ELLENVILLE — The Blue Devils secured a home playoff game, grabbing the No. 4 seed in the 8-Man playoffs.

Tri-Valley, who finished No. 5 in playoff seeding, was on the road Friday night with a trip to Pawling in the semifinals on the line.

  Tri-Valley opened the game by recovering an onside kick after deferring to receive in the second half. The Bears capitalized in the first quarter, scoring an early touchdown to take a 6-0 lead. They successfully recovered a second onside kick, but ultimately gave the ball back to Ellenville after being unable to capitalize.

 The Blue Devils punted it back to TV, who began driving near the end of the first quarter. Ellenville sealed the first quarter with an interception, setting up their offense at their own 30 to start the second quarter.

Tri-Valley quickly forced, and fell on, a fumble to start in the red zone of Ellenville. Two plays later, the Bears were able to punch it in for the score, converting the 2-point conversion to take a 14-0 lead.

   After an unsuccessful onside kick attempt from Tri-Valley, Ellenville started right around midfield. After a long, downhill drive by the Blue Devils, they were able to punch it in for the score to make it 14-8.

With time winding down before halftime, Tri-Valley started deep in their own territory after a booming kick from Ellenville down to the TV 15. The Bears efficiently made their way up the field, converting three consecutive first down runs, but were unable to score before halftime as the two teams entered the break in a 14-8 contest.

To start off the second half, Tri-Valley prepared for an onside kick but Ellenville sent another deep kick into TV territory. The Bears, after a three and out, punted to the Ellenville 46. Ellenville quickly drove down to the red zone, scoring and converting the 2-point conversion to take a 16-14 lead.

  After the two teams exchanged punts on their next drives, the Bears started at their own 46. After a crafty drive on offense, the Bears reclaimed the lead on a touchdown run by Josh Fanslau, who also converted the 2-point attempt to take a 22-16 lead. 

With time winding down, the Blue Devils began driving down the field. With a reversal to the outside, Ellenville was able to find the endzone to take a 24-22 lead.

   Disaster struck for Tri-Valley on the ensuing kickoff, as a fumble at their own 17 went into the hands of Ellenville, who took over with just over three minutes to play.

Tri-Valley allowed Ellenville to score, more worried about stopping the 2-point conversion to keep it a one-score game. The Bears successfully halted the attempt, holding Ellenville to a 30-22 lead with 2:46 to play and one timeout.

  The Bears started the next drive on their own 25, and with a long catch-and-run completion, got down to the Ellenville 16. They got down to a first and goal with 48 seconds left in the game, and their second and goal play had just 28 seconds. Finally, on third and goal, as time expired the Bears were able to complete a touchdown pass from Fanslau to Misha Khodakovski to make it 30-28. After two consecutive Ellenville timeouts, the teams finally lined up for a potential game-tying two point conversion, and Ellenville’s defense was able to force an incompletion in the secondary to end the game.

  “That game was an emotional rollercoaster,” Ellenville Coach Dan Cavanagh said. “Kudos to Tri-Valley, they have one of the best defenses in our league. We talked a lot about responding to adversity, and even though we couldn’t get going in the first half, we didn’t give up. It was nice to win on our home field and get revenge from the overtime loss earlier this year, now we get a second chance at Pawling next week.”

  “I’m proud of this team,” Tri-Valley Coach Kevin Crudele said. “A lot of people counted them out, but we battled hard, fought and learned together as a team. 8-Man is a very difficult game to defend, but Coach Dymond does a great job of getting them prepared. Ellenville has a lot of athletes, and they played well tonight.”