Panthers roll to second straight win

By Mike Zummo
Posted 10/16/19

Buoyed by their thrilling win over previously unbeaten Goshen a week earlier the Wallkill football team rolled into Saugerties High School on Saturday and rolled out with a 47-18 win over the …

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Panthers roll to second straight win

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Buoyed by their thrilling win over previously unbeaten Goshen a week earlier the Wallkill football team rolled into Saugerties High School on Saturday and rolled out with a 47-18 win over the Sawyers.

“That feels great,” said running back Aaron Bennet, who ran over the Sawyers for 199 yards and two touchdowns. “It’s been four years and knowing that our group was the one that could do it. Coach had a lot of faith in us.”

While the Panthers know that they’re in, they don’t know where they’ll land in the final seedings, which will depend on the outcome of Friday’s game between New Paltz and Goshen.

A win by the Gladiators will force a three-way tie at the top of Class A. If New Paltz wins, the Panthers would finish second in the division and could possibly host a home game on Oct. 25.

“I know all these guys have wanted that since the start of the season so to finally get that was amazing,” quarterback Ryan Strobach said.

Strobach had a big day as well, tossing three long touchdown passes. The first went to Elijah Beauvilaire for 65 yards. The second to Romaine Bird for 66 yards and the third to Jack Rauschenbach for 47 yards. He also threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Dederick.

“We knew coming into this game that we could be a deep threat on them,” Strobach said. “I have a lot of trust in my receivers so I knew that if I put it into the right spot, they would go and get it.”

Bennett’s two touchdowns were from 6 and 50 yards out.

“I saw a defense playing hard, but I had to take what I could get,” Bennett said. “We couldn’t do one thing. We couldn’t just go outside, we had to go to the middle too. We have to take whatever they give you.”

Bird also returned a kickoff 76 yards for a touchdown.

“It started really slow,” Wallkill coach Brian Vegliando said.

“The offense picked up and played great. Ryan threw the ball well. The offensive line’s been playing really well. The defensive line made stops when we had to. I’m very happy with the overall team effort.”

Even if Saturday’s win put the Panthers in the playoffs officially, it was the previous week’s 25-21 win over Goshen that changed the tone of the Panthers’ season.

“That was crazy, not only for our team, but Wallkill,” Strobach said. “I could remember during the final seconds of the game when it’s neck and neck, I can see everybody on their feet cheering. It was the biggest student section I had ever seen while I was playing. That was amazing and that really pushed us forward.”

It pushed the Panthers forward into last week’s win over Saugerties and into this week’s game against perennial Class B power, Marlboro, a game which will have no effect on the Panthers’ playoff landing.

But the most important thing the Panthers got from that win?

“It gave us a lot of confidence knowing we could beat a team that was undefeated,” Bennett said. “I remember coaches just saying that was one of the best games they’ve ever had. That gave us a lot of hope. That was the best game I ever played in my life.”