Marlboro's season ends with loss to Pleasantville
Pleasantville defense stifles Dukes in second half en route to win in state quarterfinals
The Dukes' hopes for a state championship were dashed by Pleasantville's 33-22 win in the Class B quarterfinals.
After a wild first half in which 41 points were scored, it was Pleasantville’s defense that turned things around Friday night, shutting out Marlboro High in the second half and derailing the Iron Dukes’ quest of a state championship.
The Section 1 champion Panthers rallied from a 22-12 deficit and defeated Marlboro 33-22 in a Class B quarterfinal game.
That ended the (9-1) Dukes’ season and sent Pleasantville to a date next Saturday afternoon against defending state champion Glens Falls at Middletown’s Faller Field. Glen Falls avoided an upset bid and held on to defeat Gouverneur 28-26 Friday.
Jack Howe threw four touchdown passes, including two to Jack Minerva, to lead the (10-1) Panthers.
Sam Mongelli spearheaded Marlboro’s offense, rushing for two touchdowns, throwing for one and also kicking a field goal. He accounted for 207 yards in the first half (113 passing, 94 rushing).
Mongelli’s incredible play with 3:54 left in the first half where he broke four tackles, reversed field twice to elude a sack and found John Perugino wide open for a 72-yard TD pass gave the Dukes a 22-12 advantage.
Howe, however, immediately countered with a 22-yard scoring pass to Minerva with 1:07 before intermission to close the gap to 22-19.
Marlboro, which scored on its first four possessions of the game, couldn’t get close to the end zone in the final half.
Pleasantville took the secondhalf kickoff and Howe eventually put his team ahead to stay on a 28-yard strike to Declan McDermott.
The Dukes were stopped on their next drive when, with Phil DeSantis at quarterback, McDermott intercepted a deep pass at the Panther 10. A Howe TD pass was nullified by a penalty, but the ensuing punt pinned Marlboro deep in its own end of the field.
Marlboro went three-andout and a partially blocked punt led to the Panthers starting on the Dukes’ 38. A goal-line stand forced a fourth-and-4 on the 8 and Pleasantville chose to go for it. Howe rolled right and threw to Minerva in the corner of the end zone for a critical TD with 7:28 left.
Marlboro droved to the Panther 36 when all-out blitzes sealed its fate. Middle linebacker Nick Salzarulo sacked Mongelli for a 10-yard loss. Defensive end Cullen Dell then had a strip-sack with Minerva recovering. Pleasantville ran out the clock from there to clinch the win.
The Dukes dominated the first quarter. They went 70 yards on five plays and scored on Mongelli’s 1-yard plunge. After John Pe-
rugino’s interception, Marlboro went 85 yards on nine plays and went up 13-0 on Mongelli’s 13-yard run.
Jared Wilens got Pleasantville
back into the game on his leaping 27-yard TD catch early in the second quarter.
Giovanni Frisenda’s 68yard
return on the ensuing kickoff had the Dukes at the Panther 10, but they couldn’t punch it in and settled for Mongelli’s 25-yard field goal.
Howe raced 54 yards on Pleasantville’s next drive, setting up Charlie McPhee’s 6-yard TD to close the gap to 16-12.