By Nathan Mayberg
ELDRED — October 19, 2004 – The Eldred Yellowjackets trounced visiting Webutuck 69-0 on Saturday in a Section IX Class D football game.
The Yellowjackets are hoping that the victory and wins in their last two games of the season will help propel them to Class D title game at Dietz Stadium in Kingston.
Offense-wise, this was the Kyle Schneider show. The senior running back ran for 229 yards and five touchdowns on 17 carries. One of those touchdowns was the result of a fumble recovery initiated by Yellowjacket junior defensive standout George Fountain.
The Yellowjackets shot out of the cannon at breakneck speed, scoring in the first minute of the game.
The first drive of the game came after a 20-yard kickoff return by senior Tim Hallock. Schneider followed up that play with a 35-yard run. Sophomore quarterback Nick McCormick continued to develop a solid passing repertoire, as he converted a 25-yard touchdown pass to J.T. Vogt.
Webutuck (0-7, 0-4 Class D) was offered no shot at a response, as the Eldred defense swarmed over the Warriers run game.
The Eldred “D” forced Webutuck to punt after three plays. On the ensuing drive, the Yellowjackets unleashed their potent running attack on a young and inexperienced team.
Schneider opened up with a 17- yard run. He then ran 40 yards for a touchdown.
Webutuck attempted to respond once again with yards on the ground, but to no avail. For the fourth straight time, their offense was denied a first down.
From that point on, the Warriers attempted fewer running plays throughout.
However, their passing game did not work out either. Fountain menaced Webutuck quarterback Mike McGee throughout the first half, infiltrating past their offensive line numerous times.
The Yellowjackets pressed on with their seemingly unstoppable running game, sharing the wealth with junior back Jonathan Counts, who proved that his team has a viable second option to run. Counts had a large gain of 21 yards before McCormick sent a perfect pass to junior Patrick Kean for the third touchdown of the first quarter.
On defense, Eldred (4-3, 2-1 Class D) was an unrelenting wall of steel. Jeremy DeForge sacked McGee on the next possession. To add insult to injury, McGee was picked off by Vogt on the very next play. Vogt returned the interception for a touchdown, which gave Eldred a 28-0 advantage with 4:14 left in the opening quarter.
Andrew Durant showed promise for the developing Warriers club. He was able to return kickoffs for an average of about 15 yards on the day. However, that was all his team’s offense could muster.
On the next Warriers’ possession, Vogt made another cunning interception and returned the ball for 16 yards. Schneider finished off the possession with a 13-yard touchdown run.
Brian Daboul was another active Yellowjacket defensive player. He hassled Webutuck players in their own backfield, including a near sack of McGee in the first quarter. McGee displayed some talent as he avoided the tackle and completed a 15-yard pass.
But on the next play, Eldred’s Corey Proscia recover a fumble and ran 29 yards to score the Yellowjackets’ sixth touchdown of the first quarter.
The Warriers did not give up, even though they began the second quarter down 41-0. However, they might have been tempted after the quarter began with a 26-yard interception return by Kean. It wasn’t long before Schneider ran for a 4-yard touchdown.
Just when one thought they may have seen enough, Schneider made jaws drop by literally running through the opposing defense. On two consecutive plays in the second quarter, he broke through multiple tackles for a combined gain of 30 yards. McCormick himself ran for 27 yards on that drive. Counts picked up 24 additional yards.
The second half bared witness to one of the most dramatic plays of the game, as Fountain chased McGee 28 yards behind the line of scrimmage before knocking him down and causing a fumble that Schneider recovered for a touchdown.
Despite the wishes of their fans, the Warriers’ day did not improve. With the score, 55-0, McGee was picked off once again, this time by Walter Kreidel. The junior returned the interception for a 28-yard gain. Shortly thereafter, Schneider jumped into the end zone for his fourth TD of the afternoon.
At that point, Eldred replaced its defensive starters.
McGee was sacked by rising defensive star Hilton Johnson. The sophomore later tackled a Webutuck running back for a loss of 7 yards and recovered a fumble to establish himself as a serious defensive force.
The Yellowjackets should have a lot of quick legs for years to come, as freshman running back Tom Compasso scored on a 22-yard touchdown run. Freshman Chip Leader showed off his play-reading talent, as he intercepted a pass on one of the final plays of the game.
After the contest, Eldred Coach Frank Kean repeated again and again that he took no joy in such an uneven affair. He said he had been on the receiving end of such games, and did not take any pleasure in winning such a match. Several of Eldred’s touchdowns were the result of turnovers, he pointed out.
Kean made no bones about how good he thinks Schneider is.
“He is one of the best runners in Section IX,” the veteran coach said.
Schneider’s play was that more impressive considering the back is returning off of a rebuilt knee and torn ACL from last year. He has amassed approximately 1,144 yards this season, Kean noted.
Kean also took time to laud his offensive line, which provided “very good” blocking. He said that Fountain, Hallock, Kreidel, Proscia and John Adams deserved to be complimented.
The coach was not oblivious to the play of Johnson either.
“He wants to start, he is hungry,” Kean said. “I want hungry players.”
Webutuck Coach Doug Winslow commended Eldred as a “well- trained, classy group of kids.”
Winslow said his team, which is in its first year on the varsity level, was slowly improving.
“We thought Eldred was a strong team,” he said.
Winslow added that he believes such games against quality teams will help enhance the play of his own squad.