Kingston beats Pine Bush on Senior Night
KINGSTON, N.Y. >> Kingston High’s Jah-Kobiah “Booba” Cancer is only a junior.
But he wanted to make sure Kingston High’s senior class went out the right way in what could be the last high school football game played at Dietz Memorial Stadium until 2024.
Cancer scored three touchdowns on runs of 3 and 24 yards and a 65-yard pass reception from wide receiver Gabe Mitchell to lead the Tigers to a 43-20 Section 9 Class AA victory over Pine Bush on Friday night.
Although the Tigers (1-3 Class AA, 4-4 overall) could host a crossover game next week, Cancer said Kingston played the game as if it would be the last one before the stadium is shut down for a major overhaul. The construction is expected to start immediately after a modified football game on Nov. 5 and it will not reopen until at least 2024.
Both the junior and senior classes took a final ceremonial lap around the field after the game to mark what could be a historic night.
“The seniors came out tonight and did what they do,” said Cancer, who said his sister Michelle gave him his nickname.
“They’re an important part of the team and they helped us get that big win.”
Pine Bush (0-4, 1-7) threatened to score by driving inside the Tigers’ 20-yard line after receiving the opening kickoff. But senior CJ Harrison picked off a poorly thrown pass by Pine Bush quarterback Danny DeGroodt along the sideline to stop the drive.
On the second play from scrimmage, the 5-foot-8, 155-pound Cancer took a handoff from quarterback John Jones and sprinted 70 yards to the Pine Bush 3. He scored on the next play to make it a 6-0 and Jones ran in the first of his three straight two-point conversions for an early 8-0 Tigers’ lead.
Tigers senior linebacker Nick York, who couldn’t be blocked all night by Pine Bush’s offensive linemen, tackled punter Sevren Kinney after he bobbled a low snap to set the Tigers up at the Bushmen 21 on their next series.
After three plays lost three yards, Kingston faced a fourthand-13. But Cancer took care of that with a 24-yard scoring run to make it 14-0 with 2:44 left in the first quarter. Jones’ conversion run upped the advantage to 16-0.
Pine Bush cut its deficit to 16-8 on a 5-yard TD run from Luke Broadbelt and Joseph Longobardo’s pass reception for a twopoint conversion early in the second quarter. But York took things into his own hands — this time on special teams — by fielding a low kickoff and returning it 70 yards to up Kingston’s lead to 22-8. Another Jones two-point conversion run made it 24-8.
Kingston safety Jaevon Allen stopped another Pine Bush threat late in the half with a pass interception and the Tigers had the ball on their own 35 with less than a minute left. But instead of being conservative and taking a 24-8 lead into the locker room at the half, Kingston dialed up a
trick play with Mitchell getting a pitch from Jones and throwing the ball downfield to Cancer, who outfought a defender and scored on the 65-yard play to give the Tigers a 30-8 halftime lead.
“It was a little underthrown but it was good that he got it off,” Cancer said. “And I was able to catch it.”
Kingston got two more big scoring plays in the third quarter to wrap things up.
Mitchell was on the receiving end of a 49-yard scoring strike from Jones and running back Isaiah Thomas sprinted 57 yards for another TD. Cancer led Kingston with 105 yards on just four carries. Thomas totaled 84 yards on seven carries.
Kingston coach Quintin Johnson said that he quickly turned the page on last week’s loss to Monroe-Woodbury that kept his club out of the playoffs. He reminded the Tigers during the week that they had accomplished some good things during the season and still had the opportunity to get a league win by beating Pine Bush and would claim the school’s first winning record since 2011 with two more wins.
“This potentially could be our last game at Dietz (until 2024),” he said. “I told them that when they tear this turf up let’s make sure they tear it up with a win.”