Announcement
THE BATTLE OF THE VALLEY (AKA 'THE HELMET GAME')
THE BATTLE OF THE VALLEY (AKA ‘THE HELMET GAME’)
Way back before anyone in NY state could envision such a thing as a ‘State Tournament’ where teams from different regions could play to determine bragging rights, we deferred to our league rivals. The creation of Valley Central HS in 1960 (after two years of ‘Montgomery High School’) was a sign of changing times. From 1927-1957, the Walden ‘Knifetowners’ had two main football enemies: Goshen and Warwick. The teams fought for the ‘Little Three’ small village school title, which continued even after the OCL entered the scene (1953) through 1963.
Meanwhile, Wallkill battled in the trenches against UCAL and MHAL Ulster County foes like Highland, Marlboro, New Paltz, Rondout Valley, and Saugerties. Liberty also spent a short time in that league after temporarily exiting the Western Sullivan League.
Since the Mid-Hudson Athletic League and the Orange County League ended their respective football runs when the New York State Public High School Athletic Association prepared for a complete state tournament, this made new rivalries possible within the framework of sectional play. Wallkill and Valley Central are two programs that have found that special kind of competitive bond through both community and geographic location. Thus …. THE BATTLE OF THE VALLEY" is now an every-year matchup.
The signature trophy of the yearly winner is THE HELMET, which the athletes from both schools want as a symbol of local pride. Coaches Ron Introini of Valley Central and Dave DerCola of Wallkill agreed to kick off this special series in 2000, but we’ll give you the scores of all the documented games that the Panthers and Vikings have played since 1991, the year after both the MHAL and OCL ended in football. According to our records, Wallkill holds a 16-13 lead in the overall series, and a 13-10 edge since THE HELMET came into play in 2000. We’ll update this page whenever we get new results.
1991 – Valley Central 23, Wallkill 22
1992 – Valley Central 14, Wallkill 0
1994 – Our records from this season are a bit sketchy – anyone with info may e-mail rockrich@optonline.net
1996 – Wallkill 6, Valley Central 0
1997 – Valley Central 39, Wallkill 26
1998 – Wallkill 19, Valley Central 8
1999 – Wallkill 10, Valley Central 7
2000 – Wallkill 12, Valley Central 7 (first game for THE HELMET)
2001 – Wallkill 27, Valley Central 3
2003 – Wallkill 61, Valley Central 13
2004 – Wallkill 31, Valley Central 0
2005 – Valley Central 23, Wallkill 0
2006 – Wallkill 21, Valley Central 14 (OT)
2007 – Valley Central 21, Wallkill 7
2008 – Wallkill 14, Valley Central 10
2009 – Valley Central 38, Wallkill 28
2010 – Wallkill 20, Valley Central 14
2011 – Wallkill 43, Valley Central 33
2012 – Wallkill 23, Valley Central 22
2013 – Valley Central 42, Wallkill 24
2014 – Valley Central 28, Wallkill 27
2015 – Valley Central 31, Wallkill 19
2016 – Wallkill 21, Valley Central 7
2017 – Valley Central 42, Wallkill 21
2018 – Valley Central 55, Wallkill 21
2019 – Valley Central 47, Wallkill 14
Spring 2021 – Valley Central 22, Wallkill 19
Fall 2021 – Wallkill 7, Valley Central 0
2022 – Wallkill 14, Valley Central 7
2023 – Wallkill 25, Valley Central 20
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