The Wallkill football team saw a 14-0 halftime lead vanish on Saturday afternoon in a 22-21 loss to the Warwick Wildcats at Warwick Valley High School.

“The kids executed very well in the first half,” Wallkill coach Joe Pillitteri said. “Obviously, at the end of the half, td them to go. I thought we came out a little bit flat and a little bit lackluster from what we had done in the first half. That’s on me as well.”

With the Panthers leading by two touchdowns, Warwick’s Johnny Accardo scored from 3 yards out and Latrell Willis ran in the two-point conversion to cut Wallkill’s lead to 14-8.

Then after the Panthers’ next drive stalled on the Warwick 23-yard line, quarterback Wils Siebert hit Ryan Sullivan for a 40-yard touchdown pass when combined with the extra point gave the Wildcats a 15-14 lead.

“They caught us in some looks coverage-wise that we didn’t expect them to get into,” Pillitteri said. “They did some different things. We did our best to adjust to it. The fact is we’ve got to put in the work all the time to be as successful as we can.”

The Panthers retook the lead immediately when Wallkill quarterback Chris Bartolone hit Aidan Kozireski on a 21-yard pass to the Warwick 3-yard line. Kozireski had a clear path to the end zone but slipped on the wet field.

Michael Cullen followed with a three-yard touchdown run to give the Panthers a 21-15 lead.

However, the defense was unable to hold it despite having the Wildcats in a fourth-down situation. However, a one-handed touchdown catch from Latrell Willis gave the Wildcats a 22-21 lead with 1:22 remaining.

Accardo intercepted Bartolone to end the game.
Bartolone scored on a five-yard run to get the Panthers on the board in the first half, and then hit Ryan Rauschenbach for a touchdown to give them a 14-0 halftime lead.

“A lot of things were going well in the first half,” Pillitteri said. “We were physically making things happen up front. We got (Bartolone) into some good looks in the passing game, but obviously, we didn’t get it done in the second half.”

The Panthers have lost three straight games and will face unbeaten Marlboro on Friday before facing the Goshen Gladiator in their final Class A Division II game. They’ll need a win to keep their playoff hopes alive.

“Our kids have got to be motivated in the capacity that they were today all the time,” Pillitteri said. “We have to make sure that we’re working as hard as we possibly can in practice to be as successful as we possibly can.”

Class AA
Valley Central 27, Kingston 14

John Wentink and Julian Montrevil each ran for two touchdowns in the Vikings’ win over Kingston on Friday night at Valley Central High School in Montgomery.

It was the Vikings’ first win of the season, and it pushed the Vikings into fourth place in Class AA, ahead of the Tigers and Pine Bush Bushmen, who the Vikings will host on Friday.

A win will put the Vikings in the playoffs.

Monroe-Woodbury 27
Pine Bush 19

The Pine Bush Bushmen suffered their second Class AA loss of the season when they lost their first home game of the season to the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders on Friday.

Nate Coulanges had 11 carries for 48 yards and scored a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown. Dave Fennessy had 12 rushes for 96 yards and a touchdown and threw for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Marcel Picard and Bryce Coulanges caught touchdown passes.

The Bushmen are tied for fifth in Class AA with three league games remaining. Winning two of the next three games could put the Bushmen in the playoffs.