Wanamaker Photography

The second part of our mini series covers an incredible football game between Minisink Valley and Newburgh Free Academy for the Section IX Football title.

Unlike Friday night, Saturday was a bit colder once the sun had dipped below the horizon. As we made the hour and a half long journey up to Dietz Stadium in Kingston New York, we talked about how we were going to cover what was sure to be an exciting game between two very strong High School teams.

The last matchup between Minisink and Newburgh was a very close game. Coming down to the final minutes in the fourth quarter and only a few points between them, Minisink held on strong to defeat them for the third time in nearly a year. However, Saturday night was going to shape up a little differently …

Both teams played very strong in the first half, only moving the ball a few yards during their posession. By the time halftime came around, Minisink was ahead by a little more than two touchdowns. As I followed them into the locker room for some “behind the scenes” shots, I completely forgot how cold it was outside and just how warm and humid the locker room actually was. When I finally cleared my lenses of the fog … I snapped some shots of the team as they prepared for the second half of this tough game.

As the final minutes of the game ticked away, Newburgh found some extra strength within and put up a strong fight for the title. With just thirty-five seconds left in the game, Newburgh tied everything … sending the game into overtime. Unfortunately, it was already 10:30PM and with an hour and a half drive ahead of us and an early morning wedding on Sunday, we made the tough decision and left the game just as the overtime matchup got underway.

As we headed home, friends from the sidelines provided us with up-to-the-second updates as the game progressed. With each team scoring another touchdown, they entered double overtime …

In a stunning upset for Minisink Valley, Newburgh was the first to score and won the Section IX Football title. While Minisink may have lost, everyone on the team played an incredible game! Even though they lost, here are some “highlight” shots from the game …