The Pine Bush football team opened its season with a win against Valley Central in early September.

It’s been a rough ride from there, as the Bushmen lost their fourth straight game after getting beaten up by the Newburgh Free Academy Goldbacks, 48-13, on Friday at Thomas Lonergan Field.

The Goldbacks jumped on the Bushmen early, building an early 35-0 lead.

“It was a rough start,” Pine Bush coach Rich Ormsby said. “I think the kids showed a lot of adversity to start and they finished strong. It was good to see them walking off they’re getting better. That’s the key. We’ve had a tough schedule, and we embrace it. We like it.”

Since beating the Vikings on September 9, the Bushmen were beaten by last year’s Section 9 Class A runner-up Cornwall, and last year’s champions, the Minisink Valley Warriors. Then they lost to Section 9 Class AA runner up Monroe-Woodbury before facing Newburgh, not only the Section 9 Class AA champions but also New York State Public Association Class AA semifinalists.

After forcing the Bushmen to punt, the Goldbacks took over on their own 38-yard line, and a 30-yard run by Tajir Walker set up Mason Hoover’s 30-yard touchdown pass to Deondre Johnson. The Goldbacks then turned a bad snap into a two-point conversion, when holder Joseph Alecia scooped up the loose ball and completed a pass to Nakei Johnson to give Newburgh an 8-0 lead.

It was one of two big special teams plays made by Alicea, as after the Goldbacks forced a three-and-out, he returned a punt 53 yards for Newburgh’s second touchdown of the game.

The unit that hadn’t given up a point since the second week of the season recovered a fumble to give the offense a 17-yard field. Walker got himself on the board with a 2-yard touchdown run to give Newburgh a 22-0 lead after the first quarter.

Joe Ponesse, who shares time at quarterback with Hoover, scored on a 5-yard run in the second quarter to give the Goldbacks a 29-0 lead. Hoover completed a second touchdown pass to Johnson to give the Goldbacks a 35-0 lead.

However, the Bushmen started to find a groove at the end of the second quarter when they put together a 7-play, 72-yard drive that ended with Mike DeSena’s 6-yard touchdown run to cut Newburgh’s halftime lead to 35-7, giving the Bushmen something to be happy about.

“I don’t think we had a first down in the first quarter,” Ormsby said. Our best play was having them jump offsides. So, then we had a little bit of momentum. We had something going. We were getting them on the outside and we punched it in.”

Walker ran for a touchdown in the third quarter and Darryl Jackson ran back a fumble for a touchdown to give the Goldbacks a 48-7 lead, but Danny DeGroodt finished the scoring with a late touchdown pass to Connor Stacklum.

“Danny DeGroodt is a really good quarterback,” Ormsby said. “He ran the triple option for most of his career, and now he has learned a totally different offense in practice. Nobody sees practice but us. He’s got a fantastic arm and is a great leader.”

The Bushmen get a break from Class AA play on Friday when they head north to face the Wallkill Panthers in a non-league game.

“We’re still here,” Ormsby said. “Everybody’s still on time or early for practice. Everybody shows up. We have great attitudes, and I think they know that. We’re a team that, from the start, we knew it was going to take some time to get where we need to be. We’re a work-in-progress, but we’re getting closer to it.”