Dragon football fans won’t have to wait long to see their team tested by a bona fide opponent. The gridders open their season against Pine Bush, the defending Class AA champion.
Cornwall Coach Marcus Hughes says the Bushmen have good size and like to play smash mouth football. They use a different formation from most of the other schools in Section 9.
What Pine Bush will encounter is a team with a reputation for offense. The Dragons’ Mike White has already passed for more yards than any quarterback in Section 9 history. And Mike has three of his favorite receivers (Chris Bauer, Tyler Peddie and Matt Robinson) still on the roster.
What he doesn’t have is an experienced line providing protection. “We’re going to have to be patient,” Coach Hughes admits. But that doesn’t mean that he’s pessimistic.
He believes that this year (his seventh with the Dragons) he will have more players than ever vying for positions.. “We’re going to be playing a lot of different kids,” he predicts. “Someone may start one week, and maybe not the next. It’s good when you get more kids playing. It’s going to be fun.”
The team didn’t seem to be having much fun on Friday morning, July 19. It was the final conditioning session of the week, with three more weeks to go before the players hit the practice field. The exercises were grueling, and a few players were griping good-naturedly.
The workouts have been going on since January, with a one-week break in July, when the team attended its summer camp at Alfred University. The camp is a good experience. Coach Hughes says that the coaches bond and the players bond. And they get to scrimmage against some of the largest schools in the state.
Cornwall has done well against schools with higher enrollments. During the last three seasons the Dragons have defeated seven double-A opponents in a row. This year the team’s three non-league games will be against Pine Bush, Kingston and FDR.
A Section 9 committee drafts the schedules. While Coach Hughes had no input in who his team would play, he’s happy to be up against tough competition — even if it decreases the odds of his team getting through the regular season without a loss. “I’m not into ‘I’ve got to have a good record,’” he said. “The goals are for the kids to get better and to enjoy playing football.”
Having said that, the coach elaborates. Of course, he always wants to win, but a loss in a non-league game doesn’t affect the team’s seeding in the playoffs.
Cornwall hasn’t lost much under Coach Hughes. Last year’s team, for example, won 11 straight games before being ousted by Burnt Hills in the state semifinals. This year the coach says that his team will be quicker on offense and almost as fast on defense. That’s not a knock on the defenders. Last year’s secondary was exceptional — it included three members of the Dragons’ record-setting relay team, who may have been the three fastest players in the section.
Seven members of last year’s team have committed to play football in college. Fans can read about them on the team’s new website — www.cornwalldragonsfootball.com. On the home page is a clock that’s counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the start of the season.
Coach Hughes is one faculty member who isn’t upset about the summer coming to an end. His last six autumns have been productive. His teams have won five section titles and three regional crowns. “We have good support here,” he says — deflecting any credit from himself. “We have good parents, good fans and good newspaper coverage.”
The last observation is added with a smile.
