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Monday, September 25
2005 Season Highlights
Photos
Sunday, December 4
Town proud of its champs
Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders' state title unites the community
By Steve Israel Times Herald-Record sisrael@th-record.com
Photos from the parade
Monroe Kevin Conlan knows the drill all too well:
Up in the dark of an Orange County dawn at 5 a.m. Drive to work in the city. Back home to Highland Mills at 7:30. The pace of life is so fast, you don't even notice a new house on your block or a new neighbor.
But you do notice when your football team wins the state championship, like the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders did last week. You see that the entire region is proud that you're the first Class AA school in Section 9 history to win a state football title. And you remember what matters.
"With all that commuting, you lose a connection to the community," Conlan says. "The kids made us realize what's important."
Yesterday, the kids brought a town together just like they've done all week in this town where Jaguar sedans suddenly sported purple Monroe-Woodbury pompoms.
On a day so cold and windy you could see the vapor from your breath float away, a thousand folks turned out for the Crusaders victory celebration.
They cheered when the Monroe Police Department blared sirens on Lake Street. They shouted when the Mombasha Fire Department truck blasted its horn. But the crowd decked out with purple scarves, hats and jackets saved their loudest hollers for the guys who gave them the most prestigious high-school football championship in the state: The coaches, led by head coach Pat D'Aliso in their convertibles, and the team, standing on a flatbed truck pulled by a shiny red Dodge 4X4 pickup truck.
"The best team in New York," said the hand made sign on Amy's L.A. Beauty Salon.
As that team rolled past more shops with signs like "MW 2005 Champs Way to Go," folks stopped shivering.
"Suddenly, it's not so cold anymore," said Terry Cappola, whose son James is a defensive back on the team.
In this fast-growing town in the fastest growing county in the state, a football team put life in perspective.
"You see the spirit of the kids, and you know what's important," said Maureen Lia. "It's not development. It's not politics. It's the fire department. The school. It's bringing everyone together."
As the champs rolled into Smith Clove Park, hundreds followed, walking on streets and lawns. As they stood in front of a stage and soaked in congratulations from the coaches, the mayor and the sheriff's department, one woman put the day in perspective.
Michele Septh, whose son Mike plays split end, gets up at 5 a.m. every day to drive to work in Rockland County. She gets home as late as 9:30 p.m.
"We all work hard, but this," she said, gesturing to the team, the crowd and her community, "makes it all worthwhile."
Times Herald-Record football all-stars
Monday, December 19
Sullivan emerges as a star for state champion M-W
By Kevin Witt Times Herald-Record kwitt@th-record.com
A strange thing happened to Greg Sullivan while playing in a recent basketball game. He received an emotional greeting that four months ago he never would have inspired.
He was booed and booed loudly.
The game was played at North Rockland, the stands packed with folks whose Carrier Dome plans were spoiled by Sullivan a few weeks back.
On that chilly November night in Kingston, Sullivan put North Rockland's football season on ice. He threw a touchdown pass and ran for a touchdown in Monroe-Woodbury's 28-0 victory in a state Class AA semifinal.
That was the appetizer. The main course came a week later, when Sullivan threw three touchdown passes as Monroe-Woodbury beat Webster Thomas 32-10 to capture the state title.
Sullivan is the Sunday Record player of the year after a season even he never could have imagined.
His final stats are phenomenal: 1,455 yards passing and 19 touchdowns, along with 1,017 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns. So don't be surprised if Sullivan is soon named the state Class AA player of the year.
All this from a 16-year-old junior who played defensive back as a sophomore.
Four months ago few outside his own locker room even knew his name.
"Teachers come up to me that I never thought knew who I was," Sullivan said. "Same with kids. My mother teaches at the elementary school, and the kids had me come in and they interviewed me. Then they wanted my autograph. Can you believe it?"
Such is our society, Monroe-Woodbury coach Pat D'Aliso said.
"You might have 20 people come out to a Veteran's Day parade," D'Aliso said. "But 2,000,000 will come out for the Yankees. We put our athletes on a pedestal.
"It's a lot for a 16-year-old kid, but Greg and all the kids showed physically, mentally and socially that they could handle the attention."
Except for more self-confidence, Sullivan said none of this has changed him. He still plans to referee and umpire youth basketball and baseball games, and volunteer with a Pop Warner football team.
Thoughts of a college football career have entered his mind since the win over North Rockland. Monroe-Woodbury has never produced a Division I-A player.
Sullivan is 6-foot-2, weighs 175 pounds and has plenty of time to get bigger. He is just as solid in the classroom, where he says he carries a 94 average.
He's still a team guy, despite all the attention always thrust on the quarterback. That's the way his parents raised him, which is why nothing needed to be said when attention started coming in waves.
"He doesn't even like all the attention," said his father, Jim.
Sullivan gave up baseball last spring so he could concentrate on learning Monroe-Woodbury's new spread offense. For years, the team won with the run-first, pass-seldom option.
But D'Aliso knew what he had in Sullivan, who played scout team quarterback for him as a sophomore. So they began working on this season last November.
What followed was an undefeated season in which Monroe-Woodbury and Sullivan had few problems.
"Where he was with all this at the end of the season," D'Aliso said, "I didn't expect to be there until like the fifth game next year, and that's with all the offseason stuff until then. That says so much about him."
Greg Sullivan file
Personal
Age: 16
Education: Monroe-Woodbury junior
Family: Parents, Caroline and Jim; brother, Keith, 18.
Career highlights
2005: Led Monroe-Woodbury to the first Class AA state title in school history. He completed 66-of-110 passes for 1,455 yards with 19 touchdowns and four interceptions. He also had 1,017 yards rushing on just 141 carries (7.2 yards per carry), with 12 touchdowns.
2004: Was a starting defensive back on the varsity as a sophomore. Monroe-Woodbury won the Section 9 Class AA title, but lost in the state semifinals.
Fast facts
Sullivan is the third Monroe-Woodbury player to be named Sunday Record player of the year, joining Dave Hall (1992) and J.C. Jones (1989). ... He is the first quarterback to win since James I. O'Neill's Jonathan Logan in 2001. ... Sullivan is the first junior to win the award since Ellenville's Walter Moseley in 1981.
Players of the Year
Year Player School
2005 Greg Sullivan Monroe-Woodbury
2004 Trevor Pedrick Wallkill
2003 Joe Williams Newburgh
2002 George Thomas Liv. Manor
2001 Jonathan Logan James I. O'Neill
2000 Brandon Sebald Rondout Valley
1999 Chris Rogers Red Hook
1998 Fred Riullano Delaware Valley
1997 Tyrone Howard Newburgh
1996 Keith Heinemann Highland
1995 Dermal Brown Marlboro
1994 Matt Buddenhagen Del. Valley
1993 Lamark Logan Ellenville
1992 Dave Hall Monroe-Woodbury
1991 Carl Peterson Warwick
1990 Eric Blanton Warwick
1989 J.C. Jones Monroe-Woodbury
1988 B.J. Pease Red Hook
1987 Phil Driscoll New Paltz
1986 Rene Biddings Liberty
1985 Charles Wilkerson Port Jervis
1984 Bruce Miller Warwick
1983 Scott Sullivan Port Jervis
1982 Walter Moseley Ellenville
1981 Walter Moseley Ellenville
1980 Franklyn Farace Port Jervis
1979 Dan Railey Cornwall
1978 Rick Rottier Cornwall
1977 Rick Farace Port Jervis
1976 George Thomas Wallkill
1975 Scott Taylor Port Jervis
1974 Jim Merriken Red Hook
1973 Dan Gore Port Jervis
1972 Tom Redmond Minisink Valley
1971 Leroy Campbell James I. O'Neill
1970 Ralph Petrillo Newburgh
1969 Joe Strickland Newburgh
1968 Dennis Simmons Port Jervis
1967 Jose Guadalupe Warwick
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NYSSWA 2005 All-State Football Team | Class AA
First team-offense
E Sean Burke, St. Anthony-CHSFL-11, sr.
E Mike Septh, Monroe-Woodbury-9, sr.
L Greg Olsen, Poly Prep-NYC, sr.
L William Strano, Bellport-11, sr.
L Bryan Wortmann, Monroe-Woodbury-9, sr.
L John Elliott, East Meadow-8, jr.
QB Greg Sullivan, Monroe-Woodbury-9, jr.
RB Kevin Collier, Churchville-Chili-5, sr.
RB Jihad Morris, Newburgh Free-9, sr.
RB Riedrick Alceus, North Rockland-1, sr.
QB Naaman Roosevelt, Buffalo St. Joe-CHSFL, sr.
First-team defense
E McKenzie Mathaws, Syracuse CBA-3, sr.
E Parker Cantey, South Shore-NYC, sr.
L John Ferrara, Monsignor Farrell-NYC, sr.
L Peter Bittner, Williamsville North-6, sr.
L Chris Dollbaum, Monroe-Woodbury-9, sr.
LB Luke DeLuca, Buffalo St. Joe-CHSFL, sr.
LB Blair Bines, William Floyd-11, sr.
LB Steve Schwicke, Bellport-11, se.
HB Neil Ingenito, Monroe-Woodbury-9, sr.
HB Dan Sheenan, John Jay-1, sr.
S Mike Williams, Buffalo Riverside-6, sr.
Second-team offense
E Marquis Kirkland, Syracuse Henninger-3, jr.
E Rob Gronkowski, Williamsville North-6, jr.
L Sanjin Tunovic, Union-Endicott-4, sr.
L Hassan Radoncic, Bronx JFK-NYC, sr.
L Chris Costello, John Jay-1, sr.
E Dan Halayko, Niskayuna-2. sr.
QB Isaac Bailey, Fayetteville-Manlius-3, sr.
RB Ricky Manigat, Baldwin-8, sr.
RB Colin Simmons, Fayetteville-Manlius-3, sr.
RB Salih Banks, Shenendehowa-2, sr.
QB Chris Eanuzel, St. Anthony-CHSFL, sr.
Second-team defense
E Deni Odofin, Union-Endicott-4, sr.
E Scott Sicko, Troy LaSalle-2, sr.
L Imer Bauta, Poly Prep-NYC, sr.
L Matt Caternolo, Webster Thomas-5, sr.
L Torrian Martin, Mt. St. Michael-NYC, sr.
E Jason Krakowski, Kingston-9, sr.
LB Greg Hadley, Syracuse CBA-3, sr.
LB Andy Episcopo, Webster Thomas-5, sr.
LB Sean Moran, Orchard Park-6, sr.
HB Ron Fulton, Orchard Park-6, sr.
S Stefan Gage, Syracuse Henninger-3, jr.
Third-team offense
E Aaron Weaver, Baldwin-8, sr.
E Matt Kinnan, Syracuse CBA-3, sr.
L Nick Wiggins, Shenendehowa-2, sr.
L Mark Callahan, Syracuse CBA-3, sr.
L Chris Anderson, Fayetteville-Manlius-3, sr.
E Nick Marino, Webster Thomas-5, sr.
QB Robbie Brown, Webster Thomas-5, jr.
RB Antwaun Johnson, Cicero-North Syracuse-3, sr.
RB Chris Johnson, Monroe-Woodbury-9, sr.
RB Jason Dent, Bellport-11, sr.
QB Mike Paulus, Syracuse-CBA-3, sr.
Third-team defense
E J.B. Monu, Pittsford-5, sr.
K Dennis Avdic, Utica Proctor-3, sr.
L Matt Francois, New Rochelle-1, sr.
L Gary Moore, Webster Schroeder-5, sr.
L Owen Fraser, Newburgh Free-9, jr.
LB Andre Cirino, Susan Wagner-NYC, sr.
LB John-Kevin Dolce, St. Anthony-CHSFL, sr.
LB Ryder Bohlander, John Jay-1, jr.
LB John Lawrence, Baldwinsville-3, sr.
HB Greg Dixon, Yonkers Gorton-1, sr.
S Cedic Odita, Rochester East-5, sr.
See Post-Season Awards for All-Section and All-League winners
Saturday, December 10
The sweet taste of victory
State Sen. William J. Larkin Jr. shared the spoils of victory with players and staff at Monroe-Woodbury High School this past Monday. He won a bushel of apples in a wager with a colleague because of the Crusaders state championship victory. From left to right, Acting School Superintendent John Canzoneri, Larkin, football captains Chris Dollbaum, Neil Ingenito, Chris Johnson, Coach Pat DAliso and High School Principal Aldo Filippone. (Photo by Bob Quinn)
Max Preps Top 100
Webster Thomas Headline News
Monday, November 28
Dome Sweet Dome
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M-W's dream football season
 They were the team that had an improbably good season - 12-0 in a year everyone said they'd spend regrouping after graduation robbed them of some key players. And they just kept winning, taking the team all the way to the state final this past Sunday. Along the way, they rallied an entire town behind them. There were signs of support hanging at local businesses. Handshakes and back-slaps for players wherever they went.
That might've been enough to make their story a good one. Local team makes good, goes farther than ever before in its quest for a state title. After all, Monroe-Woodbury is a Section 9 school, and no Section 9 school had ever won the Class AA championship - the title that includes bragging rights for being the best team in the state - before. But, like all good Cinderella stories, this one had a fairy-tale ending, to The Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders took home their first-ever state championship, steamrolling Webster Thomas 32-10.
So kudos to coach Pat D'Aliso and his boys for having a dream, keeping it alive, getting others to believe in it and, ultimately, making it come true. You did us all proud.
Sunday, December 18
Stepping back pays off
Tragedy prompts D'Aliso to change
By Keith Goldberg Times Herald-Record kgoldberg@th-record.com
They're in the mail, arriving just in time for Christmas.
A set of football instruction videotapes, about $500 worth.
"Wait until my wife sees the credit card bill," Pat D'Aliso says.
It hasn't even been a month since his Monroe-Woodbury team walked out of the Carrier Dome in Syracuse with the Class AA football state title.
Yet D'Aliso, the Sunday Record Football Coach of the Year, is already studying, planning, preparing for next season.
He does it because he wants to coaching football has been his calling since he graduated from SUNY Cortland nearly 30 years ago.
He does it because he has to.
To not do it means D'Aliso is left with downtime "that's not a good thing," he says.
Downtime which is inevitably, agonizingly spent thinking about the son who is no longer here.
Patrick D'Aliso would have been 18 right now. He died in May 2004.
Pat D'Aliso's voice softens when he talks about his son. His sentences are filled with pauses.
He doesn't like to talk about the past 19 months. Except this:
"Coaching the past two years has really helped me get through the tragedy of (losing) my son."
And this: "For some reason, it's a savior. My most peaceful times are when I'm working on football or working with my kids."
D'Aliso, 50, has thrown himself more into football these past two years than he ever did in the previous 27 years he's been a coach.
Like this past Easter, when D'Aliso and his assistant coach and close friend Bernie Connolly took a vacation to the Dominican Republic with their wives.
While the women hit the water, the two men sat on the beach. Connolly read four books. D'Aliso read playbooks.
Yes, football is more important to D'Aliso now. And yet it's not.
In years past, the Crusaders used go to a camp upstate every summer. It was a way to get away from the distractions of family, girlfriends, and just concentrate on football.
There haven't been any trips the past two years "Pat said, 'We can't do this, I gotta be with my family,' " Connolly says.
D'Aliso doesn't know how many career wins he has. He can't tell you his players' stats without looking them up.
He doesn't care. They're just numbers to him.
"It's not about what you thought it was about," D'Aliso says. "I learned that the hard way.
"It's about people, that's all it's going to be about."
The fact the past two years have been the most successful in the program's history is an irony which isn't lost on him.
And D'Aliso could easily look back fondly on leading the Crusaders to an undefeated season, or becoming the first Section 9 team to win a Class AA state title.
Instead, he'll remember watching a school district composed of so many distinct communities rally around his team.
Fun?
Fun was watching his players have fun on the field, players he's coached from boys into young men.
Neil Ingenito is one of those young men. The senior played for D'Aliso for three years, but the two go back further than that.
D'Aliso was Ingenito's health teacher as a freshman. Ingenito has known D'Aliso since his Pop Warner days. He knew his son.
"He's impacted my life in so many ways ... I don't even know what to say," Ingenito says. "He and coach Connolly, they're just guys to us."
D'Aliso's two daughters are grown. His wife, Annmarie, works as well. So there are plenty of days when he comes home after school to an empty house, and downtime is knocking on his front door.
That's when Pat D'Aliso will pop in a new football videotape and begin to watch.
Pat D'Aliso file
Age: 50
Occupation: Monroe-Woodbury High School health teacher
Education: bachelor's degree in health education, SUNY Cortland, 1977; graduate work at SUNY Cortland and College of St. Rose (no degree)
Family: wife, Annmarie; daughters Kristi, 26 and Nicole, 21; son Patrick, died May 2004.
Coaching experience: Head football coach, Monroe-Woodbury (1988-present); assistant coach, Monroe-Woodbury (1981-87); head coach, Pulaski High School (1977-81).
Fast facts: Four-time Sunday Record Coach of the Year (1988, 1992, 1998, 2005); has led Monroe-Woodbury to four Section 9 Class AA titles (1998, 2000, 2004, 2005).
Coaches of the Year
Year Coach School
2005 Pat D'Aliso Monroe-Woodbury
2004 Dave Der Cola Wallkill
2003 Ron Stover Chester
2002 Tom Tegeler New Paltz
2001 C.T. Chatham Newburgh
2000 Jim Malak Rondout Valley
1999 John Bell Minisink Valley
1998 Pat D'Aliso Monroe-Woodbury
1997 Bob Corvino Port Jervis
1996 Jim Malak Rondout Valley
1995 Bob Corvino Port Jervis
1994 Dick Wolslayer Middletown
1993 Dick Wolslayer Middletown
1992 Pat D'Aliso Monroe-Woodbury
1991 Joe Viglione Warwick
1990 Fred Ahart Roscoe
1989 Max Stoltzenberg Tri-Valley
1988 Pat D'Aliso Monroe-Woodbury
1987 Joe Viglione Warwick
1986 John Million Rondout Valley
1985 Bob Zigrossi Goshen
1984 Dennis Burkett Marlboro
1983 Andy Seidel Red Hook
1982 John Moson Monroe-Woodbury
1981 Frank Green Washingtonville
1980 Joe Viglione Port Jervis
1979 Jim Bongo Warwick
1978 Tom Pinder Cornwall
1977 Dean Ouderkirk Goshen
1976 Dick Wolslayer Middletown
1975 John Shauhnessy Pine Bush
1974 Jim Karney Monroe-Woodbury
1973 Jerry Trezza Wallkill
1972 Dave Frank Ellenville
1971 Joe Viglione Port Jervis
1970 Rip Fornal Newburgh
1969 Jim Wilson Minisink Valley
1968 Jim Meehan Sr. Rondout Valley
1967Jim Wilson Minisink Valley
Monday, November 28
Crusaders Bring Home the Big Prize: a State Championship
By PHIL DUSENBURY
SYRACUSE - "To BE Somebody, you gotta BEAT Somebody."
Well, Monroe-Woodbury proved to the state high school football world that it is a team of Somebodies! After trimming the state's #2 ranked team last week, the Crusaders rolled to a 32-10 victory over the #1 ranked team, Webster Thomas, to earn the Class AA State Championship here Sunday.
Junior QB Greg Sullivan threw three TD passes to lead the quick-striking M-W offense while a tenacious, junior-laden Purple defense kept a high-powered Thomas offense in check.
Thomas won the coin toss and elected to get its offense on the field. After returning the kickoff to their 40, the Titans put together a nifty 10-play, 60-yard scoring drive. In the series quick fullback Tom Bergerstock carried three times for 22 yards while highly touted junior QB Robbie Brown completed three-of-four passes for 27 yards. Brown scored the TD on a three-yard keeper at the 7:09 mark. Bergerstock kicked the PAT to make it 7-0 and the many M-W fans who trekked up to the Carrier Dome were stunned.
But the Crusaders answered right back and energized their faithful followers when senior Chris Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for a lightning-quick six points. Anthony Coccaro's kick sailed wide left, but Monroe-Woodbury was just getting warmed up.
Webster Thomas hustled the ball to midfield on its next possession when Brown hit Nick Marino with a 25-yard pass. But three plays later the Titans faced a third and one at the CruCrew's 41. Bergerstock tried the middle and got stuffed. The M-W defense had finally made a statement.
Following the punt, the Crusaders set up shop at their 17 for their first offensive series of the game. Sullivan went to work, completing passes of 14 and 13 yards to Neil Ingenito. Fifteen yards were tacked on to the end of the second completion as Thomas was flagged for the first of its three personal foul penalties on the afternoon.
Then the Cru kept it on the ground for two more first downs. Then Sullivan rolled out to pass, but when he saw so much space in front of him, he tucked the ball under his arm and scrambled 20 yards to the Thomas three. Two plays later the QB hit Johnson, cutting to the right corner of the end zone, with a two-yard TD pass. The PAT shovel pass failed but M-W had just taken a lead it would not relinquish.
The 10-play, 83-yard drive scoring drive ended at 11:13 of the second quarter. 12-7.
The Crusader defense bent but it wouldn't break. On the next series the Titans moved from their 32 to the M-W 33. On a third and nine, Thomas tried a reverse to Nick Indovina, but the Purple 'D' was all over it, mugging Indovina in the backfield and causing a fumble that was recovered by M-W's Chris Duggan.
Sullivan immediately went to the air and hit John Flannery along the left sideline for 21 yards to the WT 44. Sullivan then ran for 10 yards and another first down. Then Ingenito smashed for four to the 30. On the next play Sullivan aired it out to Mike Septh who beat the defenders and stretched himself out for a TD. Again the try-for-two failed, but Monroe-Woodbury held an 18-7 lead with 8:10 left in the second quarter. 
Now it was Ingenito Time. On the third play of Webster Thomas's next possession, the free safety stepped in front of a Brown pass and returned the pick 51 yards for another M-W TD. This time Coccaro booted the conversion. 25-7 with 6:26 left.
But the Titans wouldn't give up. Brown completed a 17-yard pass to Nate LePage for a first down at midfield. Then Brown ran for seven before being sacked by Nick Gillan for a loss of six. Brown went up top again, however, and secured a 10-yard completion to Eric Sheremeta. Then a pass interfernce call moved the ball to the M-W 20. Finally, Bergerstock ran for 10 more. First and goal at the 10.
Bend but don't break. On first down Bergerstock was stopped for no gain. Then the muscled-up 'D' line dropped Dom Scalzo for a yard loss. On third down Crusader LB Dan Mauriello blew in and sacked Brown for a seven-yard loss. Then a low snap torpedoed a 35-yard Titan field goal attempt that never made liftoff. 25-7 at the half.
The Crusaders took the second half kickoff and drove the ball from their 25 to the Webster Thomas 33. But on a fourth and six, WT's Pat Gregory sacked Sullivan for a six-yard loss.
The Titans drove from their 39 to the M-W eight, the big play being a 28-yard Brown to Bergerstock screen pass to the Crusader 33. Once again the Purple defense stiffened. This time it messed up a pitch play when Mauriello nailed Brown for a seven-yard loss on the resulting fumble.
Chad Moneheim ended up the drive by kicking a 31-yard field goal with 3:50 left, but time was starting to run out on the Titans. 25-10.
The M-W offense then went three and out, so the M-W defense stepped it up. A pair of incomplete Brown passes sandwiched Keith Hale's sack of Brown which cost WT nine yards. An 18-yard punt then gave the Crusaders the ball at their 45.
Monroe-Woodbury was determined to put the game away for good. It took Sullivan and Company just five plays to do just that. Ingenito blasted for 19 to the Titan 36. On fourth and six from the 32, Sullivan went back to his favorite target, Septh, who again beat the secondary to make a diving TD catch. The score came on the first play of the fourth quarter. Coccaro converted to make it 32-10. Game. Set. Match.
Sullivan was named the game's Most Valuable Player. He completed 11-of-15 passes for 169 yards and the three TDs. He could have been 13 or 14-of-15 but there were some uncustomary drops. Meanwhile he was also the Crusaders' leading rusher with 59 yards on 14 carries.
After the game Neil Kerr, who compiles and assembles the state rankings and all-state teams for the New York State Sportswriters Association, let the cat out of the bag.
"Sullivan will be our New York State Class AA Player of the Year," he said up in the pressbox. "He's clearly the choice."
In the other awards handed out after the game: Webster Thomas's Matt Caternolo was named the Most Valuable Offensive Lineman; Chris Johnson (MW - two TDs) the Most Valuable Offensive Back; DE Mike Attanasio (MW - 11 tackles) the Most Valuable Defensive Lineman; and LB Tim Dorsey (MW - 12 tackles, seven of them solos) the Most Valuable Defensive Back.
Septh, who won the Sportsmanship Award, finished with three receptions for 75 yards for M-W while Johnson caught three for 38 yards. Ingenito, who was carefully watched by the Thomas defense, also caught three passes for 30 yards and rushed 12 times for 39 tough stripes. Flannery caught two for 26 yards.
On defense LB Hale had seven tackles, a sack and a forced fumble
Meanwhile for the Titans (12-1), Brown connected on 13-of-24 passes for no TDs and one big interception. Marino had five receptions for 62 yards. Bergerstock was Webster Thomas's leading rusher with 59 yards on 15 carries. Brown carried 10 times for 37 yards.
For M-W (12-0) head coach Pat D'Aliso, the win was the 154th of his career, making him the winningest active coach in Section Nine. More importantly, the win capped an incredible season for the team that he and defensive coordinator Bernie Connolly started molding right after the Crusaders' loss to New Rochelle in last year's Eastern Semi-Final.
The state title was Monroe-Woodbury's first and the section's second.
Now that Section Nine's best large school has won the big prize by beating the best competiton in the state tournament these past two weeks, those of us from these parts can all walk a little taller.
THANKS, CRUSADERS!!
What a Welcome!!
Monday, November 28
M-W advised to enjoy the view
Their worlds may be too cluttered with adolescent joy for a pondering pause. But if there's any advice Jim Malak can give Monroe-Woodbury fresh off winning a state football title, it's this: Enjoy it, but also remember it and appreciate it.
Malak, you may remember, coached Rondout Valley to the 2000 Class B state title. The Ganders became the first football team in the area to win it all. Monroe-Woodbury won the area's second championship on Sunday in Syracuse, capturing the largest of large-schools title Class AA with a 32-10 win over Rochester-area Webster Thomas.
"It goes so fast,'' Malak was saying yesterday. "It's like your wedding day. It's a blur.''
Five years later, Malak is experiencing, as he calls it, a "little valley.'' Rondout Valley went a collective 18-3 in the two seasons after winning the title. But the program has followed with three straight 3-6 seasons.
Rondout Valley had gone eight years without a losing season until 2003. Then suddenly, three years removed from a state title, Rondout Valley had just 27 players on its roster.
This is not to suggest Monroe-Woodbury is headed for a fall. The Crusaders haven't had a down season in years. It is to suggest that Monroe-Woodbury probably will never again derive the same feeling from sports that it experienced Sunday afternoon on the Carrier Dome carpet.
"Once you lose those kids,'' Malak says of the last graduating players from the 2000 team, "then there's no connection (to the title). That's what you lose.''
A coach's perspective is different. But kids will have a similar disassociation when they scatter to college. Those back next year will face the impossible task of trying to improve upon this season.
"No doubt you are expected to perform at a high level,'' Malak says.
He was rooting hard for Monroe-Woodbury. Malak knew, without talking to Monroe-Woodbury coach Pat D'Aliso, a little of what the team was feeling, what it was thinking. Malak knew, without calling D'Aliso, that Monroe-Woodbury always wanted to do more more sprints, more scrimmaging, more practice. Malak knew it because he saw what defined Rondout Valley's championship attitude.
One of his lasting memories of championship day is approaching the team bus after the game. There were his players in the adjacent road not yukking it up, not pounding their chests, not flirting with cheerleaders playing a pickup game of touch football.
"After the biggest game of their lives. ..." Malak says. "They just wanted to keep playing.''
As the Rondout Valley bus exited the Thruway in Kingston, police cars, ambulances and fire trucks from various agencies in Ulster County awaited to escort the team up Route 209 to the high school. People lined the streets of Accord as the bus arrived. About 500 folks waited at the high school. There would be a parade three days later.
Monroe-Woodbury will get its parade on Saturday in the Village of Monroe. Maybe by then life will resemble normalcy for the kids who brought home a Double A state title.
Surely time will take over at some point, the only variable Monroe-Woodbury can't stop. Newspaper clippings will fade with memories and the boys will see that, like on their wedding day, time stops for nothing.
Enjoy it. Remember it. Appreciate it.
Monday, November 28
M-W Cruises to Title
Saturday, November 26
Community backs M-W
Monday, November 28
M-W not hiding its versatility
Monday, November 28
Painting the Town Purple
Monday, November 28
Duggan anchors stingy 'D'
Monday, November 28
Monroe-Woodbury vs. Webster Thomas
Monday, November 28
Similarities have M-W believing it can win title
Monday, November 28
Brushing up on M-W pride
Tuesday, November 29
Where Do We Rank Now??
There's no team in the Tri-State any hotter than the Crusaders
Sunday afternoon at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, MW recorded the biggest win in Section 9 football history beating the State's No. 1 ranked team, Webster Thomas, 32-10 to win the NY State Class AA Championship.
A week ago, Monroe beat the State's No. 2 ranked team North Rockland, 28-0. Not only are Pat D'Aliso's boys the hottest team in the state, he has the state's hottest player in junior QB Greg Sullivan.
A year ago, Sullivan was playing defense. This year, he made the switch to QB and after his 11-for-15, 169-yard and three-touchdown performance, he will be named the Class AA State Player of the Year. He will finish the year with 2,484 yards of total offense and 31 total touchdowns.
The 16-year old helped his coach record his 154th career win and that's the most wins for active coaches in Section 9.
 
Super 25 Football
Regional Rankings
Updated Nov. 28, 2005
East
1. Bishop McDevitt, Harrisburg, Pa. (13-0)
2. Don Bosco Prep, Ramsey, N.J. (11-0)
3. Gilman School, Baltimore (9-0)
4. DeMatha, Hyattsville, Md. (11-1)
5. North Penn, Lansdale, Pa. (12-1)
6. Monroe-Woodbury, Central Valley, N.Y. (12-0)
7. St. Joseph's Prep, Philadelphia (10-2)
8. Middletown (N.J.) South (11-0)
9. Brockton, Mass. (11-0)
10. McKeesport, Pa. (12-2)
Monday, November 28
Sullivan shines in bright spotlight
Monday, November 28
Ingenito Won't Be Felled
Monday, November 28
Johnson's Big Return Sparks Crusaders
Friday, November 25
Monroe-Woodbury Looks to Leave Section's Mark in Uncharted Territory
Wednesday, November 23
Ingenito calls out Crusaders
Wednesday, November 23
New M-W 'O' passes every test
Wednesday, November 23
Landesberg speeds it up
Sunday, November 20
Septh TD turned M-W Tide
Sunday, November 20
History in the Making
Saturday, November 19
Crusaders Turn it on in Second Half and Phase in Their Biggest Victory
Saturday, November 19
M-W Storms to Title Game
AAmazing !!! Crusaders to Play for it All
By CHRIS MAYONE
KINGSTON - With sixteen seconds left in the first half Monroe-Woodbury was ready to break a scoreless tie when the Crusaders faced a second-and-goal at the North Rockland 2-yard line.
Without any time outs, M-W head coach Pat D'Aliso called a quarterback sneak with Greg Sullivan that came inches shy of the goal line as time expired on the Crusaders and each team went to its locker room with nothing.
That play capped off a meltdown set of downs for Monroe-Woodbury. On first down Sullivan was nearly intercepted. Then the Crusaders had to burn their final time out because of a miscomunication. Then they were stopped just short of paydirt. The Crusaders allowed the state's second-ranked team to take the momentum into the locker room.
Or did they?
Well, that was not in Mike Septh's plans.
The senior split end took a Sullivan pass 59-yards on M-W's first series of the second half, sprung by a gorgeous downfield block by Neil Ingenito at the Red Raiders' 30-yard line. That play would be all the Crusaders needed as they scored four unanswered touchdowns en route to a 28-0 triumph over North Rockland in the Eastern New York State Finals at Dietz Stadium Friday night.
"That play really opened it up for us and we got our morale back," said Septh. "We knew (at halftime) that we were going to be fine. We drove all those yards on them in the first half. It was just a matter of time before we scored."
The Crusaders will play in next Sunday's Class AA state championship game against either defending champ Syracuse CBA or Webster Thomas at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. Kick off is at 12 noon.
This will be not only the Crusaders' inaugural appearance in the finals, but it will also be the first Section Nine AA team to make the trip. Rondout Valley's 2001 team hold the section's only state title when the snatched the class B crown. Wallkill lost in the class A title game last season.
"I really don't believe it to be honest with you," said D'Aliso. "We now have the opportunity to be state champs."
Junior running back David Landesberg added to the lead racing 31-yards around left end, breaking several tackles and walking a tightrope before finally reaching the end zone. Anthony Caccarro's second of four successful extra points made it 14-0.
Landesberg, who was a non-factor on last year's sectional championship team, had been named the game's most outstanding offensive player in Monroe-Woodbury's Section Nine title game win over Kingston.
"What can I say?" said Landesberg. "I put my heart into it and stepped it up this year. My lineman made good blocks and we accomplished a lot tonight."
Eric Thorsten, Brian Millazzo, Dominick Lexandra, Aaron McGrady, and Brian Wortman each controlled the line of scrimmage for the Crusaders.
Sullivan made it 21-0 when he plunged in from 5-yards out with 10:32 remaining in the game. A 39-yard Landesberg run on second-and-22 was the drive's biggest play. As for Sullivan, he was named the most valuable offensive player with 123 passing yards and 83 via the ground.
Ingenito's 23-yard touchdown sprint with 2:25 rounded out the scoring. Ironically, he was named the game's most valuable defensive player for the Crusaders, collecting 11 tackles and intercepting two passes
Chris Dollbaum (eight tackles), Dan Mauriello (eight tackles, sack), and Keith Hale (six tackles) anchored the shutout.
"Something was on our side tonight," said nose tackle Chris Duggan.
 
 
 
  
   
Saturday, November 19
Class AA state semifinal: Monroe-Woodbury defeats North Rockland 28-0
Friday, November 18
M-W and North Rockland each eye the dome tonight
Sunday, November 13
NORTH ROCKLAND BEATS LaSALLE ... WILL MEET MONROE-WOODBURY IN STATE SEMI-FINAL FRIDAY AT 8 PM!
Saturday, November 5
M-W 'D' comes up big
Friday, November 4
Crusaders Recover
Friday, November 4
Crusaders Win Second Straight AA Title with 34-0 Pounding of Kingston
Monday, October 31
WIZARDS BRING GAME, FALL SHORT
Saturday, October 29
MONROE-WOODBURY BEATS WIZARDS IN CLASS AA SEMI
Monday, October 17
M-W dominates flat NFA squad
Chris Dollbaum Athlete of the Week
Friday, October 21
COACH D'ALISO gets 150th WIN with 34-6 VICTORY over WALLKILL PANTHERS
Sunday, October 16
M-W Clinches Top Seed with 28-3 Win over NFA
M-W Crusaders move to 6-0
Saturday, October 8
INGENITO SCORES FOUR TDS AS M-W ROLLS OVER MIDDIES
MW Crusaders Purr-fect in Win over Warwick's Wildcats
GREG SULLIVAN named Heisman Player of the Week
Sullivan breaks out for M-W
CRUSADERS ROMP OVER SECTION ONE'S MOUNT VERNON
Saturday, September 24
M-W WINS AA-l SHOWDOWN, BEATS KINGSTON 25-19
urban Legends Swirl Around Kingston
MW over PineBush 34-6
MW beats Minisink 42-0 in Season Opener
S FAN-tastic S
CRUSADER SPIRIT
See more pics in Photo Gallery
  
  
  
  
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