MIDDLETOWN - Back at full-strength, the Wallkill Panthers were able to erase the sour memory of their last two games by bouncing back and defeating Port Jervis, 35-12, at Faller Field to advance to next week’s Section Nine Class A title game against Cornwall.

Wallkill was bolstered by the return of junior scatback Dom Calvanico who had been seeing limited action this past month because of an injury. Also back was 280-pound defensive lineman Eric Paz who was in charge of plugging up the middle. But despite their returns to the lineup and the 23 point final margin of victory, the first half was real battle. Until Port received three quick hits of misfortune and miscues.

But prior to that disastrous span in the second quarter, Harcher had scored the game’s first TD before the contest was two minutes old. His six-pointer came on a 50-yard fake pitch and run that took him through a huge hole on the left side and into the wide-open spaces. Placekicker Pat Toole, who had missed a few games himself with a concussion, kicked the PAT to make it 7-0.

Then Port lost its quarterback, Chris Stawski, to a separated shoulder.  The injury came amidst a nice drive that soon ended when Joe Ortiz intercepted backup Jordan Drew‘s early second quarter pass in the Wallkill end zone.

On Port‘s next possession, however, RB Tim Crown bolted through a seam for a 32-yard TD run. Alex Cordisco’s kick was wide right, but it looked like the fans might see a nail-biter until Port went into self-destructed mode for a short but lethal span.

The real killer was a bad judgment made by the Port punter. With the score now 7-6 and the Raiders facing a fourth and two at the PJ 21, Chris Van Dunk took off with the snap, tried to run right but had no place to go. Wallkill proceeded to cash in on the misdeed by quickly engineering a three-play, 17-yard scoring drive, capped by Schoonmaker’s 14-yard TD run with 1:29 left in the first half.

Toole’s second PAT was quickly followed by Joey Maillet’s fumbling the ensuing kickoff return. Nick Malcuit recovered for the Panthers at the PJ 30. Two plays later Harcher tossed a 25-yard scoring strike to Chad Hecht, and another Toole boot (he would hit five-of-five on the night) made it 21-6 at the intermission.

Wallkill put the nail in the coffin when its first drive of the third quarter traversed 82 yards to paydirt in nine plays . Doing most of the damage were Schoonmaker’s 31-yard burst to the Raider 37 and Calvanico’s 33-yard jaunt through the arms of five would-be tacklers that put the ball at the PJ two. A holding penalty moved the ball back to the 11, but Harcher offset that with an 11-yard TD pass to Mike Horrevoets with 5:59 left in the quarter. 28-6.

Port finally caught a break when a fourth down center snap sailed over the Panther punter’s head to give the Raiders possession at the Wallkill 11. Crown’s five-yard run was followed by a false start. But Crown was given the ball again, and the five-foot six, 170-pound senior scored his second TD of the night on an 11-yard run with 57 seconds left in the third.

Wallkill finished the night’s scoring on Harcher’s second TD of the night. It was a one-yard sneak that capped an eight play, 47-yard drive with 3:50 left in the game.

Because he rushed 12 times for 88 yards, scored twice and threw a pair of TD passes, Harcher was named the outstanding offensive player of the game. In passing, he completed three-of-10 throws for 50 yards. Teammate Joe Cappuccilli, a linebacker, was the outstanding defensive player.

Schoonmaker rushed 16 times for 111 yards to lead the Panther ground attack while Calvanico, 16-for-79, kept the Port defense from keying on Schoonmaker. Thunder and Lightning are again teamed up at Wallkill.

Along with his two TD, Port’s Crown was the game’s leading rusher with 130 yards on 21 carries. Maillet was the game’s top receiver with three grabs for 27 yards. Wallkill's Hecht was two-for-39 and had that big TD catch.

Port Jervis finishes its season with a 4-4 overall record while Wallkill is now 6-3 and will play defending champ Cornwall next Friday (7 pm) at Faller Field for the SNF Class A crown.

--- PHIL DUSENBURY

SMALLWOOD LEADS DRAGONS TO CLASS A TITLE TILT

KINGSTON - Offensive Player of the Game Tyree Smallwood scored four touchdowns and ran for 193 yards to lead Cornwall to a 38-7 Class A semifinal win over Saugerties at Dietz Stadium in Kingston.

The Sawyers struck first early in the first quarter when QB Tim Poll threw a 59-yard touchdown pass to Jon Hindes. The PAT was good and the Sawyers grabbed a 7-0 advantage.

Two possessions later, the Green Dragons answered back when Smallwood forced his way in from five yards out. Kenny Kirschner made the first of five straight extra points on the night to tie things up, 7-7.

Saugerties sustained another long drive before the end of the quarter but Hindes missed a 39-yard field goal attempt.

Smallwood put the 6-2 Dragons ahead to stay in the second quarter when he broke free for a 66-yard jaunt to pay turf. 14-7.

The Cornwall defense held late in the first half and Rashard Wroten returned a Sawyer punt 52 yards for a score to provide the Dragons with a 21-7 lead at intermission.

Smallwood wasted little time in lighting up the scoreboard early in the third quarter when he returned a kickoff 85 yards to the house to make the score 28-7. He scored once again on a 59-yard breakaway to put the game on ice. Smallwood surpassed the 1,000 yard mark in the first half and now has 1,081 on the season.

Kirschner added a 38-yard field goal to wrap up the scoring.

Defensive Player of the Game Dylan Babcock recorded three sacks for the Dragons, who will now try for their fifth straight Class A championship as they take on Wallkill Friday night at Faller Field. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

For 5-3 Saugerties, Poll passed for 117 yards, completing 9-of-18. Will Clark caught four of those to total 44 yards. Willie Valk ran for 21 and Mike Riozzi had 19 on the ground.

 --- Rich Arnott, Rich Michaelis & K.C.

MIDDLETOWN - A pair of safeties ignited a 17-point second quarter that led underdog Liberty to a 17-13 victory over Sullivan West in a Class C semi-final game at Faller Field Friday.

Sullivan West scored first. Anthony Nicoletti blocked a Brandon Tompkins punt to give the Bulldogs possession at the Liberty 34. Seven plays later, at 6:09 of the first quarter, Latti Rabii scored on an 11-yard run. Art Norden’s conversion kick made it 7-0.

Following the ensuing kickoff, Liberty drove from its 36 to the Sully West 23. On first and 10 Marshon Williams was intercepted by Nicolletti, a defensive back, at the 14. After one first down the Dawgz were forced to punt from their 25. But the center snap sailed over punter Ryan Alsdorf’s head; so rather than give up a possible touchdown, he booted the ball out of the end zone. The score was 7-2 at 11:53.

Sully West’s next possession ended the same way as Alsdorf chased another high snap on an attempted punt and proceeded to kick the ball out of the same end zone. 7-4 at 9:13.

After returning the Bulldog kickoff to the SW 20, the Indians scored in three plays as Tompkins got loose on a 29-yard TD run at 7:49. A run for two-points after failed, but Liberty had taken a 10-7 lead.

Then Liberty applied the killer when it onsided the subsequent kickoff. The Indians’ Jovaughen Clark picked it up and ran 15 yards to the Bulldog 30.

Tompkins raced to the 13 for a first down. Two plays later he powered to the two. Then QB Williams scored a TD at 6:55. Kris Merklin’s kick made it 17-7.

An interception by Mike McLean and 27-yard return plus a dazzling 44-yard run by Eddie Soto put the Indians at the Sully West 20. But the Bulldogs were able to stuff that drive and push the line of scrimmage back to the 26.

Sullivan West then drove 74 yards in seven plays. Alsdorf completed a 15-yard pass to Norden to put the ball at the Indian 22. Then the junior QB hooked up with Rabii for a TD with 45 seconds left in the first half to complete a 7-play series. Norden’s PAT kick failed, however.

The 17-13 halftime lead held up for the remainder of the game.

The Bulldogs started the second half with a 53-yard drive that went as deep as the Liberty six. But a big defensive play by LB Tompkins dropped Rabii for a five-yard loss on third down. That was followed by an incomplete pass.

Beyond that it was a hard-hitting defensive struggle.  But the defensive star of the game was DB Mike McLean who had three key interceptions for Liberty, all of them in Indian territory: the 17, 10 and 45.  The third pick ended the game.

Sullivan West's Alsdorf was the game's leading rusher with 17 carries for 122 yards.  Williams was Liberty's top rusher at 21-for-52.  Liberty had 183 net offensive yards to the Bulldogs' 178.  Those two bad snaps were the difference in the stats and, more importantly, the game's outcome.

Liberty (now 5-4 with four consective wins) will face Ellenville for the Section Nine Class C crown at Dietz Stadium next Saturday at 3 pm.  Sullivan West exits its season with a 7-2 slate.

--- PHIL DUSENBURY