Shawn DeLaigle ran for three touchdowns and 162 yards, and the Marlboro football team recovered three muffed kickoffs in a 40-0 shutout of New Paltz on Friday, Oct. 23.

DeLaigle, a senior running back and outside linebacker, accounted for half of the Dukes’ six touchdowns, all of which came on the ground. Marlboro handed him the ball on each of its first six plays from scrimmage, and he scored twice and gained 73 yards in that stretch. He scored first from 5 yards out and then from 27 yards. He finished with 16 carries.

The Dukes’ special teams were nearly as important. Marlboro recovered three muffed kickoffs by New Paltz returners, the first coming after DeLaigle’s second touchdown. Sophomore wide receiver and cornerback DJ McKenzie recovered the first and last of them, and sophomore wide receiver and cornerback Zylon Small recovered the middle one.

The first recovery led to Marlboro’s only major mistake. Sophomore quarterback Santino Caserto threw an interception to New Paltz senior safety and wide receiver Malcolm Dillehay. The other two recoveries came on consecutive drives, and Marlboro strung three drives together without New Paltz’s offense touching the ball. Two of those drives ended in touchdowns, a second 5-yard run by DeLaigle and a 21-yard run by junior running back and linebacker Jayden Cutting on the drive’s only play.

Senior running back and linebacker Giorgi Partsvania scored Marlboro’s fifth touchdown on a 5-yard run. Junior running back and outside linebacker Amar’e Lane then recovered a fumble on the second play of New Paltz’s next drive, setting up senior tight end and defensive end Shane Sullivan’s 29-yard touchdown run. Marlboro scored two touchdowns in each of the first three quarters.

Cutting finished with three carries for 28 yards, Sullivan had three carries for 25 yards and Lane had four for 16 yards.

Senior tight end, defensive end and linebacker Dylan McKenzie and sophomore running back, outside linebacker and cornerback Shiloh Foster each carried once, for 4 and 2 yards, respectively. Caserto lost 18 yards when he recovered a botched snap, his only keeper of the night.
Caserto rarely threw, completing 6 of 10 passes for 59 yards with the interception.

Dylan McKenzie was his top target with three catches for 40 yards. Sophomore wide receiver and defensive back Elijah Lewis caught two passes for 16 yards, and Sullivan had one catch for 3 yards.

Dylan McKenzie recorded Marlboro’s only sack, a 1-yard loss. Senior kicker Lorenzo Caserto made 4 of 6 extra-point attempts. He missed the first, and the third was blocked.

New Paltz was flagged twice for 15 yards. Marlboro was penalized five times for 35 yards, including two encroachment calls on New Paltz’s first drive. The second gave New Paltz a first down on fourth-and-short.

“I thought all three sides of the ball were pretty fantastic tonight,” Marlboro head coach Ryan Brooks said. “[We did a] great job on kickoffs, getting the ball back for our offense, and the seniors had a great night for their last game on the football field.”

It was Marlboro’s fourth and final home game of the season. The Dukes (5-2) have outscored their opponents 81-0 in their last two home games, including a win over Liberty in their previous outing. They close the regular season at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, at Saugerties.