Football Preview: Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders vs. Pine Bush Bushmen
Monroe-Woodbury has gone 8-2 against Pine Bush recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Saturday. The Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders will welcome the Pine Bush Bushmen at 3:00 p.m. Monroe-Woodbury is currently enjoying a perfect season and no doubt wants to keep things rolling.
Monroe-Woodbury will bounce into Saturday's match after beating Newburgh Free Academy, who they hadn't topped in nine consecutive meetings. Monroe-Woodbury enjoyed a cozy 28-14 victory over Newburgh Free Academy on Friday. The Crusaders' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
Nate Coulanges and Ethan Maldonado were among the main playmakers for Monroe-Woodbury as the former rushed for 163 yards and a touchdown while picking up 7.8 yards per carry and the latter threw for 106 yards and two touchdowns. Coulanges' longest rush was for an incredible 71 yards.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Pine Bush, who bounced back after a loss on the road two weeks ago. They blew past Valley Central 34-14 on Friday.
Pine Bush's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Triston Santos, who threw for 198 yards and three touchdowns on only 14 passes. What's more, Santos also racked up 15 rushing yards, the mosthe's had since back in October of 2023. Jaiden Sposito was Santos' top target, picking up 129 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Pine Bush was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 256 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 165 rushing yards in three consecutive matchups.
One reason for the win was Pine Bush's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. Jacob Brown was especially locked on to Valley Central's QB and sacked him twice.
Monroe-Woodbury's victory bumped their record up to 4-0. As for Pine Bush, they now have a winning record of 2-1.
Saturday's game might be decided in the on the ground. Monroe-Woodbury has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 175 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Pine Bush struggles in that department as they've been averaging 227.7. It's looking like Saturday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Monroe-Woodbury was able to grind out a solid win over Pine Bush in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, winning 27-19. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Pine Bush's Plexico Brooks, who rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns on only 11 carries, and also picked up 60 receiving yards. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Monroe-Woodbury still be able to contain Brooks? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
