Josh Thibodeau rushes for 149 tough yards, three scores as Minisink Valley tops Warwick
The game was billed as Monday Night Football … only without ABC and ESPN.
Inclement weather on Friday pushed the Minisink Valley-Warwick game to a spotlight setting at C. Ashley Morgan Field.
Two division rivals.
Perfect weather.
And Minisink’s Josh Thibodeau, the catalyst in a 27-7 victory.
For fans of an older age, you could almost hear Howard Cosell raising his voice as he described Houston Oilers great Earl Campbell’s heroic night in 1978 at the Astrodome as he demolished Miami defenders — go watch it on Google.
Or perhaps it was echoes of John Madden punching the word, ‘Boom!’ with every great collision.
Thibodeau shined bright in the Monday night spotlight. The senior running back rushed for 149 yards on 25 carries and three touchdowns but it was a non-scoring play that that will have fans buzzing for a while.
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Barely two minutes into the second quarter, Thibodeau lined up next to Minisink QB Robert Labarbera in the shotgun formation. Thibodeau had already established himself as the night’s workhorse, with his number 44 already called nine times. Thibodeau took the handoff and burrowed into a wall of Warwick defenders … and kept going, driving his legs while teammates pushed from behind. A mass of humanity looked more like a rugby scrum, and Thibodeau kept making progress, about 5 yards with every surge. In the end, the play went for 22 yards and was the highlight of a nine-play, 70-yard scoring drive capped by — you guessed it — a 1-yard scoring run by Thibodeau for a 6-0 lead.
“We all wanted it. All of the credit goes to my (offensive) line,’’ Thibodeau said. “They’ve been working their butts off since the beginning of the season.'"
Warwick managed a go-ahead touchdown in the final minute of the first half, but the game was decidedly Minisink, and Thibodeau, the rest of the way.
Jake Luciano won a one-on-one battle with Warwick’s Nicholas Sirico for a 29-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter, a lead Minisink would not surrender. Thibodeau ragged a few defenders on a 7-yard touchdown on the final play of the third. Labarbera found Charles Olsen on a deep sideline route for 39 yards, setting up Thibodeau’s third score, from 5 yards.
No, you take it
The game was seconds old when Warwick’s Michael Accardo recovered a fumble off a brief Minisink return. In all, each team turned the ball over three times. Olsen and Luciano had interceptions for Minisink, as did Johnny Accardo for Warwick.
By the numbers
Minisink rushed for 167 yards and Labarbera completed 10 of 18 throws for 142 yards. … Warwick QB Wils Siebert completed eight of 13 throws (with two picks) for 97 yards. He had 15 carries for 34. Four other Warwick backs accounted for minus-4 rushing yards. Dylan Sullivan caught a 44-yard touchdown pass in stride with 35 seconds left in the half.
They said it
“Everyone was saying we were going to have one win, so to be 3-1 … it’s awesome.’’ – Josh Thibodeau, Minisink Valley running back
“We were supposed to play Friday so we had to wait through a long weekend. I think that’s the reason why we came out flat today. I’m really happy with the way the guys showed resolve to come back out in the second half and play really hard, physical football and get the job done.’’ – Minisink Valley coach Kevin Gallagher
Up next
There’s no time for celebration and actually less time to recover – Minisink travels to Section 9 juggernaut Cornwall (5-0) on Friday night. Warwick gets an extra day, hosting challenging Wallkill (2-3) in a division matchup on Saturday afternoon.
Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Minisink Valley football runs through Warwick for divisional win
