The Newburgh Free Academy football team entered the postseason as the gold standard in Section 9, Class AA, as the Goldbacks were attempting to capture their sixth consecutive AA championship this month. That goal ended abruptly with a stunning 20-16 loss to Monroe Woodbury at Dietz Stadium in Kingston on Saturday night, as top-seeded NFA’s last-ditch comeback attempt came up short in an upset loss to the Crusaders.

NFA entered the game undefeated and seemingly on an unstoppable roll, but the Goldbacks (7-1) struggled to find their offensive rhythm for long chunks of the Class AA semifinal contest, and turnovers, penalties and dropped passes ultimately doomed NFA’s chances against Monroe-Woodbury.

“We fought till the end,” Newburgh coach Bill Bianco said. “We made just too many mistakes. We didn’t deserve to win. Credit to them, they played well and we didn’t. That’s how it goes.”
Monroe (5-4) took a 3-0 lead with 54 seconds remaining in the first quarter on a 17-yard field goal from Eddie Fennessy, and the Crusaders stretched the advantage to 6-0 when Fennessy then drilled a 28-yarder with 6:48 remaining in the half.

The Goldbacks rallied, however, as senior running back Nick Patterson (105 yards rushing on 14 carries) powered his way into the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown run to give NFA a 7-6 lead at the 4:05 mark of the second quarter. With time winding down in the first half, the Crusaders answered with a score of their own, as junior quarterback Anthony Campione (14-22, 162 yards passing, 2 TDs) found junior receiver Camron Adams for a sliding four-yard TD catch to give the Crusaders a 13-7 lead with nine seconds left in the half.

NFA junior quarterback Amarri Tice (10-27, 159 yards passing, 1 INT) attempted to lead the Goldbacks comeback in the second half, but key drops hampered the team all night, as the first two NFA possessions in the third quarter resulted in turnovers on downs when passes to freshman receiver Deondre Jordan ended up as incompletions.

“We had our opportunities and we didn’t take advantage of them,” Bianco said. “In the first half we dropped the ball going in to score, no one was around him. We dropped the ball late. You have to make those plays in big games.”

The NFA defense stiffened late in the third, as Newburgh backed up Monroe-Woodbury deep in its own territory and an attempted punt from the Crusaders on fourth-and-five from its own seven-yard line resulted in a safety to slice the lead to 13-9 with 1:15 left in the third quarter when a botched snap sailed out of the end zone.

On the ensuing possession, NFA took a 16-13 lead with 7:42 left in the game when senior running back Syncere Tatum (who did not get onto the field in the first quarter) received a handoff from Tice and cruised in for a one-yard touchdown run.
With their backs against the wall, the Crusaders proceeded to put together an impressive 60-yard drive that culminated in a four-yard touchdown reception that senior receiver Sean Neely hauled in from Campione right on the goal line to give Monroe-Woodbury a 20-16 lead with only 1:53 remaining.

With their sights set on another Class AA title, the Goldbacks made one last drive to save their season, getting deep into Monroe territory before a Tice fourth-and-nine pass from the 15-yard line was batted down in the end zone by junior defensive back Christopher Gauvin with 29 seconds left to seal NFA’s fate. “Tonight they played better and we were sloppy,” Bianco said. “It came back to bite us.”

Monroe-Woodbury will go on to face Pine Bush in the Class AA title game at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Faller Field in Middletown, while NFA is left to celebrate an impressive senior class that established an unparalleled standard of success with the program. “I’m happy with the way they’ve played through their careers,” Bianco said. “I wish it could have ended differently obviously, but that’s how it goes.”