By Ted Waddell
GRAHAMSVILLE — October 25, 2005 – Tri-Valley senior running back Danny Knox had quite a day for himself on Saturday as the Bears upset the visiting Sullivan West Bulldogs 20-17 in overtime on a rain-soaked Grahamsville gridiron.
Knox ran for 125 yards and scored a couple of touchdowns as T-V defeated SW in a key Section IX Class C football game. In addition, Knox recorded the final tackle of the game. He knocked down SW’s Steve Daley at the 3-yard line on a fourth down and goal situation in OT as the Bulldogs eschewed an attempt for a tying field goal and tried to score a TD to win the game.
“It felt good, it was the best feeling in the world,” said Knox of his touchdown-stopping tackle at near the goal line.
Meanwhile, the Knox family helped fill up the stands, as his grandparents, mother, sister and brother were on hand to root for the 17-year- old senior and his teammates.
George Knox, Danny’s grandfather, graduated from “The Home of the Bears” in 1958 and participated in just about every boys’ sport offered in those days: track, baseball, basketball and football.
“I was the quarterback, and we only had about 20 boys in high school,” he recalled. “I have a lot of memories about Tri-Valley.”
When his future wife Rose Ann, a graduate of the Class of ‘59 attended T-V, girls only had intramural sports.
“I think it’s wonderful,” said the former high school cheerleader of watching her grandson hammer out the yards on Saturday on the rain-slicked field.
In the opening frame, SW grabbed the early lead on a field goal.
But at 9:26 in the second period, Knox scored on a 1-yard TD run. The PAT kick put the Bears up 7-3.
Going into the half, SW took a 10-7 lead. Brett Youmans blocked a T-V punt, giving SW (5-3, 1-1 Class C) possession at the Bears’ 1-yard line. Senior running back Jimmy Erlwein took it over the line for the touchdown.
On the opening play of the second half, Knox raced 68 yards into paydirt at 11:42. The PAT kick cleared the bar, giving T-V (5-3, 1-0 Class C) a 14-10 lead with 11:42 left in the third quarter.
Midway through the frame, SW recovered a Bears’ fumble on a fourth down situation. At 2:47, Daley reached the end zone and a successful PAT allowed the Bulldogs to take a 17-14 advantage.
With 11:12 remaining in the fourth quarter, T-V’s James Connolly nailed a 29-yard field goal at 11:12, a boot that bounced off the crossbar before taking a lucky backflip to tie the score at 17-17.
With the game clock running out, the Bears clawed a Bulldogs’ drive on a fourth and short yardage situation. T-V then took over possession with 1:55 remaining near their own 20-yard line.
The SW defense held, giving the offense one last chance to win the game in regulation. At the 32-second mark, SW attempted a couple of razzle dazzle plays, but Moloney was sacked. Garigliano attempted a pass to Knox at :06, but it misfired and the game went into OT.
Each team had a first-and-10 at the opponent’s 20-yard line, with four downs to earn another first down or kick a field goal or score a TD. Connolly booted a field goal to give the Bears a 20-17 lead.
Then it was the Bulldogs turn to have the football and Coach Ron Bauer made a gutsy call. He decided to forget the field goal, and go for the win with a touchdown.
As Moloney handed it off to Daley, the fullback tried to vault over the line but was hauled back to earth by Knox. And then the Bears erupted in cheers of jubilation as the downcast Bulldogs slumped in despair, being forced to endure the gut-wrenching loss.
“That’s what champions do, they go for the win,” T-V Coach Dave Viglione said of Bauer’s decision to forego a field goal attempt and go for the victory.
“It was a gutsy, gutsy call… and our kids came up big today,” he added.
Knox paced the Bears’ offense and he had plenty of help from his teammates. Fellow running back Ryan VanLieu carried the ball four times for 18 yards.
Quarterback Joe Garigliano completed 9-of-15 passes for 125 yards. Knox caught four of those passes for 40 yards, while Jim Walsh hauled in four passes and gained 75 yards.
T-V, the defending Section IX Class C champion, can clinch the Class C regular season title and earn a spot in the Class C championship game with a victory over host Pine Plains this Friday night.