By Mike Zummo
There will be one more football game at Newburgh Free Academy this season.
The Goldbacks ensured they will play a home game on Friday when they ended the regular season with a 28-0 win over the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders last Saturday to clinch the second seed in the upcoming Section 9 Class AA playoffs.
“It’s easier for you to play in your own environment and harder for the team to come through,” said Xavier Sill, who led the Goldbacks’ defense with two interceptions. “It’s hard to beat a team twice, but we have the chance to play at home.”
Not only twice, but the Goldbacks will host the Crusaders for the second straight week. The Goldbacks’ victory gave the regular season championship to the Middletown Middies, who lost to the Crusaders, 24-20, on September 30, and beat the Goldbacks, 28-17 on October 6.
The Crusaders earned the third seed after the loss. A win would have given them the Class AA league title.
While happy to get a home game next week, the focus was on winning the game and letting the playoffs fall as they may.
“We talked to them about it,” Newburgh coach Bill Bianco said. “They knew exactly how the playoffs work, and that whole thing, but we didn’t harp on it a lot. We knew we were going to play these guys this week, and we knew the reality was there was a chance we were going to see them again.”
The Goldbacks got off to a fast start, stopping the Crusaders on their first drive, finished off their first drive with a 10-yard touchdown run by Tajir Walker to give them a 7-0 lead.
The Goldbacks offense settled into a lull from there, but the defense kept the Crusaders in check. Monroe-Woodbury moved into Newburgh territory late in the second quarter, but Matt Patterson made the first of four Newburgh interceptions.
After the Goldbacks were forced to punt, Sill made the first of his two interceptions to stop a second Monroe-Woodbury drive. He made his second interception early in the third quarter.
“He’s a captain for us,” Bianco said. “He’s a three-year guy who’s been on varsity for a while. He helps us call our defensive coverages and sets our fronts and stuff like that. So, he’s important to us. I’m not surprised he made those plays. He’s a steady performer and steady practice player, too.”
The defense stopped the Crusaders on their own 40-yard line and the Goldbacks shifted to runs by quarterback Mason Hoover, which – with the help of a pass interference penalty against the Crusaders – brought the Goldbacks to the Monroe-Woodbury 4.
Walker finished off the drive with a 4-yard run.
Nakei Johnson made the Goldbacks’ fourth interception late in the third quarter to set up Bruce Montgomery’s seven-yard touchdown run.
“Turnovers hurt them,” Bianco said. “We’ve had those games this year, too, where it hurt us. Obviously, that’s something they can correct. It is what it is.”
Sophomore Daijon Johnson put the icing on the cake with a 23-yard touchdown with about 1:30 to go in the game.
Now, it’s onto the playoffs, and the Goldbacks don’t expect their next meeting against the Crusaders to play the same way.
“It’s definitely not easy (seeing the same team in two straight weeks),” Sill said. “They’ll be a different team next week, and we will, too.”