Crusaders perfect in win over Cats

CENTRAL VALLEY-Junior quarterback Greg Sullivan ran for two touchdowns and connected on one touchdown pass to lead the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders to a 35-0 non-league victory over the Warwick Wildcats last Friday night. Senior Neil Ingenito returned a punt to Warwick’s 42 to begin the Crusaders’ second possession. Warwick’s senior defensive end Adam Washington sacked Sullivan on first down, but a second-down keeper came to within three yards of moving the chains for the home team. Ingenito then carried the ball to the 30 for another fresh set of downs. Two plays later, Ingenito broke out for 14 yards, moving the pigskin to the 13. From there, junior running back David Landesberg took a Sullivan hand-off all the way in for six points. Senior Anthony Coccaro made the point after kick, giving M-W a 7-0 lead with 4:36 remaining in the first quarter. Warwick junior Tom Montopoli returned the kickoff 16 yards to his own 31. A Crusaders’ personal foul moved the ball to their 49 after Warwick’s senior running back Derek Hrinya completed a carry. Tight end Evan Wyler caught senior quarterback Ryan Darcey’s aerial, bringing the ball to the M-W 37. This is where the defending AA champs clamped down defensively, stopping Hrinya on a three-yard loss, causing a fumble and stopping junior Matt Stranski for no gain after he caught a Darcey shovel pass. Senior defensive tackle Chris Dollbaum made this final stop to end the drive. Senior Joe Stolzenberg’s punt pushed M-W back to its own 12. Sullivan, who gave the Warwick defense fits all night out of the shotgun, immediately got some breathing room with a run to the 25. The first quarter ended three plays later, by which time Ingenito and Sullivan had moved the ball down to the Wildcat 33. The same two progressed the drive to the 21 on ensuing runs, before Sullivan took it all the way in at the 9:51 mark of the second. Coccaro’s extra point made it 14-0. Warwick again got inside the Crusaders’ 40 yard line on the next series with three first downs. The drive stalled, however, and Stolzenberg punted the ball down to the M-W 7. On the first play from scrimmage, Sullivan hit senior Chris Johnson with a 93 yard catch-and-run touchdown. Coccaro again hit the PAT for a 21-0 Crusader lead with 4:49 left in the first half. The Wildcats started the next drive from their own 35 and again used ball-control offense with carries by Hrinya and Stranski to earn three first downs. Hrinya got to the M-W 13 with only four seconds left. An incomplete pass sent the Crusaders into the locker room leading 21-0 at halftime. Sullivan moved his offense to the Warwick 25 on the home team’s first second half series, but the drive ended three plays later when Warwick cornerback, senior John Giannino, intercepted a pass near the goal line. Warwick’s next drive ended on an aiding the ball penalty on fourth down at the M-W 39. Once again, the tough Crusader defense would bend but not break. Senior split end Mike Septh made a catch at the Warwick 48 to begin the next drive. Sullivan deceived the ‘Cats again with a carry to the 33 for a first down, and then got another three plays later on a five-yard carry. Septh began the fourth quarter with an 11-yard burst to make it first and goal from the nine-yard line. Then, at the 11:26 mark, Sullivan followed with his nine-yard score, making it two rushing TDs, one passing TD on the night. Coccaro successfully kicked the PAT, making the score 28-0 Crusaders. Senior running back Stanley Surin finished off the scoring with a five-yard touchdown run with 3:34 left. Coccaro made it 5-for-5 in extra points, bringing the score to 35-0. The Crusaders improve to 5-0 overall and will resume AA-1 action this week in hosting Middletown. Warwick falls to 3-2 overall and hooks up with Washingtonville at home for a big AA-2 showdown.