MONTGOMERY –– The Section IX  8-man Championship game took place on Friday night at James I O’Neill High School. That meant a road trip for the Sullivan West Bulldogs and the Eldred Yellowjackets. Spectators witnessed great offensive display in a highly competitive contest that saw Eldred coming out on top 76 to 60. 

The fireworks started on Eldred’s first possession when Jayson Banach of the Yellowjackets bounced a dive up the middle to the outside and ran it in the remaining 33 yards for a touchdown. On the next play, quarterback Koen McGill ran the ball in to complete the 2-point conversion and giving Eldred an 8–0 lead.

   On what would become the trend for the evening, the Sullivan West offense immediately scored on the second play from scrimmage on a 54-yard run by Alec Hubert. Hubert also ran in the 2-point try, tying the game up at 8 even.

With the following kickoff, the Bulldogs successfully executed an on-sides try; the kicked ball ricocheting off an Eldred player and was recovered by Sullivan West on the Yellowjacket 42. They would eventually score on a gutsy double reverse play, run in by Dylan Lockwood, but their 2-point conversion attempt was broken up.

Eldred’s next drive was all Koen McGill; he had a couple of runs to keep the sticks moving, and also scored; turning a broken play into a touchdown. And though the 2-point try was no good,  the game was tied again at 14.

Sullivan West’s next drive came to an end when a pitch on option play got on the ground, and Eldred recovered the ball on the Bulldog 26. The Yellowjackets scored on a tremendous catch by James Deyermond in the end zone once again giving Eldred the lead.

  But Sullivan West scored again quickly on their patented bubble screen pass to Alec Hubert. The 55-yard touchdown was followed by a successful 2-point try completion to Dylan Lockwood and the Bulldogs took the lead 22–20.

Their lead was short lived though, as Eldred scored on a third and very long, connecting again with Deyermond on a shallow crossing route which he turned into a 65-yard touchdown catch. The 2–point try was no good, but the Yellowjackets had retaken the lead 26–22.

Hubert was responsible for Sullivan West’s next touchdown, carrying the kickoff to the 50-yard line. He then took it all the way on a hard 35-yard run, breaking multiple tackles along the way. The 2-point conversion was good on a scramble by Jesse Milk and the lead again flipped to the Bulldogs.

On the following kickoff Connor Ranaudo took the rock 80 yards, all the way to the house, making it a 34-30 game.

Because of a sack by Eldred’s Orion Schneider, Sullivan West had to punt on their next possession, giving the ball back to Eldred on their 39. Ranaudo struck again, this time on a 61-yard. With McGill’s 

run for the 2-points, good. The Yellowjackets now led 42–30.

     It was the Jesse Milk show on the Bulldogs' next drive; he had a 35-yard run that was a key play, and then scored on a run from the 18, he also converted the 2-point try. Almost all of his runs on that drive seemed to be pass plays that didn’t get a good look, making him pull the ball down and run himself.

Sullivan West tried the on-side kick again, but this time Eldred was ready for it, recovering the ball on the Bulldog 48. Another big run by Ranaudo took the ball to the 13-yard line, where one play later McGill ran it in for the score, bringing the score at the end of the half to 50– 38, Yellowjackets with the advantage. 

The Bulldogs had the ball to start the second half, but ended up getting sacked twice, once by Orion Schneider again, and the second by Luke Potter. That was an adjustment by Eldred, to keep Jesse Milk from running wild.

On Eldred’s next possession McGill has the ball stripped, with Jesse Milk recovering the ball as well as causing the fumble. Sullivan West went back to Hubert, and after runs of first 15 yards, then a 45-yard touchdown run, and the 2-point run, the Bulldogs were fighting back, getting within four, 50 – 46.

The Yellowjackets responded though, scoring again on their next possession on another touchdown pass to Deyermond who held on after taking some big shots on his way into the endzone. The 2-point try was no good, but their lead was extended to 56 – 46.

After a short kick, (Eldred trying to keep the ball away from Hubert) Sullivan West starts their next drive from the 50, and after a great catch by Seamus Johnston down the sideline, they score on another screen to Hubert from the 14 and convert the 2-point try, again on a run by Hubert, cutting the lead to two, 56 – 54.

On another on-sides kick try, the ball went out of bounds, and the Yellowjackets got the ball on the Bulldog 45. After a drive saving catch by Ranaudo, Eldred scores again on the tried-and-true jump pass from McGill to Deyermond, and even though they can’t convert the 2-point try, they show that they’re going to keep responding to Sullivan West’s repeated tries to come back.  

In the third and fourth quarters it was much of the same with each team digging in and scoring touchdowns, but the Yellowjackets held on to a slight edge.

The Bulldogs have no quit in them and scored on their next possession. Hubert ran it in from the 4, but they could not convert their 2-point try and could only cut the lead to ten, 70–60.

Sullivan West started to show the strain and fatigue of constantly chasing Eldred’s Connor Ranaudo again as he ran for another touchdown, a knockout blow for the Bulldogs. Eldred was in the clear at 76-60 as the clock wore down.

After a desperation pass was intercepted by Eldred’s Jayson Banach, the Yellowjackets ran out the clock, and this incredible game came to an end, with a new Section IX Champ – The Eldred Yellowjackets.

Jubilant Eldred head coach Sean McAneney expressed his feelings. “I’m relieved.This was a nail biter...it put so much pressure on our offense...and we put pressure on their offense. They’re a great team; they’re the two-time defending champions for a reason; great players, great coaches. Our kids are great too, they were even better today, they played amazing.”

Sullivan West coach Justin Diehl said quietly, “I can’t remember ever seeing a team score sixty points and losing...incredible. Credit to Eldred, they’re a hell of a football team, that group of seniors is special, we wish them all the best next week. Sean is a great coach; they played a perfect game, one of the best football games I’ve seen. It’s more about hats off to them than us not doing our jobs. We’re going to miss our seniors so much. We just let them know that we love them, that we have their backs, and that we know they’re going to go out and do great things beyond football.”

Coach Ron Bauer added, “They just outplayed us, they have some great players, we thought it could go either way, but we played great, we have nothing to be ashamed of, no regrets, we did a great job. We have guys coming back, we’re going to get ready for next year.”

As the last seconds wound down, the players didn’t wait for the official lineup to speak to each other. They know each other well, and there’s a lot of respect between these teams. They battle to the end, but always remember to recognize the warrior that is in each of them. Last year, it was the Bulldogs' time to raise the crown; this year, it’s the Eldred Yellowjackets' turn.