New Paltz High plays Port Jervis for Section 9 title
Game starts at 6 p.m. tonight at James I. O'Neill High
HIGHLAND FALLS, N.Y. >> New Paltz High is the last local football team left playing. And, if the Huguenots want to continue their 2022 postseason run, they’ll need to beat three-time defending Section 9 Class B champion Port Jervis for a second time on Friday night.
New Paltz (7-3) will face Port Jervis (9-1) at 6 p.m. in a Veterans Day matchup that is fittingly being held just down the road from the U.S. Military Academy, at James I. O’Neill High School.
At stake is the Class B championship and a chance to compete for a state title. New Paltz is seeking its first Section 9 football title since 2016.
After opening the season with lopsided nonleague losses to Our Lady of Lourdes (50-13) and Burke Catholic (49-15), New Paltz didn’t appear to be a title contender. But as the season wore on, it became clear that Class A Our Lady of Lourdes and Class C Burke Catholic were pretty good teams. In fact, both are playing in Section 9 championship games in their respective classes this weekend.
Though New Paltz rebounded to beat Marlboro (20-16), Liberty (24-0) and Rondout Valley (31-8) after the tough start, the Hugies then took a step back with a 35-30 loss at home to Red Hook.
It wasn’t until New Paltz upset Port Jervis 30-28 on Oct. 21 on the road that the Hugies looked like they might have something going on. New Paltz earned the right to face the Raiders in Friday’s title game by avenging the loss to Red Hook by a convincing 33-13 margin in one of the Class B semifinals last Saturday. Port Jervis advanced by blanking Marlboro 27-0.
The New York State Sportswriters Association has begun to take notice of New Paltz, ranking it No. 28 in its latest Class B poll. Port Jervis, which was ranked as high as No. 6 in the state before its loss to New Paltz, is currently No. 19.
Senior quarterback Tony Drewnowski scored five touchdowns for New Paltz in the win over Red Hook. He rushed for 152 yards on 12 carries and passed for 116 yards.
Junior running back Justin Coiteux had 118 yards on 22 carries in the playoff win over Red Hook. Pierce Lutz, who has returned after missing some games with an injury, hauled in seven passes for 106 yards.
Drewnowski expects a tough battle vs. Port Jervis, which had its 18-game
winning streak over Section 9 Class B teams snapped by New Paltz.
“Port Jervis is a really great well-coached team and they have great players,” Drewnowski said.
“We just have to execute. Coach (Kyle Jansen) is going to give us a game plan and we have to lock in and practice.”
In his first year at the helm, Jansen has revived a program that lost the 2020 season to the pandemic and finished 2-7 last season.
Port Jervis is led by quarterback Logan Morris and talented receivers Jacob Balmos and Calvin Crews. Morris has thrown for 1,285 yards and 18 touchdowns. That total is for just eight games as Red Hook and Rondout Valley forfeited their games to Port Jervis.
“They have phenomenal skill players, so we need to find a way to shut them down,” Jansen said.