Mountaineers rally from 24 down, edge Broome County

The Hudson Valley Mountaineers rallied from an early 24-0 deficit to beat the Broome County Stallions 41-38 Saturday in an independent minor league football game.

The victory over the reigning National Football Alliance AA champions has the Mountaineers now 3-0 on the year.

Juan Rodriguez threw for 342 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions to rally Hudson Valley, which was down 24-0 in the first quarter.

Tyler Peddie had three TD catches, including one after the ball had been batted by a defender. Chris Easter had two touchdown receptions, including a 65-yarder, and Andre Jamison one. Easter finished with 165 receiving yards and 75 on returns. Peddie had 97 yards in catches.

Travis Dutka caught a 2-point conversion pass from Rodriguez and Logan Alexander, who ran for 48 yards Saturday, rushed for a conversion.

“We knew they had a great d-line and we wouldn’t be able to run much, so we had to go to the air and — with our speedy sure-handed receivers — I had confidence we would make a game of it,” Mountaineers offensive coordinator and owner Darrial Kouhout said. “At the end, we overcame the deficit and pulled out the win. I couldn’t be more proud of the entire team.”

Hudson Valley had a difficult time stopping the Stallions’ ground game. Mike Docarmo led the Mountaineer defense with 11 tackles. Lazarus Perez, Jordan Springstead, Rocky Perry each had nine tackles, while Isaiah Berrios, Takem Sanchez, Kenneth Charter and Jamal Johnson Jr. made six apiece. Charter also had an interception.

The Mountaineers play the Tri-State Shields at 2 p.m. Saturday in New Rochelle.