The Pine Bush Bushmen got off to a huge start.

They outran their own penalties, marched 80 yards on 12 plays in a drive that chewed nearly 8 minutes off the game clock. Ruben Simpson carried the load, running the ball on 10 of those plays as the drive ended with his 1-yard touchdown run.

Then the Newburgh Free Academy Goldbacks woke up, scoring 21 points each in the second and third quarters, as they handed the Bushmen a 48-13 loss in a Class AA football game on Friday at Lonergan Field in Pine Bush.

“We had a great start, and we were unable to keep it rolling,” Pine Bush coach Rich Ormsby said.

Justin Lassic was at the center of everything for Newburgh, as he scored four touchdowns, three on the ground and one through the air. All three of his rushing touchdowns came in the second quarter.

The Goldbacks bottled him up after the game-opening drive and scored another 21 points in the third quarter to take a 42-7 lead.

“Jaden Christophe is one of our do-it-all players,” Ormsby said. “He can catch, but he can also block. He was fitting inside and Ruben Simpson followed him behind the line. They were motivated. They were excited and it was a good first drive.”

Newburgh’s Nyeir Johnson ran for a 13-yard touchdown run. Lassic caught a 26-yard pass from quarterback Jaiseon Barnwell and Denvyr Herring scored on a 15-yard run.

The defense only made one other mistake. That came with 4:09 left in the third quarter when Connor Amiel connected with Noah Schorling for a 70-yard touchdown pass to cut the Goldbacks’ lead to 42-13. The defense halted the Bushmen in the first half on the strength of three interceptions, two by Michael Chambliss and one by Julian Ortiz.

“Our passing game has been really good,” Ormsby said. “Over the summer, we put in a lot of work. We went to tournaments. We had a lot of success. Sophomore Connor Amiel, filling in for Ryan Curtin, has been really good. He understands all of it. Even just as a sophomore, he gets the timing of it, which is the most important part.”

Newburgh’s Zaire Jacklyn scored the game’s final touchdown with 15 seconds left in the game.

It’s been a rough two weeks for the Bushmen, who ran the gantlet of the top two Class AA teams, losing to Middletown, 28-13, on Oct. 2 and then the Goldbacks. Their two Class AA losses leave them on the outside of the playoff picture looking in but can move into the No. 5 spot if they beat the Kingston Tigers on Friday at Dietz Stadium.

“Those are two of the top teams in our section, maybe in the state,” Ormsby said. “We learned that we can hang for a little while. It just means we have a lot of work to do. We’ve got to keep getting better.”