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Best in show: preamble

Bulldogs' blue-ribbon performance over Roscoe garners Division title

Richard A. Ross
Posted 10/26/21

 

ROSCOE – In the scintillating world of dog shows, or in this case, Dawgs’ shows, the road to the coveted Best in Show title involves ascending through tiers of competition. …

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Best in show: preamble

Bulldogs' blue-ribbon performance over Roscoe garners Division title

Posted
 
ROSCOE – In the scintillating world of dog shows, or in this case, Dawgs’ shows, the road to the coveted Best in Show title involves ascending through tiers of competition. Starting within one’s own group, each contender is assessed for execution, demeanor, style and adjudged for overall superiority. The top finishers move on to the next level, remaining in the running for the coveted Best in Show honors.
 
In the parallel world of Section Nine Eight Man Football, it all starts with league games played within the division. The top three teams make it into the playoffs for a chance to vie for the Holy Grail of football, a Section Nine title.  For the Sullivan West Bulldogs, that meant matchups with Tri-Valley, Fallsburg, Eldred, Ellenville and finally, Roscoe, last year’s Division I champion. 
 
After last week’s valiant comeback against Ellenville, which ended up as their only loss of the season, the Dawgs took defeat in stride. In canine terms, there was no exit with tails between legs. Rather, on display was a purposeful stride forward. Coming into Roscoe, for the final regular season fray, the Dawgs aspired to topple the previously unbeaten-in-league Blue Devils by more than eight points in order to break a potential three-way tie that would exist by dint of identical 4-1 league records among SW, Roscoe and Ellenville. The final Division One seeding hierarchy would then be based upon net points surrendered amongst the three teams. 
 
Rising to the occasion, the aspiring champion Bulldogs proceeded to put on a show that wowed onlookers from start to finish. Like their canine namesakes, they evinced the toughness that defines the breed.  From the opening 79-yard kickoff-returning touchdown by sophomore Jacob Hubert, this Dawg show was a sight to behold. That TD and the subsequent conversion run by senior Gavin Hauschild, afforded SW a lead they would never relinquish. By day’s end, their superior play would lead to a 28-6 victory and their first Division crown since 2014. 
 
Roscoe is a talented team, mentored by the fine coaching of Mike Hill. Even after losing so much talent to graduation, the Blue Devils rose again to the top of the division coming into this fray. With that in mind, the SW coaching staff carefully mapped out a game plan to contend with explosive senior running back Alaniz Ruiz along with the wiles of senior quarterback Anthony Teipelke and his main target, fellow senior Joseph Gould. The feisty Blue Devils wasted no time in deploying that weaponry on their first series with a great run by Ruiz and a TD pass to Gould to close the gap to 8-6. But the Bulldogs hefty line quashed the conversion. That ongoing supremacy at the line of scrimmage continued all afternoon, giving rise to great offensive drives and evincing key stops nixing Roscoe’s attempts to move the ball or to score again. 
 
At the outset, Roscoe won the toss and elected to defer, but Hubert’s score with only 13 seconds gone by in the game proved to be a definitive opening statement. Roscoe responded with a 22-yard strike to Gould with 9:37 remaining and a close encounter seemed destined to unfold. Both teams incurred penalties in this game and both teams turned the ball over, but SW seemed better equipped to overcome such adversity. With 7:11 remaining in the first quarter, Hauschild connected with Justin Grund, who outran defenders with an invigorating TD run. The conversion was stopped, but SW now led 14-6. Both teams got stops. Then a Roscoe fumble was recovered by SW sophomore Jakob Halloran. That afforded the Dawgs the ball, but to no end. The score remained 14-6 at the end of the quarter. Both defenses continued to hold sway until SW sophomore Rally Cruz scored with 1:45 left in the half to make it 20-6. Roscoe stopped the conversion run. At the half SW still led 20-6.
 
Roscoe received to start the third quarter, but Chris Campanelli recovered a Roscoe fumble. Then the Blue Devils intercepted a Hauschild pass as the turnovers began to mount. A sack by Halloran ignited a time-consuming drive by the Westies that extended into the fourth quarter. But the drive stalled. Then Roscoe fumbled again giving the Dawgs yet another possession. Then it was SW that fumbled, and Roscoe recovered in what was becoming a bizarre game of hot potato. Unbelievably, that continued as Cruz picked off a Teipelke pass. A Roscoe encroachment penalty gifted the Dawgs a first down. Hauschild threw a strike to a leaping Jaymes Buddenhagen that advanced the ball to the ten. Cruz bolted in from there to make it 26-6 and Hauschild got the conversion for the ultimate 28-6 margin. Roscoe looked to score late, but a TD run by Teipelke was called back on a holding penalty. Rabid Dawgs got a sack on fourth down and it was all over. 
 
Jubilant Westies leaped, laughed and smiled. Note: Dog show winners are often the product of a great pedigree. For the SW coaching staff, that lineage began with the mentorship afforded by head coach, Ron Bauer. Every one of his assistants including Justin Diehl, John Hauschild, Shane Cruz and Ronj Padu played for Bauer. To be sure, the re-ascension of Sullivan West out of the ashes of recent years is no accident. SW coaches heaped praise upon their team’s efforts. 
 
Roscoe coach Mike Hill graciously commended SW for its dominant play and the quashing of his own game plan. Both teams await the seeding array. The Westies will have a bye in the first round and a home game to follow. Who they will play will depend on whether they are the number one or two seed. They will then vie against either the winners of the three-vs-six matchup, or the four-vs-five encounter. The playoff array will include Division II top-seeded Spackenkill, as well as defending Section 9 champion Pawling and finally Pine Plains.  Sullivan West improved to 5-1 (4-1), while Roscoe fell to 4-3 (4-1). Stayed tuned as the narrowed field of contenders clash before one ultimately emerges into the winner’s circle as the Best in Show.

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