New Hartford, November 2 - Neither inclement weather nor the Frankfort Knights (7-2) could deny the New Hartford Bears (7-2) their 6th straight win. Game captains Dominick Timpano, Mark Bostwick, Desi Welch and Daniel Stooks started the game on the right note when they won the pre game toss. Frankfort scored first, on a 45 yard jaunt around end when the Bear’s left defensive end failed to protect the outside. The extra point was good and the Knights were ahead 7-0.
Bill Demma then relentlessly powered the ball down field behind excellent up front blocking by Rob Reynolds, Brien Tyoe, and Jonathan Callahan and very fine lead blocking by Andrew Gornick, Vito Pugliano and Adam Griffin. The drive featured a 32 yard play action pass from QB Matt Houseman to Kevin Bartoszek. Bill Demma scored on a 23 yard slant off left tackle and the score was 7-6. The Bears played excellent defense for the rest of the of the game but allowed Frankfort to score a TD when the Bear QB dropped the football while dropping back to pass. An alert Frankfort defender advanced the ball, with Branden Obernesser in pursuit, 64 yards for Frankfort’s 2nd and final score. The half ended with a heavy down pour and Frankfort ahead 13-6.
The Bears dominated the second half with 20 unanswered points and a strong, swarming, gang tackling defense that also featured solo tackles by Nick Lennon, Brien Tyoe, Daniel Spinella, Peter Dzialo, Bill Cooper, Anthony SantaLucia and Bill Demma. Bear fullback, Bill Demma, scored two 2nd half TDs and an extra point. Adam Griffin scored the other TD and Kevin Bartoszek scored the extra point on a pass from Matt Houseman. Justin Wiederhold, while alternating at back side guard with Stephen Zimowski, kept one Bear drive alive by alertly pouncing on a fumbled ball. Dean Alcott, Dominick Timpano and Thomas Brown were playing back side line when the Bears scored their first TD and when the game ended. They played flawlessly. The final score was 26-13 in favor of the Bears.
The coaching staff complimented all the players on their excellent attitude, determination , and team play. Coach Circelli summed it up for all the coaches when he stated, "They are a great bunch of kids. They played with a lot courage, pride and discipline. I am looking forward to next year already."
New Hartford, October 26 - The New Hartford Bears (6-2) lead by game captains Dean Alcott, Anthony SantaLucia, Daniel Spinella and Peter Dzialo defeated the Herkimer Hornets 32 - 14 to post their 5th straight win. Bill Demma scored on the opening possession, behind very fine blocking by the interior line of Brien Tyoe, Jonathon Callahan, Daniel Spinella, Peter Dzialo and Daniel Stooks. Desi Welch made a very fine interception to end the Hornet's next possesion. Quarterback Matt Houseman then hit Rob Reynolds in the end zone for a TD and Branden Obernesser for an extra point making the score 13-0. Early in the 2nd quarter, Desi Welch scored on a 27 yard carry through the middle of the line. Michael Cortese then scored the extra point on a pass from Quarterback Matt Houseman to make the score 20 - 0. Herkimer scored late in the second quarter and the half ended with the score 20 - 6.
The Bears started the second half on defense. The Hornet’s drive was stymied by great pass coverage by corner backs Billy Cooper and Andrew Gornick. Cooper knocked down two passes and nearly intercepted another. Gornick did intercept the ball and returned it 24 yards on a great run. Vito Pugliano, Kevin Bartoszek, Desi Welch, Gornick and Adam Griffin then relentlessly drove the ball down the field behind punishing lead blocking by Bill Demma. Griffin punched in the TD and the Bears lead 26 - 6. Not to be denied, the Hornet’s scored again on a 55 yard pass play when New Hartford’s corner back, with good position on the receiver, made an excellent hit but failed to wrap. Quarterback Matt Houseman scored the final Bear TD on the best block Andrew Gornick made all year.
Coach Tim Deyo stated "Holy cow, what a game. Our kids really played great today." Coaches Mike SantaLucia and Tom Brown were both very pleased by the defensive play of the second unit. Coach Brown stated, "The second unit got chewed up by the bigger kids, but they never quit."
The Bears will play a post season game next Sunday against the Frankfort Knights. It will be a rematch of the season opener that was won by Frankfort 12 - 6. Frankfort finished the regular season with a 7 -1 record and it promises to be a very tough game. It will be a double header at New Hartford. The first game matches the New Hartford’s Senior Cubs (8-0) against the Cornhill Pandas (7-0-1). Kick off time is 12:00 noon.
New Hartford, October 19 - Team captains Thomas Brown, Brandon Obernesser, Vita Pugliano and Bill Cooper lead the Bears to a lopsided 35-6 win over the Waterville Eagles. Once again, the Bears executed well on both sides of the ball, scoring four touchdowns on offense and one on defense.
Bill Demma scored the first Bear TD on a 44 yard scamper off right tackle behind beautiful blocking by Daniel Spinella, Jonathon Callahan, Brien Tyoe and Rob Reynolds. He also scored four points kicking extra points. The second TD came on a beautiful pass from quarterback Matt Houseman to Kevin Bartoszek. Running backs Adam Griffin and Andrew Gornick scored the next two touchdowns. The fifth and final TD was scored on a pass interception and a 55 yard return by Stephen Zimowski. Desi Welch scored the 35th point aided by excellent blocking around the left side by Dean Alcott and Dominick Timpano. Nicholas Lennon once again lead the defensive charge with three quarterback sacks.
Coach Circelli was pleased that six different Bears shared in the scoring. Coach Brown was pleased with the open field blocking. He stated “The block by Desi Welch on that punt return and the block by Mark Bostwick on that pass interception were the two best blocks I’ve seen this year.” “We certainly reduced the number of unforced errors this week.”, stated Coach Nevits. He didn’t mention any names but did refer, to a holding penalty by a 2 back and a movement penalty by an offensive end as the only miscues he could recall.
Clinton, October 12 - The New Hartford Bears executed well on both sides of the football to beat the Clinton Warriors 20 - 6. The Bears drove down the field on the opening possession to take a lead they would never relinquish. Because of good solid defense, the touchdown pass from Matthew Houseman to Kevin Bartoszek and the extra point kick by Bill Demma provided enough points for the victory. Nicholas Lennon and Bill Demma each scored an insurance touchdown on the way to victory.
An alert secondary and an aggressive defensive line proved to be the difference. Nose guard Nicholas Lennon lead the defensive charge with 3 quarterback sacks and many quarterback hurry ups which forced three interceptions. Andrew Gornick, Desi Welch and Bill Demma each had an interception. Coach Circelli stated the excellent line play, both offensively and defensively may have been due to the fact that linemen, Brien Tyoe, Justin Wiederhold, Jonathon Callahan and Daniel Stooks were team captains.
Coach Nevits stated he was pleased by the strong performance of the Bears; but, they need a lot of work this week to eliminate the many penalties they committed. While mentioning no names he cited a face mask penalty by a safety, a face mask penalty by a linebacker, a roughing the kicker penalty by a defensive end, a roughing the passer penalty by a middle line backer, a clipping penalty by a tackle, a holding penalty by a center, an illegal receiver down field penalty by a center, and movement penalties by an offensive tackle and offensive end. "We will certainly address these issues this week" Coach Nevits concluded.
New Hartford, October 5 - Bears Triumph at home. The New Hartford Bears demonstrated a well balanced attack while crushing the Whitestown Warriors 27 - 6. The scoring was shared by 5 different Bears. Bill Demma lead the scoring with 8 points followed by Kevin Bartoszek, Anthony SantaLucia and Billy Cooper who scored 6 points each. Adam Griffin scored an extra point.
West Canada, September 28 - The New Hartford Bears with a 1-2 record were really looking forward to playing the West Canada Indians who had an identical 1-2 record. Unfortunately, the game was never played. Upon arriving at West Canada the Bears were told head coach Bud Harris, his son Brian, and Brian’s friends had all quit and the West Canada Indians did not have enough players left. The game will go on the records as a forfeit.
North Utica, September 21 - The bears lost a hard fought battle to the North Utica Raiders by a score of 32-13. The coaching staff commented, even though the the Bears were physically overmatched against a team with five older lighter players and a starting line that outweighted theirs by 12 pounds per man, they made too many mistakes to beat a good team.
On the positive side. Bill Demma scored two touchdowns and Kevin Bartoszek scored an extra point on a pass from quarterback Matthew Houseman. The punting unit also did an excellent job of blocking for punter Billy Cooper who made several excellent punts.
The staff expressed confidence in the teams ability bounce back from this defeat and to be ready for next weekend when they meet West Canada. The team knows what they must do and the areas where they must improve before the game. They are a good group of kids and will work hard at pracice this week to achieve the needed improvements.
New Hartford, September 14 - The Bears snapped back from last week's opening season loss with a convincing 32-7 win over the Dolgeville Lightening Midget Team. Billy Demma who lead the scoring with 12 points was closely followed by Vito Pugliano and Desi Welch who scored 7 points each and Anthony SantaLucia who scored 6.
The coaching staff complemented the players on the their vast improvement over last week's performance: but, also cautioned them not to become too cocky or overconfident. Next Sunday's opponent is the defending champion North Utica Raiders who beat Dolgeville 33-7 last week and posted a 21- 0 victory over West Canada this weekend. The team must continue stay focused and continue to work hard this coming week in preparation for a very challenging game.
Frankfort, September 7 - The Bears season opener against Frankfort resulted in a 6-12 defeat for the Bears. It was hard fought game but was plagued by too many mis-stakes, fumbles and penalties. Bill Demma scored the New Hartford touchdown. Expressing confidence in this year's team, Coach Nevits said "we have better personnel but made too many mistakes." The Bears return to the practice field this week for next week's matchup against Dolgeville.
 |
Click to visit past issues of the Bear Times |