Football: Warwick 'wins together' in shutout victory over Wallkill

WARWICK — The Warwick football team wants to win together. And the record shows.

Warwick football blanked Wallkill, 34-0, in a league game on Saturday afternoon at Warwick Valley High School. The Wildcats remain undefeated at 4-0 after the homecoming victory.

The score remained scoreless after one quarter, but then Warwick showed what they can do. Southpaw quarterback Joey Krasniewicz aired out a pass and connected with Nate Constable for a 33-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

The drive was highlighted by an acrobatic catch by Ryan McLaughlin. Krasniewicz floated up a pass and McLaughlin made the turn and caught the ball on his way down to his backside near the Wallkill sideline. This moved the Wildcats forward.

Wallkill had a scoring opportunity after they were able to spike the ball with .1 seconds left in the half and go for the Hail Mary from the Warwick 36-yard line. Quarterback Chris Bartolone put up a pass, but Johnny Accardo picked it off for a 7-0 score into halftime.

Early in the third quarter, Bartolone found Richie Martinez, who took a hard hit and was down for a few minutes. He walked off to the sideline after some assistance. The ball was ruled a fumble, and Warwick capitalized. Krasniewicz found Skyler Rodriguez for a 30-yard touchdown. The extra point was good by Drew Borner for a 14-0 lead.

Rodriguez would contribute again and got to the Wallkill 15-yard line, before Owen Hoyen gained more yardage and ultimately ran in a 1-yard score. Warwick led 21-0 with 6:09 left in the third quarter.

McLaughlin would make another acrobatic grab, which advanced his team to the Panthers' 31-yard line, before Wallkill pounced on a fumble recovered by Ryan Rauschenbach on the next play. Nothing came of the turnover. And then the Warwick defense showed its stuff. Chase Hermance had a sack and the Warwick defense stopped Wallkill.

"Ryan [McLaughlin] plays the ball as well as anybody I’ve ever coached, and probably plays the ball in the air as good as anyone in Section 9 and New York state," Warwick coach Greg Sirico said. "He goes up and gets it at the highest point. He’s a scholarship baseball player, but I keep telling him, he’s a scholarship football player, too, so let’s see what happens.”

As time expired in the third quarter, Kransiewicz had his third passing touchdown of the day, as he found Latrell Willis on third and long for a 39-yard score. The point after was good and it was 28-0, completing a three-touchdown quarter for the Wildcats.

Aaron Greaves had a sack on a Wallkill fourth down for Warwick, turning the ball over with 9:28 left in the fourth quarter. Wallkill's Pablo Acosta also recovered a fumble as the fourth quarter went on.

Sophomore quarterback Brody Frederick notched his first-career varsity touchdown pass. Frederick threw a short pass to Willis, who used speed to score a 70-yard touchdown and his second of the day. The PAT was no-good and Warwick went up 34-0 with 4:56 left in the fourth quarter. Jonah Mederos recovered the ensuing kickoff to seal the win for Warwick.

"The key is we have athletes, but most teams have athletes," Krasniewicz said. "We have athletes that know what they’re doing on every single play. We don’t make mistakes. We’re always out there flying around going 100 miles per hour.”

What it means

The Wildcats remain undefeated and will look to continue to build upon their strong play in hopes of a playoff run. Wallkill has dropped their last two games and will look to get back in the win column with more offense. In the team's last two games, they scored a combined seven points.

Player of the game

Krasniewicz threw for three touchdowns, one for 33 yards to Nate Constable, the next to Skyler Rodriguez for 30 yards and one to Latrell Willis for 39 yards. His composure and the team's depth helped guide his team to the win.

By the numbers

Warwick (4-0) — Quarterback Joey Krasniewicz threw for three touchdown passes. Latrell Willis had two touchdown receptions. Nate Constable and Skyler Rodriguez each had a receiving touchdown. Owen Hoyen scored on a 1-yard touchdown run. Sophomore quarterback Brody Frederick notched his first-career varsity touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. Defensively, Johnny Accardo had an interception. Chase Hermance and Aaron Greaves each had a sack. Drew Borner went 4 of 5 on PATs.

Wallkill (1-3) — Ryan Rauschenbach and Pablo Acosta each recovered a fumble.

They said it

“I think we’re very aggressive on defense, we have guys who want to make plays, and we have 56 guys that like each other. They care more about winning than they do about personal statistics and that’s why we are as successful as we are right now.” - Warwick coach Greg Sirico on what has made his team successful.

What's next

Warwick is scheduled to travel to Newburgh to take on Newburgh Free Academy in a non-league game on Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. Wallkill is slated to host Valley Central in a league game on Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m.

MKramer1@th-record.com

Twitter: @MKramerTHR

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Section 9 football: Warwick 'wins together', shuts out Wallkill