The Newburgh Free Academy football team got off to a good start.

The Goldbacks struck first but the Section 1 champion Carmel Rams struck most often scoring four touchdowns in the second quarter and cruised to a 47-13 win in Saturday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class AA semifinal game at Faller Field in Middletown.

“We got off to a good start,” Newburgh coach Bill Bianco said. “We hit the big pass play. We had a couple of stops. And then, just as time went on, they found some things, got settled in a little bit and made some plays. They’re a good team.”

The big pass play came late in the first quarter when Deondre Johnson caught a deep pass from Newburgh quarterback, Mason Hoover and ran the rest of the way for a 69-yard catch and run to put the Goldbacks up, 7-0.

“They play a lot of Cover 0 man with no help, and you have to be able to take our shots at one-on-one,” Bianco said. “(Hoover) made some decent throws.”

But as soon as the game transitioned from the first to second quarters, things fell apart for the Goldbacks.
Starting with the first play, as Dylan Shields ran the ball 5 yards for a touchdown, tying the game at 7-7 with 11:57 to go in the second quarter.

Then after a three-and-out, a 23-yard keeper by Kevin Dall set up a 22-yard touchdown pass to Nick DiLeo for a 14-7 lead. Another long pass play later in the quarter, set up Dall’s touchdown pass to T.J. Fusco put the Rams up by two touchdowns.

Then, on the Goldbacks’ first play of their next possession, Hoover was ruled to have fumbled the football on the Newburgh 24-yard line and the Rams took over. Dall started with a 22-yard pass to Patrick Kiernan and Josh Massi gave the Rams a 28-7 lead with a 5-yard touchdown run.

Outside of the touchdown pass, it was a tough night for Hoover, who was also intercepted three times.
“He was playing a team going to the state finals; I wouldn’t be surprised if they win next week,” Bianco said.

“They’re the undefeated top team in the state and the weather’s cold. That certainly affects passes. He made some good throws, I’m sure he would take back, but he’s a freshman. He’s trying to do the best job he can. He was playing JV three weeks ago.”

For the second straight week, Newburgh’s starting quarterback, senior Dylan Iorlano suited but, but has been unable to play due to a shoulder separation he suffered during the Section 9 championship game on Nov. 13.

“We’ve been trying to rehab a little bit and do some different things,” Bianco said. “If he could play, it would have been a miracle, but he’s a tough kid. He wanted to play. He was trying to see if he could put his arm up so that hurt us. Honestly, the last two weeks that we won with a freshman playing is a small miracle in itself. He just wasn’t able to go.”

The Rams put up two third-quarter touchdowns – a 52-yard run by Shields and 2-yard run by Nick Rosaforte. Carmel’s Thomas Keating scored a fourth-quarter touchdown for the Rams.

Johnson scored a defensive touchdown, taking the ball from Keating and returning it 30 yards for a touchdown.

“I’m proud of them,” Bianco said. “To play the last two weeks with a freshman quarterback to win the section and win the quarterfinal game is a small miracle. They had a good year. Final Four in New York State is pretty good.”