Warwick dominates Goshen to keep the Spirit Trophy

WARWICK-The Spirit Trophy stays in Warwick as running back Derek Hrinya scored three touchdowns and the Wildcats dominated both sides of the football on their way to a 35-0 beating of long-time rival Goshen at C. Ashley Morgan Field Friday night. On the game’s opening series, Warwick senior defensive end Adam Washington sacked Goshen Quarterback Jerell Lucas on third down and forced a Gladiator punt. Wildcat quarterback Ryan Darcey started the offense on its own 25 by giving senior Hrinya three straight carries. The second carry netted 23 yards and got Warwick to the Goshen 47. Two plays later, junior Matt Stranski broke loose for 39 yards, giving the Wildcats first-and-goal from the three-yard line. From there, Hrinya hit pay dirt for the first time of the evening. He then angled his way in for the two-point conversion, giving Warwick an 8-0 lead with less than three minutes having elapsed in the game. Warwick’s defense got another big sack from senior defensive end Evan Wyler on the next series, leading to another Gladiator punt. This time, however, Warwick’s offense marched down to the Goshen two, where the defense stopped Hrinya on a fourth-and-goal attempt. On Goshen’s first play from scrimmage, Phil Murphy sacked Lucas in the end zone for a safety, giving Warwick a 10-0 lead and the ball with 54 seconds left in the first quarter. On the kickoff, Hrinya ran the ball back to the Gladiators’ 42. On the very next snap, Darcey threw a pass that sophomore Isia Reyes grabbed for a 42 yard touchdown. Reyes now has four touchdown receptions in as many games. Yet another sack of Lucas by the Warwick defense doomed the next Gladiator drive. This time, junior defensive lineman Pat Sweeney got through the offensive line to make the stop. Junior Tom Montopoli returned a Goshen punt to Warwick’s 41, and like before, the ‘Cats wasted little time to light up the scoreboard. Another Wildcat player tipped a Darcey aerial right into the hands of Reyes, who ran all the way to the Goshen 14. Then Hrinya bolted into the end zone for his second score of the game. Senior Joe Stolzenberg missed the point after attempt, but Warwick led 22-0. The final score of the first half was set up by Warwick’s defense, which stopped Lucas on a fourth-and-one attempt. From there, Stranski ran 44 yards for his eighth touchdown of the season. Stolzenberg made the point after kick, upping the Wildcat lead to 29-0 with 5:20 remaining in the half. Goshen’s best chance in the game to score came on the next series. Runs by seniors Lucas Quarantotto and Nasim Siddeeq earned a first down at the Warwick 40. Then, Lucas ran for a nice gain, followed by another Siddeeq run to the 20 that moved the chains. However, Warwick senior defensive end James Beckford recovered a Gladiator fumble on the next play to end any Goshen hopes before halftime. The Wildcats reached the 35-0 point on the first series of the third quarter. Hrinya returned the kickoff 35 yards. Darcey then went to the shotgun formation to hand the ball off to Stranski and Hrinya on ensuing plays to reach the Gladiator 13. Hrinya followed with a touchdown run. He now has 11 on the season. Goshen blocked junior John Sala’s extra-point attempt. Goshen still leads the all-time series by one or two games, depending upon whose records you believe. Warwick, however, has a 9-1 record against their long-time rival since Greg Sirico took over the job as head coach in 1996. Hrinya finished with 142 yards rushing on 12 carries. Stranski gained 107 on six carries. Darcey completed five-of-seven passes for 128 yards. Three of those completions were to Reyes who gained 102 yards. The Wildcat defense held Goshen to 107 net yards. Kamaal Mabry was the Gladiators’ top rusher with just 39 yards on 14 carries. Warwick improves to 6-2 with this non-league victory and will play the Kingston Tigers in the AA Semifinals next weekend at Dietz Stadium. Kingston upset Newburgh in the final seconds to earn the AA-1 2nd seed. Goshen falls to 6-2 overall and will visit Saugerties in a big Class A contest next Saturday. Goshen, Port Jervis and Cornwall are the three teams in that division who have the best chance to capture the two available playoff spots.