Ellenville 60

Fallsburg 40

story and photo

by Joseph Abraham

HURLEYVILLE -- Defense was in short supply in Friday's Section 9 Eight-Man Division I league contest between Ellenville (2-2, 2-0 OCIAA) and the host Fallsburg Comets (1-3, 0-2 OCIAA) at Morningside Park in Hurleyville. A total of 100 points were scored as the visitors won 60-40.

Fallsburg couldn't stop Ellenville running back Sean Pettway who had 194 yards of total offense and 4 TDs. Also, Blue Devils' quarterback David McCombs rushed for three touchdowns, passed for two and threw for 113 yards. Casimiro Pomales had 133 yards on the ground and two TDs for Ellenville, and defensively, Noah Ghisolfi had two INTs.

While the Comets gave up 60 points, their offense had a much better night. On the ground Jesse Acevedo had a monster game with 26 carries for 301 yards and five TDs. On the season Acevedo has 899 yards and 12 TDs.

The Blue Devils were able to take advantage of a few Fallsburg turnovers which created separation on the scoreboard.

How things played out

A miscommunication on a route between Fallsburg quarterback Athan Zeno and his receiver resulted in his pass being picked on the Comets' first play from scrimmage. Shortly after, Pettway broke away for his first score and with a two-point conversion, Ellenville went up 8-0.

Acevedo responded on the next drive, first with some trickery, connecting with teammate Raymond Thompson on a flea flicker before finishing off the drive with a rushing TD. Fallsburg missed the 2 PT conversion and were down 8-6.

In the blink of an eye, McCombs found Pettway on a screen pass which he took to the house to increase the Ellenville lead to 14-6.

A little over a minute later, Zeno found Thompson for a TD and Fallsburg cut the deficit to 14-12.

Another big run by Pettway set up a McCombs rushing TD and Ellenville regained an eight-point lead (20-12).

On the next drive, Zeno's pass bounced out of his receiver's hands and the Blue Devils' got another pick. McCombs found Pettway soon after for a score and Ellenville led 26-12 after one.

Pomales got his scoring going with a big rushing TD in the second quarter to put Ellenville up 32-12.

Acevedo bullied his way into the end zone on the next drive and with a successful PAT, Fallsburg was down 32-20.

But on the next play, Pettway exploded for a kick return TD and Ellenville was once again up 20 (40-20), which remained the deficit at halftime.

Both teams tacked on 20 points in the second half as Ellenville earned another big league win.

“I'm proud of my guys for fighting hard as they always do,” Fallsburg Coach Dominick Scanna said. “We will re-focus on fundamentals this bye week and continue getting better.”

Football brief

Highland 20, Liberty 7

The Indians (2-2, 0-1 OCIAA) fell on the road in a big league game against Highland on Friday night. The hometown Huskies won 20-7. Troy Willis had an INT for Liberty.