Ilion, November 1, 1998 - Game captains William Cooper, Andrew Gornick, Garrett Kubiak and Dominick Timpano lost the opening toss; but, started the Bears on offense when the Ilion team elected to defer their choice until the second half. The Bears first play was a long pass down field which was picked off by an alert Ilion defender and returned to the Bear 45 yard line. Ilion hindered by a clipping penalty was then forced to punt. The Bears started on their own 25 yard, made 1 first down: but, then turned gave up the ball on their own 45 when a quarterback sneak on 4th and 1 failed. After having a touchdown called back because of another clipping penalty, Ilion relinquished the ball on the Bear 39 yard line. Two plays later Andrew Gornick scored a TD on a 59 yard blast play up the middle behind excellent line blocking by Peter Dzialo, Stephen Montesano and Tom Hulser and a good lead block by Adam Griffin. Gornick scored again in the 2nd quarter on a 36 yard dive play up the middle when the same trio opened a tremendous hole. Robert Imobersteg, Kyle Donnenwirth and James Goldstein were protecting the back side on the first score and John Manganelli, Robert Denz and Kyle Fragetta were protecting the backside on the second score. The two touchdowns by Gornick gave him 90 points and the Bear single season scoring record. Jay Frisillo of the 1981 Bears was the previous record holder with 86 points.
The extra point kicking unit performed to perfection. David Misiaszek, Shane Harrington, Adam Griffin, and Peter Dzialo protected the left side, Vito Pugliano snapped, Stephen Zimowski, Tom Hulser, David Hayes, and Andrew Gornick protected the right side, Alex MacDiarmid was the holder and Shaun McQueary was the kicker. McQueary drilled the uprights after both scores and the Bears lead by 16. Middle linebacker Garrett Kubiak, defensive ends Dean Alcott and Chad Rose, aided by great pursuit by nose guard Andrew Gornick and tackles Tom Hulser, Peter Dzialo and David Hayes did an excellent job of containing the Ilion running game and pressuring the Ilion passing game. The first half ended with the score 16-0.
After a scoreless 3rd quarter, Ilion running back Matthew Hoover scored both on a 6 yard run around his own right end. The extra point attempt failed and the score was 16-6. The Angels were elated when the Bears fumbled and lost the ball on the very next possession. There hopes were quickly dampened when Adam, Griffin intercepted a pass and returned it to the Ilion 11 yard line. When the Ilion defense forced the Bears into a 4th down and 6 yards to go situation, the kicking unit was called on one more time. McQueary drilled the up rights again. This time for a 25 yard field goal. The score was now 19 - 6. The seven points scored by the kicking team would prove to be the margin of victory. The 7 kicking points by McQueary also gave him 29 for the season and broke the Bear kicking record of 27 points set by Jon Lewis in 1986. Ironically they each kicked a field goal, the only two ever attempted or made by the Bears.
On the following possession Ilion’s Matthew Hoover really burned the Bears who were in a safety blitz. Hoover’s run was around his right end again, only this time it was for 64 yards. Bill Cooper intercepted the extra point try and the score was 19 - 12. Neither team scored again.
After the game coach Circelli stated "It was really nice to be able to give all three offensive backfields a chance to move the ball in a close contest like this." He was referring to the starting offensive backfield of William Cooper, Andrew Gornick, Adam Griffin and Vito Pugliano, the second backfield of Shane Harrington, Shaun McQueary, Stephen Zimowski and David Misiaszek with center Matt King, and the third backfield of Alex MacDiarmid, Fran Barres, Nicholas Sinisgalli, and William Testa with center Bill Haddad.
Coach Brown was equally elated with the fine line play of the Bears. He stated, "We have a lot of young linemen and they really improved as the season progressed. If these guys make weight next year , we will really be tough." He was referring to the following 12 year olds: Dean Alcott, Thomas Brown, Robert Denz, Kyle Fragetta, James Goldstein, Billy Haddad, David Hayes, Robert Imobersteg, Matt King, Ted Kivo, John Manganelli, and Stephen Montesano. That’s right! Count them again---12. In addition 11 year old Adam Carchedi and Steve Stockall may also be back. Coach Deyo could only say, "Boy! That’s great!"
New Hartford, October 23, 1998 - The Bears played an excellent game on both sides of the ball to defeat a very well disciplined North Utica Raider team. The Bears won the toss and started on offense. Vito Pugliano made 8 yards on the first carry of the game. Adam Griffin made 6 on the second. Not to be out done, Andrew Gornick ran 51 yards on the third play for a score. The kick was wide right. The Raiders started a drive of their own; however, after yielding a two first downs, the Bear defense stiffened. On fourth and short, defensive end Chad Rose made a great play to stuff a run attempt around his side. The Bears second possession was stopped by a fumble caused by a blitzing defender. Quarterback William Cooper’s pass to David Hayes on the third possession resulted in a TD when David ran 52 yards for the score. The kick was wide right. The score was now 12-0.
The Raiders quickly retaliated by scoring in 5 plays, the fifth being a 40 yard run. They also scored the extra point when an uncovered receiver caught a pass. The score was 12-7. Strengthened by their success the Raiders played inspired defense to force a Bear punt. Cooper’s punt was a beauty which ended on the Raider’s 11 yard line. The Raiders could not move the ball and were forced to punt. The punter was rushed, the kick was poor, and the Bears had the ball on the 29 yard line. The Bears drove down to the goal line where Gornick caught a Cooper pass for 6 yards and his second TD. A pass on a faked extra point kick was off target and the half ended 18-7.
The Bears blocked the kick when the Raiders were forced to punt on their first possession of the second half. Garrett Kubiak then scored on a 10 yard carry behind the blocking of Steve Montesano, Thomas Hulser and Dean Alcott. The kick was wide right to make the score 24-7. The Raiders scored on the next play, a 65 yard run. The extra point attempt failed and the score was 24-13. The Bears started the next possession with a 5 yard penalty. Gornick then ran 70 yards around the right end for his third TD of the night. Shaun McQueary’s kick was good to make the score 32-13. The Raiders scored again. Gornick also scored again. This time it was a 50 yard run around the left end. Another good kick and the score was 40- 19. It took the Raiders 11 plays to make the score 40-25.
On the bear’s ninth possession of the game William Cooper, behind excellent protection, punted the ball forty yards down field where he tackled the return man. A fine play. The Raiders scored one more time and the game ended 40-31.
Coach Brown praised the offensive and defensive linemen for their fine play. Coach Denz praised William Testa for his gutsy defensive performance. The 6-1 Bears will close out the season next Sunday against a very good 5-2 Ilion Bomber team.
Waterville, October 17, 1998 - Bear captains Fran Barres, Thomas Brown, Bill Haddad, and Steve Montesano lost the opening toss but then lead the team to victory. Bear linebacker Shane Harrington sacked the Eagle’s Quarterback on the 3rd down of their 1st possession forcing them to punt. The punt was short and the Bears started with the ball on the defensive 45 yard line. Vito Pugilano, behind key blocks by Thomas Hulser, Dean Alcott and Adam Griffin, drove the ball 9 yards to the Eagle 36 yard line. Quarterback William Cooper then completed a 20 yard pass to Mark Bostwick who advanced the ball to the 2 yard line. After an unsuccessful pass attempt to David Hayes, Steve Zimowski scored behind the lead block of Andrew Gornick. The kick was good and the score was 8-0.
On their next possession, the Eagles were again held to 3 plays and a punt. Shaun McQueary, returned the punt 51 yards down the left side of the field making the score 14-0. The Bears C unit anchored by defensive linemen Robert Imobersteg, Adam Carchedi, Steve Stockall, James Goldstein, Kyle Donnenwirth and Kyle Fragetta, entered the game. Almost immediately, Alex MacDiarmid intercepted a pass and returned if for the 3rd Bear touchdown to make the score 20-0. The Eagles scored on their next possession making the score 20-7.
The 1st half wasn’t over yet! David Misiaszek score an extra point around the right end after Shaun McQueary scored his 2nd touchdown of the night on a 60 yard run. The Eagles bounced back and drove down the field for another score. After a 62 yard touchdown run by Andrew Gornick was called back, the last score of the 1st half occurred when Cooper scampered down the left sideline on a quarterback roll out. The half ended 33-13.
During the 2nd half, Nick Sinisgalli and William Testa lead the Bear C unit defense with some very vicious tackling. Robert Imobersteg and Fran Barres, along with Sinisgalli and Testa, lead the Bears’ to another score. Barres scored the final Bear TD and the game ended 39-20.
New Hartford, October 11, 1998 - The Bears lost a heart breaker to the Frankfort Knights. by a score of 20 - 14. Mike Dudeck scored two 1st half touch downs over an over confident New Hartford team. Trailing 14 - 0 at half time, the Bears played a great 3rd quarter. Very determined running by Adam Griffin, Vito Pugliano and Garret Kubiak resulted in the first Bear score. Shaun McQueary’s kick for the extra point was true and the Knight’s lead was cut to 6. The score was tied on the next possession when Chad Rose caught quarter back William Cooper’s deflected pass in the end zone. The snap for the extra point was bobbled and the score was knotted at 14 all.
The Bear defense did an excellent of shutting down the Frankfort offense in the second half. However, with 3 minutes left to play, the Bears were on their own 10 yard line as a result of a useless clipping penalty. Frankfort then blocked William Cooper’s punt attempt and recovered the ball in the end zone for the winning score. The Bears did not give up. They proceeded to move the ball down field. Cooper completed successive passes to Chad Rose and Andrew Gornick. Unfortunately time ran out before the Bears could score.
After the game coach Circelli stated, "It was a great second half effort. The players showed a lot of courage to come back the way they did. It was a tough game to lose. We simply made too many mistakes. We have 3 games left and we know what we have to do to come out on top. I know our kids will take this loss in stride and will make the necessary corrections."
West Utica, October 4, 1998 - The New Hartford Bears, lead by team captains Dean Alcott, David Hayes, Mark Bostwick and Thomas Hulser, defeated the West Utica Jaguars at Notre Dame Field to post their 4th straight victory. Vito Pugliano scored the 1st TD when he scampered 17 yards around the right end on the 2nd Bear possession. The kick was wide left. The Jaguars quickly evened the score at 6 points with the aid of a 45 yard pass play. Andrew Gornick scored on the Bear’s 3rd possession with a 50 yard run around the left end. The kick was wide left making the score 12 - 6. Following a circus catch interception by William Cooper, the Bears drove the ball down field where Garrett Kubiak scored on a fine run up the middle. The kick was wide left and the score was now 18 - 6. The defense held the Jaguars to 3 plays and a punt which Gornick returned 42 yards. Cooper then hit Gornick on a 22 yard pass play for the 4th Bear TD of the half. The kick was wide left. Excellent defensive play, lead by Shane Harrington, Nicholas Sinisgalli and William Testa, shut down the Jaguars on their next possession and the half ended with the score 24 - 6.
Fran Barres intercepted a pass to stymie the Jaguar’s opening possession of the second half; however, the Jaguars quickly scored on a 75 yard pass interception of their own to make the score 24 - 12. The pumped up Jaguars then held the Bears to 3 plays and a punt. Fortunately it was an excellent 37 yard punt by Cooper to the Jaguar 24 yard line. Once again it was 3 plays and a punt for the Jaguars. Andrew Gornick then scored his 3rd TD of the day on another beautiful pass by quarterback William Cooper. Shaun McQueary split the uprights for the extra point and the score was 32 - 12. Fran Barres then made his second interception of the half but the Bears were unable to move the ball. After the Jaguars drove the ball to make the score 32 - 20, Bear fullback Adam Griffin scored on a running play to help celebrate his 14th birthday. Stephen Zimowski ran for the extra point. The Jaguars did not give up. They came back to score 7 more points and the game ended 39 - 27.
Coach Brown and Coach Denz praised Stephen Montesano, Thomas Hulser and the entire offensive line for their fine line play; however, they were disappointed by the five penalties committed by the offensive line. Coach Brown stated, "We definitely have to improve in that area. We will be playing a 4 - 0 Frankfort team next Sunday and must be at our best."
New Hartford, September 27, 1998 -The New Hartford Bears defeated a very well coached and disciplined Whitestown team to post their third victory of the season. Team captains Peter Dzialo, Stephen Montesano, John Manganelli and Garrett Kubiak won the pre game toss and elected to take the ball. The Bears then relentlessly drove the ball down the field with Robert Imobersteg, Kyle Donnenwirth and Ted Kivo playing backside line in a flawless manner; however, the Bears came up empty handed when the ball was fumbled and Whitestown recovered it in the end zone. The Bear defense held Whitestown to 3 plays and a punt and then the offense marched the ball down the field again with James Goldstein, Adam Carchedi and Steve Stockall playing backside line. They also played flawlessly. The drive, hampered by a fumble which the Bears luckily recovered, stalled on the 2 yard line. The defense did a great job of keeping Whitestown in their end of the field and the Bears began their 3rd possession on the defensive 27 yard line. Andrew Gornick scored around the left side of the line behind great blocking by Vito Pugliano, Dean Alcott and Thomas Brown. A good snap by Pugliano, a good hold by Alex MacDiarmid, good line blocking and a good kick by Shaun McQueary made the score 8 - 0. On the next possession, super blocking by Dean Alcott and Thomas Brown allowed QB William Cooper to hit David Hayes for a 40 yard touchdown pass. The extra point kicking unit was successful again and the score was 16-0. The defense held again and Bears took over on downs. Adam Griffin, Steve Zimowski, Garrett Kubiak, and Vito Pugliano powered the ball down to the 2 yard line where QB Cooper was able to sneak it in. An extra point pass to Dean Alcott was good making the score 23-0. A mental mistake by the Bear’s defense allowed Whitestown with less than 1 minute remaining in the 2nd quarter. The Bears made a valiant effort to score on their 6th possession of the 1st half as Cooper completed two passes before time ran out. The score was 24 - 6.
On the 2nd possession of the 2nd half, Shaun McQueary scored on a 18 yard run behind an excellent lead block by Stephen Zimowski. Cooper ran the right end for the extra point to make the score 30 -6. Whitestown scored on their next 2 possessions to make the score 30-20. After a pass interception by Garrett Kubiak, the Bears scored again when Gornick swept the right end behind a superlative block by David Misiaszek. The kicking unit was successful and the score was 38-20. Alex MacDiarmid intercepted a pass to end Whitestown’s last threat.
Coach Brown and Coach Denz praised the Bear defense and Coach Circelli praised the offense. Coach Deyo could only say: "Holy cow! Did you see that fabulous reverse cross body block by Thomas Brown on that pass play?" Coach Nevits noted that the Bears committed 2 fumbles and 5 penalties. He then stated: "We can not make those types of mistakes if we want to win the close games. Next week is going to be another challenging week of practices."
New Hartford, September 20, 1998 - The New Hartford Bears defeated an excellent Clinton team to post their second victory of the season. Clinton scored first on a 48 yard touchdown run around their right side by quarterback Mike Duxbury. Coach Brown noted that several Bears might have caught Duxbury if they had taken better pursuit angles. This will be worked on this week. An aggressive defense lead by Chad Rose, Mark Bostwick, Steve Zimowski, Garrett Kubiak and William Cooper would prevent Clinton From scoring again. Fran Barres made his presence known with a pass interception to kill a big drive by the Clinton offense. The Bears had a touchdown called back due to a movement penalty by the offense line and the half ended with Clinton leading 7-0.
During the half-time intermission, team captains Adam Griffin, Vito Pugliano, Shaun McQueary and Dominick Timpano stated things would be different in the second half. Their statement proved to be true. In spite of several penalties that occurred because of substitution problems associated with a close game, the Bears played an excellent second half. Andrew Gornick scored through the left side of the line behind the line blocking of Peter Dzialo, Stephen Montesano and Thomas Hulser and a fine lead block by Adam Griffin. The Bears executed a 2 point conversion with an excellent snap by Vito Pugliano, an excellent hold by Alex MacDiarmid and a beautiful place kick by Shaun McQueary. William Cooper intercepted a desperation pass by Clinton on the last play of the game and the Bears won 8-7.
Coach Nevits promised the Bears a very challenging week of practice to eliminate the numerous problems encountered during the game.
New Hartford, September 13, 1998 - The New Hartford Bears opened the season with a 28-6 victory over the Mount Markham Colts. The starting unit scored on its first three possessions and completely dominated a young inexperienced Colt team. The first score was a punt return by Andrew Gornick with excellent blocking by Shawn McQueary, William Cooper, Adam Griffin, Dean Alcott and David Hayes. Gornick also scored the next 2 touchdowns. One behind excellent line blocking of Dean Alcott and Thomas Brown and a fine lead block by Vito Pugliano. The other when David Hayes and Steve Zimowski made key blocks on a run around the end. Robert Imobersteg, Adam Carchedi and Steve Stockall were playing backside at the time and did a good job of sealing off the defense. Shawn McQueary kicked 2 extra points and the half ended with the score 22 - 0. The C Unit played a very good second half which was high lighted by a pass interception by Shane Harrington which he returned for a touchdown, a long run by William Testa and good defensive play and gang tacking by the entire unit.
Although it was a fine victory for the Bears, the coaching staff warned the team not to become over confident and that each player must be fully committed to improve himself and the team in the weeks to come. Coach Circelli stated "We will play much stronger teams and must definitely work hard to become the best we can be."
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