Montgomery. Monroe-Woodbury goes to 4-1 as football team shuts out Valley Central

The Crusaders traveled to Montgomery on an overcast Friday night, April 9, to take on the Valley Central Vikings.

Monroe-Woodbury entered the game needing a win to keep its football playoff hopes alive after losing 35-0 to Newburgh Free Academy last week.

The Vikings took the opening kickoff and drove down to the Crusaders’ 12-yard line before CJ Gullotta intercepted a Viking pass to put an end to the drive.

From there the two teams exchanged punts as the first half became a defensive struggle.

Right before the half the Vikings appeared to have a drive going but a big sack by Camron Adams put an end to that as the first half ended in a scoreless tie.

In the second half, the Crusader offense woke up. After taking possession on the 42-yard line, they drove it down to the Vikings’ one-yard line before quarterback Anthony Campione powered it in to give the Crusaders a 7-0 lead.

On the Crusaders next possession, they again moved the ball down the field and from the 18-yard line Adams took a pitch and went around the Viking’s end, then breaking through would-be tacklers to give the Crusaders a 14-0 lead as the third quarter ended.

Down by 14 in the fourth quarter, the Vikings took to the air and began to move the ball. But this time Andrew Pichardo broke through the Viking line and sacked the Viking quarterback to forced a fumble that Crusader tackling machine Ethan Gollinger picked up and rumbled down the field.

From there Campione hit a streaking Kavan Tuttle with a 21-yard touchdown pass.

When Edward Fennessy hit his third extra point of the game the Crusaders wrapped up their 21-0 victory over the Vikings.

The Crusaders’ victory brings their record to 4-1 on the season. Their next game will be on Friday night when they travel to Warwick to face the Wildcats.
- William Dimmit