It was a rude awakening for the Pine Bush football team.

The Bushmen gave up 21 first-quarter points in its Week 0 opener on Saturday morning, never got its offense going, and suffered a 42-0 loss to the Minisink Valley Warriors.

“They came out and brought it to us,” Pine Bush coach Jim Wright said. “We didn’t step up right away. In the second half, we stepped up a little better. But I would like to see us respond faster to the point than we just did.”

The Bushmen never forced the Warriors to punt and were pushed down the field early by the Warriors’ offense. Between the arm of Kai Colon and running of Ethan Gallo, the Warriors chewed five minutes off the opening game clock in a drive that ended with a 17-yard run by Gallo for a touchdown.

Then, after the Bushmen went three-and-out, a bad snap on the punt gave the Warriors the ball on the Bushmen’s 6-yard line. Colon took the ensuing run into the end zone for a 14-0 lead.

After another Pine Bush three-and-out, Colon hit Tyler Mackie for a 66-yard touchdown pass.
Very quickly the Warriors had a 21-0 lead.

Colon found Ernest DePolito, IV, for a 9-yard touchdown and Joshua Peguero with a 62-yard touchdown in the second quarter for a 35-0 halftime lead.

Gallo gave the Warriors’ their final touchdown of the game, a 1-yard run with 13.1 seconds to go in the third quarter.

“Defensively we slowed their progress,” Wright said. “I don’t think we made them punt once. So, as far as progress goes, not so much. We still have a lot of work ahead of us.”

The Pine Bush offense couldn’t get anything going, the most damage down through the middle by senior Dion Cauthen, gaining 55 yards on 11 carries.

The Bushmen didn’t pick up a first down until Danny DeGroodt’s 8-yard run on a third-and-3. The Bushmen finished the drive on the Minisink Valley 44, the deepest they reached all game.

They also reached the Warriors’ 45 in the fourth quarter.

“We learned some things about ourselves and some things that we can’t do in terms of the kids we have,” Wright said. “We have to learn how to get tougher and to get more physical. We have to get more physical and tougher. That’s a big thing that we’re missing right now.”