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Roscoe wins battle of the Blue Devils

Joseph Abraham - Co-editor
Posted 3/29/21

Roscoe 14

Ellenville 6

ELLENVILLE -- Roscoe Football Coach Mike Hill's characterization of Friday's 14-6 road win at Ellenville was simple: “It was a really tough game.”

Hill hoped …

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Roscoe wins battle of the Blue Devils

Posted

Roscoe 14

Ellenville 6

ELLENVILLE -- Roscoe Football Coach Mike Hill's characterization of Friday's 14-6 road win at Ellenville was simple: “It was a really tough game.”

Hill hoped his team would have as much success as the Tri-Valley Bears did in the run game against Ellenville the week prior, but the home team's run defense was staunch.

“Ellenville did a great job,” said Hill. “We had a game plan but they quickly threw that out the window.”

Therefore the contest was going to be a struggle.

While some teams shy away from adversity, that's not the modus operandi (MO) of this Roscoe team which Hill said gained confidence after their 38-20 win over Sullivan West earlier this month.

The seniors, Hill says, remembered having a tough year in 2019.

“They needed that experience from last year,” said Hill. “They needed to struggle. It isn't new to them. They're not afraid of it. It's normal for them to be in a battle.”

The game was tied at six at the half, with Brenden Ryder scoring Roscoe's first points in the second quarter on a one-yard TD run.

The score remained the same until a little over four minutes remaining in the contest when Aaron Steele broke free on a 63-yard run for a Roscoe TD. Following Steele's run, Ryder converted with Case LeRoy for a successful two-point conversion, giving Roscoe the eight-point lead they would not relinquish.

During the game, Roscoe senior KJ Feeney pointed to an armband he wears honoring the late “Coach” Fred Ahart, which Hill said “really pumped the kids up.”

Clearly Ahart was smiling after the Roscoe victory.

Statistically, Roscoe ran for 197 yards on the night, with Steele, Ryder and AJ Ruiz rushing for 86, 52 and 40 yards respectively. Ryder also passed for 43 yards, and Joseph Gould led Roscoe in receiving with 29 yards.

Defensively Connor Gorr and Aaron Steele had 13 and eight tackles respectively for Roscoe.

The 2-0 Roscoe Blue Devils return to action on Saturday at 11 a.m. when they host Fallsburg, in what will be the Comets first game of the year.

SULLIVAN SPORTS REVIEW

O'Neill 20, Liberty 0

The Indians (0-1, 0-1 OCIAA) lost to division rival James I. O'Neill, 20-0, on Friday night in Highland Falls, on the Raiders' brand new turf field.

According to Liberty Coach Joe Franke, the team committed a bunch of costly turnovers and penalties at times when they were driving the field. It was Liberty's first game of the season, and really their first time practicing on a field, spending most of their practice sessions in the gym or in the parking lot. They also had to endure a 10-day quarantine, while their opponents, the Raiders, already had two games under their belt.

Given the circumstances, Franke said, “I'm happy about how it turned out. The defense was excellent and some of our younger players really stepped up in their first varsity action.”

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