ELDRED –– The torrential downpours start of Saturday’s game did not dampen the spirit of the Eldred hometown faithfuls who showed up for their season opener against Ellenville. The Eldred Varsity football team rewarded their fans’ loyalty by dominating the visiting squad by a score of 34 to 0.

Scoring on their first possession, on a forty-yard TD catch and run from the duo of QB Koen McGill and wide out Trai Kaufmann, Eldred showed that they were there to win. But Ellenville buckled down defensively on Eldred’s remaining possessions in the first quarter, keeping the score at 6 - 0. 

On Eldred’s first possession of the second quarter, they scored again, on a touchdown catch by TE James Deyermond from the 1-yard line. That capped a long methodical drive, with the key play being a long reception by WR Mason Tice. 

Ellenville’s offense was able to move the ball in the first half, but had their drives halted each time, once by a sack, another from an interception and on the final drive of the first half as time ran out on the clock before the whistle to the half.

The second half saw the field clearly being tilted in Eldred’s direction. The Ellenville squad started to show 

the wear and tear of Eldred’s relentless play. Offensively Ellenville couldn’t get anything going, thwarted again and again by Eldred’s crisp tackling.

 On the other side of the ball Eldred had all aspects of their game working- from their bubble screens to their vertical passing game, and their quarter back draws. They were just too much for Ellenville.

Eldred head coach Sean McAveney said about the win, “It’s a great start. Ellenville is a very good team, very physical, a great opponent to have for your season opener. I’m grateful for them playing us, there’s no other 8-man teams that are ready to play right now.

“I knew we’d have mistakes, but I’m proud of our 

defense, we ended last season with three straight losses because we couldn’t keep the other side from scoring. So, we worked hard over the off season, working on our tackling, on controlling the line of scrimmage, and it’s paying off. We can build on this win and work on getting better every week.” 

Eldred’s top performers were QB Koen McGill who was involved on every point that the Yellowjackets scored. He [McGill] also had a huge interception that stopped an Ellenville scoring drive, to go along with 5 tackles. Tight End James Deyermond also had a big game with a critical first half sack, a TD reception, and a 2-point conversion reception.