The Dragons were wrapping up a 40-0 victory over New Paltz, when an official came to the sidelines with a question. “How does Cornwall keep finding these quarterbacks?” he wanted to know.
He was referring to Jason Bailey, who completed his first 13 passes of the game. On one of them, Kobie Thomas seemed to float through the air before catching the ball in the corner of the end zone.
The Dragons did well in all aspects of the game. “No one gets past us,” a Cornwall defender remarked after he and his teammates had forced the Huguenots to punt. The comment could be mistaken for bragging, but it was actually a statement of fact. The defenders limited the opposition to three first downs.
Andres Salgado batted away three passes that appeared to be on target. Ryan Vizethann made a key stop on a kickoff return that could have resulted in a touchdown.
There were no turnovers in the game. The Huguenots never fumbled the ball away. But once their punter was tackled in the backfield, and once Quinn Zsido deflected a punt and the ball landed a few yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
With Eric Growney having leg problems, Matt Masterson took over the place kicking in the second quarter and booted four extra points in a row. The line opened some good holes for Kevin Gangemi, but once on fourth down he had to do all the work himself. He was caught behind the line of scrimmage, but he wrestled himself free and gained seven yards.
It was the last home game of the season. The crowd cheered for the seniors, and were exceptionally loud when big number 99, Emmanuel Woolley, ran onto the field.
Coach Mike Connolly was pleased with his team’s performance, but still concerned about the future. “Our offense and defense looked very sharp,” he said. “But there are still things we need to improve. We need to be playing our best football these next few weeks”
Cornwall plays in Poughkeepsie at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 17.
SCORING
C: Gangemi 2-yard run. Kick low. (6-0, 1Q)
C: Thomas 7-yard pass from Bailey. Kick low (12-0, 1Q)
C: Robinson 20-yard pass from Bailey. Kick good (19-0, 2Q)
C: Peddie 23-yard pass from Bailey. Kick good (26-0, 2Q)
C: Robinson one-yard run. Kck good (33-0, 3Q)
C: Gangemi five-yard run. Kick good (40-0, 4Q)
STATISTICS
Touchdowns: Gangemi 2, Robinson 2, Peddie, Thomas. Extra points: Masterson 4. First downs: Gangemi 6, Thomas 4, Reilly 3, Robinson 3, O’Flaherty 2, Bailey, Krafft, Pavia, Peddie.
Passing: Bailey 20 completions in 26 attempts for 286 yards and 3 touchdowns. Receiving: Robinson 7 catches for 114 yards, Thomas 6 for 86, Reilly 3 for 48, Peddie 2 for 30, Krafft 1 for 10, Gangemi 1 for -2. Rushing: Gangemi 23 carries for 126 yards, Pavia 5 for 13, O’Flaherty 3 for 30, Bailey 3 for 14, Parker 2 for 0, Thomas 1 for 5, Robinson 1 for 1.
Sack: Margiotta and Masterson
