It took 15 early points and a stout defense to life the Cornwall Dragons to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class A Final Four.

The Dragons scored touchdowns on their first two drives and their defense stymied the Section 4 wild card Vestal Golden Bears in a 25-12 win in Saturday’s state regional final at Franklin D. Roosevelt High School in Staatsburg.

“It feels amazing,” junior linebacker Mason Lont said. “We worked really hard for this opportunity. We’re playing a really good team next week and we’ve got to go to work.”

The Dragons will face Section 1 champion Somers, who defeated Section 2 champion Averill Park, 29-8, in the other regional, at 6 p.m. Friday at Middletown High School’s Faller Field.

“I’m glad we’re in this situation and it’s where we wanted to be and expected to be,” Cornwall coach Kevin Arduino said. “We’ve got work to do. There’s no doubt about it. We’re playing a team that has had a lot of success. They’re coached really well and they have great kids, and it seems like they’re always in this spot.”
The Dragons hope the sequence of events leading up to the game is a little easier than last week.

The game was originally scheduled for Friday night at Goshen High School, but an area snowstorm closed school on Friday and the game was moved to 2 p.m. on Saturday, still at Goshen.

At about noon on Saturday, with Goshen’s field still covered with snow, the game was moved across the river to FDR’s Oval Office.

“As a team, we just bonded together,” Mont said. “I honestly think it was good for our team. We were stuck at the high school for about an hour and a half. We just ate and we bonded together. I think that’s what helped us win today.”

So did 15 early points and a defensive play that set the tone for the rest of the game.

The Golden Bears got the ball first, and on the third play from scrimmage, Cornwall’s Braden Murphy intercepted Vestal quarterback Josh Kweller, setting the Dragons up on the Golden Bears’ 25-yard line.

“Braden is such an important player for us in all phases, offense, defense and specials,” Arduino said. “He’s also a captain for us and he’s just a dude for us. We look for Braden to change momentum, to lead us and put us in good positions to win.”

Four plays later, Jordan Bishop scored a touchdown, and the Dragons picked up a two-point conversion to take an early 8-0 lead.

After the Golden Bears went three-and-out, the Dragons got good field position again and quarterback Quinn Pikarsky hit Matthew Cerone for an 8-yard touchdown pass, giving the Dragons a 15-0 lead with 6:40 left in the first quarter.

Then, the offense slowed down and didn’t score again until late in the third quarter.

That gave the Golden Bears time to get back in the game.

Cayden Kitchin broke a 44-yard touchdown run with 4:02 left in the second quarter, and then J.T. Gannon returned a Cornwall fumble for a touchdown with 3:17 left in the quarter.
Suddenly, it was a game, again.

“We’re usually slow starters,” Arduino said. “But we go up 15-0 in the first four or five minutes and it was like we’d never been in that situation before, and we slowed down a bit.”

However, Bishop and the offense had an immediate answer, driving from their own 45. Bishop finished the drive with a 23-yard touchdown run, giving the Dragons a 22-12 lead.

Bishop was named the game’s offensive MVP.

“It’s not just Jordan; it’s the whole offense,” Lont said. “It’s the o-line blocking their guys and doing their job. It’s Jordan reading his holes and making the play.”

The Dragons added a Ryan Miele field goal, and the defense did the rest. Outside of Kitchin’s touchdown run, the Golden Bears’ offense only crossed the 50-yard line once.

“Defense was unbelievable,” Arduino said. “They were flying around creating sacks and just flying to the ball. Our defense kept us in this one. We were struggling on offense to punch it in and sustain some drives, but our defense stepped up.”

The Dragons will need the defense and better from the offense to get past Somers and find their way to the Dec. 6 state championship game at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse.

“We’re feeling good,” Lont said. “I trust in our coaches getting us a game plan and making us work hard. We can’t take nothing for granted. We’re one of the Final Four teams in the state so that’s really big. We’ve just got to get in the right mental head space and go to work.”