The Newburgh Free Academy Goldbacks needed this.

They led by 21 points at halftime, exploded for 27 more in the third quarter, blowing the Valley Central

Vikings off their own field in a 54-0 victory on Friday night at Valley Central High School in Montgomery, ending a two-game slide.

“This was pretty important,” defensive lineman Stephen Jones said. “We took big losses, but we did come back and show that we tuned up a lot better.”

The Goldbacks had lost their previous two games, getting beaten by the Cornwall Dragons, 36-10, on Sept. 20, and then suffered a 28-14 defeat to the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders on Sept. 27.

They showed from the first play of the game, that last week would be different.

First, the defense held the Vikings to a three-and-out to start the game, forcing a punt that gave the Goldbacks the ball on their own 30-yard line.

After Michael Chambliss, Jr., ran for 13 yards to start the drive, Bruce Montgomery ran straight through the

Vikings’ defense virtually untouched, sprinting 57 yards for the touchdown.

Not even two minutes gone, and the Goldbacks led 7-0.

“I think that was good,” said wide receiver Jayden Hines, who also caught a third-quarter touchdown pass. “I think once we gain momentum, it’s hard to stop us.”

On the Goldbacks’ next drive, Jayden Hines caught a 48-yard pass from Jaiseon Barnwell, Montgomery ran the ball five times, bringing the ball to the Vikings’ 3-yard line. Barnwell finished the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run, giving the Goldbacks a 14-0 lead with 49 seconds left to go in the first.

Montgomery scored on an 8-yard run with 6:33 left in the second quarter.

“The last two weeks we’ve hurt ourselves as far as losing a couple of snaps, a couple of fumbles and interceptions,” Newburgh coach Bill Bianco said. “We stayed away from that stuff tonight. When you take care of the ball, you give yourself an opportunity to stay on schedule and move the chains. That gives you time to pop one.”

Speaking of popping one, Barnwell found Hines wide open for a 63-yard touchdown pass with 9:48 left in the third quarter, starting the explosion.

“I think (chemistry with Barnwell) is going good,” Hines said. “We talk a lot and work on a lot of things and just come together.”

Montgomery then followed with touchdown runs of 35 and 73 yards to give the Goldbacks a 42-0 lead. After a Goldback interception, Timothy Patterson broke loose for an 80-yard touchdown, and the Goldbacks took a 48-0 lead to end the third quarter.

Justin Lassic ran for a 46-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

(Lassic and Patterson) are good players too,” Bianco said. “We’ve got a lot of good running backs, so it’s tough to get them all the ball. But it’s good to know we’ve got quality guys behind (Montgomery). It’s good when they come in, they do what they’re supposed to do. They practice every day, too.”

While the offense was putting up big numbers, the defense was hanging a zero on the Vikings, limiting running back Julian Montrevil to 55 yards and intercepting the Vikings’ Jayden Orozco twice.

“Look at the last two weeks; I didn’t want that to happen again,” Jones said. “The defense didn’t want that to happen again. So, we just came out and tried to be aggressive.”

The games only get bigger for the Goldbacks as they travel to Middletown on Friday night for another key league matchup.

“I think we’re the underdogs right now because everybody thinks we’re just not good anymore,” Hines said.