By Mike Zummo
The Battle of the Valley helmet will remain in Wallkill for another year, but the Valley Central Vikings didn’t make it easy for them to keep it.
The Panthers built an 11-point lead in the second half but held off a late Viking charge to secure a 25-20 victory, winning their third straight Battle of the Valley on Thursday night at Valley Central High School in Montgomery.
“This is great,” Wallkill quarterback Chris Bartolone said. “This is the last year I get to do this thing. I think all of us seniors agree that there’s no better feeling than winning your rivalry game. So, to be able to come out here, especially when a game that was this competitive, and win, it’s an amazing feeling.”
The Panthers’ 11-point lead was their largest of the night, secured after Bartolone hit Aiden Kozireski with a 44-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline.
“He was doubled the whole game and I can tell he was getting frustrated,” Bartolone said. “I kept telling him, ‘they’re going to leave you in single coverage. At some point they have to. They have to respect the back side.’ Once they opened that up and put him one-one-one, we knew it was over for them.”
But not quite.
The Vikings took possession of the ball on their own 37 and marched down the field on the arm of quarterback John Wentink, who completed three passes on the drive, including 15- and 22-yard strikes to Lance Griffin that set up Julian Montrevil on the Panthers’ 3-yard line.
Montrevil answered the bell, plunging into the end zone from three yards out. He scored two of the Vikings’ three touchdowns.
“Julian put in a lot of work this week,” Valley Central coach Andrew LaVallie said. “Last week he was a little limited against Washingtonville. Washingtonville’s defense was pretty stout, and this week we thought we had an opportunity to run the ball against them. Julian ran the ball hard, but our offensive line dominated the game.”
The Vikings were unable to convert a two-point pass, cutting Wallkill’s lead to five points.
But there still was a chance, even though Wallkill’s Michael Cullen, who also fueled the Panthers’ offense from the running back position, recovered the rolling kick, giving the Panthers the ball.
“I was thinking just get on the ground and catch it and win this thing,” Cullen said. “We needed to get back home and that’s it.”
They didn’t get the ball, but the Vikings got the stop they needed, stopping Bartolone on a fourth-down quarterback sneak on the Vikings’ 39.
With 1:39 left in the game, the Vikings had a chance. Wentink got the ball to the Wallkill 41, but two straight interceptions turned the ball back over.
“John had an opportunity,” LaVallie said. “It was great. He just didn’t make the play, but we’re going to look to him to bounce back next week against Monroe.”
Cullen got the Panthers on the board in the first quarter with a touchdown.
“These guys were amazing up front,” Cullen said. “They put in so much work over the offseason. It’s the biggest line I think we’ve ever had. They move people, and I’m excited to see what we can do against teams like Cornwall and Lourdes coming up.”
Valley Central linebacker Aiden White blocked a Wallkill punt near midfield, recovered the loose ball and returned it to the Wallkill 3-yard line, setting up Wentink’s 3-yard touchdown run that tied the game.
“We look at (White) to make plays,” LaVallie said. “He’s a silent warrior, and he does everything for the team, and he doesn’t ask for any accolades.”
The Vikings took the lead on Montrevil’s touchdown run, but Wallkill answered with a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Bartolone for a score. However, Chris Barnegas’ extra point was blocked, and the Vikings took a 14-13 lead into halftime.
“What I was most proud about is that we fought through adversity,” Wallkill coach Joe Pillitteri said. “We went down 14-7 and we fought back. We never stopped fighting and it was great to see for my kids.”
The Panthers took the lead for good in the third quarter with a 14-yard pass from Bartolone to Ryan Rauschenbach. However, the two-point pass failed giving Wallkill their first five-point lead.
“We had a lot to prove,” Bartolone said. “Not to other people because we know there are people saying things. We had to prove a lot to ourselves. We know how good of a team we are, and I think a lot of people are going to see that within the next couple of weeks.”