ELLENVILLE — The path to the playoffs hasn’t been pretty, but the Tri-Valley Bears will be headed to Fallsburg after securing the No. 6 seed.

After back-to-back shutout losses to Sullivan West and Pawling, Tri-Valley closed out their regular season with a non-league game against Ellenville.

Ellenville struck first, which was initially answered by Tri-Valley, but the first Bears touchdown would be the only as the Blue Devils continued to score.

Ellenville seniors Dylan Nero and Jacob Wright combined for 365 rushing yards and six touchdowns in the game.

Tri-Valley intercepted Ellenville’s lone pass attempt, but the Blue Devils’ running duo was more than the Bears could handle.

Josh Fanslau scored Tri-Valley’s first quarter touchdown after efficiently moving down the field to tie the game at six apiece.

Ellenville ended the first quarter with a slow drive down the field and converted on an untouched run to the outside bringing the score to 12-6. 

Early on in the second quarter a Bears’ receiver fumbled a completed pass that Ellenville defenders recovered and returned for a 50+ yard touchdown. 

For Tri-Valley, the rest of the 1st half was plagued by multiple interceptions for the Tri-Valley offense which resulted in two more Ellenville touchdowns. 

Ellenville kept up the pressure coming into the second half with multiple onside kicks, with one resulting in a recovery for Ellenville, and 3 more running touchdowns to end the game with a final score of 46-6. 

Tri-Valley head coach, Kevin Crudele, had this to say after the game, “The turnovers and penalties killed us tonight but I know this team has a ton of potential. We lost 13 guys last year and are rebuilding a lot this year. We’ve seen flashes of that potential, we just need to harness it.”