The Marlboro Iron Dukes got reacquainted with the Section 9 Class B championship football game last season.

Then they ran into a roadblock.

The Port Jervis Raiders, who won the championship with a 37-7 win over the second-seeded Iron Dukes.
This year, however, the Iron Dukes are looking to change the script.

“That motivates us more than anything,” senior running back/middle linebacker Sal Montaperto Jr. said. “It’s been a couple of years now against them, and that’s probably our main motivation right now. Just to get back to that game and see what happens from there.”

As they begin their mission to return to the Section 9 championship game, they will take that journey without last year’s quarterback/strong safety Miles Brooks, running back, middle linebacker Ryan Durling, linebacker/halfback Jack Drivas, wide receiver/outside linebacker Antonio Hickman, middle linebacker/wide receiver Connor Sweetman linebacker Kadofi Abbott, and lineman Ryan Emig.

The Iron Dukes have a senior class of about 10 players and 15 sophomores have joined the team from the Modified A ranks.

“The senior class has been with us for the last couple of years and have been part of the building process,” Marlboro coach Ryan Brooks said. “So now they’re steering the ship. We have a good group of sophomores that came in, and we’ve got some juniors.”

Montaperto Jr. leads the team, along with fellow seniors quarterback/defensive back Carter Rivieccio, running back/outside linebacker Sean Robertson, and lineman Mike Diviesti.

“We’re eager to play always, ever since we were younger,” Robertson said. “We just have a love for this game. We’ve just always wanted to be out here and play aggressive.”

The Iron Dukes also had an extended preseason with three full weeks of practice before squaring up for their Week 0 matchup against the Spackenkill Spartans.

That’s plenty of time to get the younger players into the flow of varsity.

“It’s very important because we’re seniors and this is our last year, and we’ve got to be good role models for them,” Robertson said. “Once we’re gone, who’s going to set the standard for them, so we’ve really got to set that in stone now, so once they become seniors, they’ll be leaders.”

The Iron Dukes will play in a loaded Class B that will total 11 teams. They are the smallest team in Division 1 by about 200 enrolled students. They will have five divisional games against Beacon, Saugerties, Liberty, Port Jervis and New Paltz.

Their section championship rematch against the Raiders is scheduled for October 10 at home.
“There’s a lot of motivation with the whole team,” Diviesti said. “We’ve got basically everyone back, and some seniors. We’re all fired up. We’re trying to get back to that game. That’s the main goal.”

Highland
Just a few miles to the north, the Highland Huskies are coming off one of their most successful seasons in recent memory, winning their first playoff game since 2009 when they defeated the fifth-seeded Red Hook Raiders in the Section 9 Class B quarterfinals.

They also finished with a 5-5 record on their way to the playoffs, and their berth in the Section 9 semifinals, where they were eliminated by the top-seeded Port Jervis Raiders.

“We’re looking to build on the progress made last year,” Highland coach Tom Schlappich said.
Connor Gemmell, James Gescheidle, Mark Cozzupoli, Ben Canino, Landon Zehr, Isaiah Thoben, Craig Elliot and Andre Coleman graduated from last year’s team.

Returning are Kulin Ogelle, Joshua Bishop, Logan Ellison, Marco Garrity, Connor Elliot, Logan Howard, Jamaiah Eliassant-Narciz, Nicholas Forzano and Rafiz Reid.

New to the varsity this year are Aubrey Nugent, Luke Wiese, Trevor Coates, Theodore Druttman, Daniel Hollifield, Chris Gertz, Leland DuBois, Noah Cabrera, Michael Forzano, Dylan Zocchi, and Bradley Gatto.
The Huskies will play in Class B Division 2 the Rondout Valley Ganders, Spackenkill Spartans, Red Hook Raiders and Fallsburg Comets.

“We are excited to return many integral pieces of our team from last year,” Schlappich said. “Our players took a step forward and learned a lot from last season. Expectations are high and we expect to be relevant in the division.”

2024 Schedule

Thursday, Sept. 5
Spackenkill at Marlboro, 6 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 7
Highland at Briarcliff, 12 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 13
Highland at Marlboro, 7 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 20
Highland at Rondout Valley, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 21
Marlboro at Saugerties, 1 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 27
Marlboro at New Paltz, 5 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 28
Spackenkill at Highland, 1 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 4
Liberty at Marlboro, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 5
Red Hook at Highland, 1 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 10
Highland at Fallsburg, 6 p.m.
Port Jervis at Marlboro, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 19
New Paltz at Highland, 1 p.m.
Marlboro at John S. Burke Catholic, 1 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 25
Marlboro at Beacon, 5:30 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 26
Highland at Monticello, 1 p.m.