Dragon fans got a glimpse of the future as the football team defeated FDR 40-20 on Homecoming Night.
In the closing minutes, Jason Bailey took the field and completed a third-down pass to move the chains and run out the clock. The sophomore quarterback, wearing number 99, had just been promoted from the junior varsity.
Before Jason’s debut, Mike White led the Cornwall offense to six touchdowns. The Dragon senior added to his section record with a pair of touchdown tosses to Chris Bauer in the second quarter.
The first came on a crossing pattern, where Chris sped in front of a defender, caught the ball and stepped into the end zone. The second followed a determined pass rush by the Presidents.
As Mike stepped back to throw, a pair of would-be tacklers streaked after him from the blind side. “Back door, back door,” Coach Marcus Hughes shouted in alarm. The Dragon quarterback reacted at the last possible moment. He turned around, reversed directions, and while sprinting toward the side line he connected with Bauer for a 66-yard scoring pass.
The Dragons led from beginning to end. White and his ball carriers got good protection. They were never tackled in the backfield. Kevin Gangemi, benefiting from a series of crushing blocks, picked up 135 yards (unofficially) and two touchdowns on the ground. White and Moiset Santos provided the other scores.
The defense contained the visitors for most of the night, although the Presidents got into the end zone on three long scoring plays. Javohn Hamlet set the tone for the game when he nailed an FDR running back behind the line of scrimmage on the first play of the game. John Roth and Quinn Zsido had sacks; Andres Salgado out-leaped a taller opponent to bat down a few passes, and Erik Jessell blocked an attempted field goal.
Cornwall has a 3-0 league record and a 4-1 mark overall. The Dragons host the Wallkill Panthers on Friday night in a replay of last year’s championship match-up.
