Over a decade of dominance, the Marlboro football team has racked up dozens of memorable wins, and heading into last Friday night’s home game against Cornwall, a victory over the defending Class A state champions had the potential to top them all. Alas, the Dukes came tantalizingly close in a hard-hitting 28-21 loss to the Dragons in a contest that went down to the final possession at Dennis Burkett Field.

Marlboro (2-1) had hoped to avenge last September’s 16-6 road loss to the Dragons (3-0), and while on Friday the Dukes became the only team to finish within a touchdown of Cornwall in the regular season in the past two years, the team was not satisfied to come up just short in a game that was tied heading into the final eight minutes. “Cornwall is a phenomenal team,” Marlboro head coach Brian Beck said. “They’re the real deal. They’re number one for a reason and around here we don’t believe in moral victories. By no means was this the outcome we wanted. We prepared all week long with the mentality that we were going to beat those guys. If we play that game ten times around, I believe we take five of them. A ball here or there and that’s our game. But credit to them. Phenomenal coaching staff, phenomenal players. Especially all-state players in (Aidan) Semo and (Amin) Woods. They did what all-state players are supposed to do by grinding it out and winning the game for their team.”
The Dukes made a statement against Cornwall early, as they ate up more than nine minutes off the clock on the game’s first possession with a pounding running attack. When sophomore running back Elijah Williams (70 yards rushing on 13 carries) rammed his way into the end zone for a two-yard score with 2:52 remaining in the first, Marlboro had a 7-0 lead.

Led by the deadly one-two punch of sophomore quarterback Semo (12-24, 208 yards passing, 3 TDs, 1 INT) and senior running back Woods (123 yards rushing on 25 carries), the Dragons quickly responded, as Woods tied the game at 7-7 just nine seconds into the second quarter by powering in for a one-yard touchdown run.

After a pass from Marlboro senior quarterback Christian Diorio (6-10, 70 yards passing, 1 INT) was picked off by Cornwall senior Michael Alfieri in a highlight reel grab on the Dragons’ 10-yard line, Semo connected with Woods on a 46-yard TD reception to give Cornwall a 14-7 lead with 7:27 left in the half.

Marlboro would fight back, however, as senior running back C.J. Faircloth dove into the end zone for a two-yard score to tie the game at 14-14 with 5:36 remaining in the second, and the game was knotted up heading into the half.

Semo showed off his laser arm in the third quarter, throwing a bomb down the sidelines that was corralled by senior receiver Louis Francese for a 20-yard gain, and on the next play Francese made a diving catch in the end zone for a 15-yard reception to give the Dragons a 21-14 advantage at the 7:29 mark of the third quarter.

Once again Marlboro would battle back, evening the score at 21-21 when senior running back Armani Banton blasted his way into the end zone for a four-yard score with 2:44 left in the third.

After forcing Cornwall to punt early in the fourth, Marlboro took possession on their own 27-yard line with 9:54 remaining in an even contest. But a three and out for the Dukes on the ensuing possession proved costly, and the Dragons made them pay when Semo lofted a ball into the corner of the end zone that was hauled in by Francese for a 15-yard TD reception to give Cornwall a 28-21 lead with 6:02 left in the game.

When Marlboro subsequently faced a fourth and four on their own 22-yard line with 3:58 remaining, Beck chose to punt the ball back to Cornwall. While the Dukes defense was able to prevent the Dragons from scoring, Marlboro got the ball back with only 18.2 seconds remaining, and backed up to their own 28-yard line. The Dukes got four plays off but the game ended with Banton being tackled on the Marlboro 30-yard line as time expired. “I trust my team,” Beck said of the decision to punt. “I trust my boys. We had three timeouts in our back pocket. We’re not going to battle it right there, we’re going to punt it and we got the ball back like we thought we would. We came up a little bit short there on a couple of plays at the end. But again, credit to Cornwall. They’re a phenomenal team.”

With Cornwall in the rearview mirror, the Dukes will now commence league play on Friday night when they host Red Hook, as the road to a third consecutive Section 9, Class B championship truly begins. “We came up a little bit shy, but we’re going to get back at it and get ready for our divisional play,” Beck said. “Red Hook is back in town, so we have to make sure we’re sharp and ready to go. The Marlboro Dukes don’t back down from anything and we’re ready to roll now.”