The Wallkill football team lost 23 seniors from last year’s team.

Among those 23 seniors were a lot of playmakers such as receiver Richie Martinez, running back Sean Perrin and wide receiver/defensive back Mason Ondreyko, but that doesn’t mean the Panthers are entering the 2023 season without confidence.

Led by senior quarterback Chris Bartolone, the Panthers are looking to improve on last year’s 4-6 season that saw them in playoff contention until the last week of the season, ultimately missing the playoffs after a loss to the Minisink Valley Warriors.

“One of the biggest things for us coming into this year is that we had a very young group,” Bartolone said. “A lot of the guys that were on varsity last year didn’t play as much because had a big senior class. We’ve got some guys up from JV, but everybody’s been developing well.”

Other key returning players include Cooper Shuart, an offensive lineman, and wide receiver and defensive back Aidan Kozireski.

“We definitely have talent,” Kozireski said. “We have effort being performed by a bunch of guys, but we’re a young team, so we’re going to have to step up into the spots that they have to. Honestly, I think we can go a long way with this team.”

The Panthers, however, are not focused on long-term goals. Their singular gaze is on Saturday night’s Week 0 home game against the New Paltz Huguenots.

It will be the first of three non-league games the Panthers will start the season with before opening their league schedule, against the Cornwall Dragons. They also are scheduled to play divisional games against Goshen and Our Lady of Lourdes. They’ll also plan non-league games against the Minisink Valley Warriors, the Valley Central Vikings in the annual “Battle of the Valley” game, the Warwick Wildcats, Marlboro Iron Dukes and the Washingtonville Wizards.

“It can be easy for any team, regardless of age to say, ‘we want to make the playoffs’ or ‘we want to win a championship’, but we’ve got to take things one day at a time,” Wallkill coach Joe Pillitteri said. “They’ve got to learn that there’s a lot that goes into being a successful team. We’re focused on winning the first game, and I think they bought into that pretty good.”

Class AA
The Pine Bush Bushmen and the Valley Central Vikings are both looking to improve on their respective one-win seasons.

The Pine Bush Bushmen will call a newly refurbished field their home this year but are currently only scheduled for two home games this season – October 6 against the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders and October 27 against the Kingston Tigers.

Pine Bush’s second-year coach Richard Ormsby said the new turf field should be ready by October.

The Bushmen lost defensive tackle and tight end Mason Miranowicz, running back and linebacker Mike DeSena, offensive tackle Tyler Oosterom and quarterback Danny DeGroodt. However, they are returning running back and free safety Manny Hannon, linebacker Ed Marley, linebacker and running back Adam Beers, offensive guard, defensive end Jake Slovitsky, running back and cornerback Luke Broadbelt and wide receiver and corner back Logan Hawley.

Even though they have a young team with a big roster of 55 players, the Bushmen are looking to be competitive in every game with an eye toward making the Class AA playoffs.

“We are returning many senior leaders,” Ormsby said. “Everyone in the program – modified through varsity – is excited to get started.”

The Bushmen’s lone victory last year came against the Valley Central Vikings, who scored their only victory of the season when they beat the Beacon Bulldogs, 6-0, in overtime.

The Vikings have lost defensive back Ashton Sledzianowski, middle linebacker Danny Latimer and defensive tackle Kaiden Simmons, but return offensive lineman and defensive end Aiden White, wide receiver and defensive back Luke Watson and quarterback and defensive back John Wentink.

Fifth-year coach Andrew LaVallie said the Vikings are working hard to improve on last season’s performance, as they return to Class AA with the likes of Pine Bush, Newburgh, Kingston, Monroe-Woodbury and Middletown after spending last season as part of Class A.

“There is a lot of excitement on the team about this season,” LaVallie said. “We are just excited to compete each week at the AA level again.”