Turner, Gavin Hauschild, Justin Grund and Chris Campanelli, began with an unprecedented photo shoot of the entire team and their parents, dubbed by organizer Dawn Hauschild as, “Our Football Boys of Fall.” That collective unity has been clearly demonstrated to date with a total team effort and cohesiveness which was once again on display against a somewhat short-handed, but hard-fighting Eldred team that found itself cornered in a kennel with a rabid foe. The Bulldogs’ 52-0 victory, their second league win, was a mismatch between a program struggling to rekindle itself and one that has finally come into its own. The details of the game hardly warrant a play-by-play narrative. Suffice it to say that the Westies racked up 301 yards on 21 carries and scored via Touchdowns from Justin Grund (2) which he abetted with four extra points, Gavin Hauschild (2), Jaymes Buddenhagen, Rally Cruz, Tarrell Spencer and Jacob Hubert. The Dawgs led 20-0 at the end of the first quarter and 33-0 at the half. Freely inserting all of their reserves, they sought to hold down the score, but the second half yielded 19 more points nonetheless. Several of the Bulldogs and coaches scouted the T-V vs. Ellenville clash as they will play Ellenville in two weeks in what figures to be a clash with riveting playoff ramifications. Next week they host Fallsburg. The Comets lost to Roscoe this week, another contender the Westies will have to wrangle with.

Bears marshal little traction in league loss to Ellenville

Ellenville 26, Tri-Valley 8

For the adoring and loyal Tri-Valley fans, made up of friends, parents and members of the community, the beautiful afternoon and the pre-game tribute to seniors Gary Clearwater, Brian Kelly, David Allison, Colin Pavese, Ethan Mentnech, Andrew Cox, Doug Frey and Vanya Khodakovski, the forthcoming game against a winless Ellenville team was a hoped-for rebound from a stinging loss to Sullivan West a week ago. But the Ellenville squad that was shut out by Roscoe a week ago was re-armed with the return of missing players and fired up to get back in the hunt, which they did with their 26-8 win. Credit to the Bears’ defense which got some great goal-line stops, most notably at the end of the first half. Luck figured into Ellenville’s prospects for success with a tipped pass that went for a TD and a hook and ladder play that went for another. Their defense, however, was virtually impenetrable until T-V senior Brian Kelly ripped off another of his patented long TD runs to avoid the shutout. Dylan Poley then exploded into the endzone for the conversion. Like the SW/Eldred fray, this game lacked that edge-of-your-seat drama.

Coach Kevin Crudele expressed his dismay. “Last week we were able to move the ball against Sullivan West, but our defense couldn’t stop them. This week our defense stepped up and our offense was ineffective. We cut down on our penalties, but we’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said.