Section Nine Football

KINGSTON VS. NEWBURGH: A LONG AND STORIED HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT

Kingston Academy, Ulster Academy, and Newburgh had fielded football teams since the late 1890s. In fact, Newburgh and Warwick had planned an 1898 ‘County Championship’ game that never came to fruition. Port Jervis played Kingston Academy several times, including a game in 1914, and Newburgh played Kingston Academy as far back as 1905.

The Kingston City School District athletic website says 1915 saw the merger between Ulster Academy and Kingston Academy to form KINGSTON HIGH SCHOOL. Amazingly, this combination of schools formed the very first ‘Kingston Maroons’ squad that won the 1915 Eastern New York State Championship, with a perfect 10-0 record that included two wins over Newburgh, 21-0 and 28-0.

Kingston HS did not play football from 1916-18, more than likely a wartime pause, but resumed play in 1919, again shutting out Newburgh twice that year.

in the 1920s, Newburgh took momentum and won 9-of-13 games, one of which was a forfeit win in 1920. In 1923, the Dutchess Ulster Sullivan Orange (DUSO) football league began, a group comprised of city schools such as Kingston, Middletown, Monticello, Newburgh, Port Jervis, and Poughkeepsie. As for the next decade, Newburgh again had the advantage, winning five, losing three, along with two ties. After 1939, Kingston coach and athletic director G. Warren Kias stepped away from the football job but still coached four other sports.

The 1940’s saw Newburgh control the early half of the decade and Kingston pick up the pace in 1946 (Newburgh 8 wins, Kingston 7 wins, one tie). Coach Elder helped to guide the Newburgh-11 to a 10-3 mark in the battles during his 11 years at the helm from 1935-45. Then Willard Burke arrived from Highland and changed matters for Kingston in 1946. During Burke’s time as head coach through 1963, Kingston went 16-5-2 against their big rival, sporting an 8-2-1 mark during the 1950s.

Newburgh came back to take 7-of-10 games during the sixties, but Tony Badalato took over for the Tigers, posting five wins out of nine during the seventies (no game in 1976). DUSO had broken up after 1970, so Kingston played an independent schedule in 1971 and then joined Newburgh again in Section One, playing in the Dutchess County Scholastic League. Kingston’s best run of dominance in the series ran from 1977-1990, taking a 13-0-1 mark with a 6-6 tie in 1985. As for the other DUSO schools, Port Jervis joined the Orange County League in 1970, and Middletown also applied after two years of independent football in 1971-72. Poughkeepsie has mostly stayed in Section One, save for a brief period back in Section Nine a few years ago.

Newburgh held a 7-4 edge during the 90s, which saw them take a 34-32 overtime win in 1999. Since 2000, Newburgh has taken the grip on the series, winning 18 games (the last 10 straight) while Kingston has won five. Current NFA coach Bill Bianco has an all-time 12-3 record vs. Kingston.

Here are some of the coaches for both Newburgh and Kingston that have played important roles in this great rivalry:

NEWBURGH:
Coach Tiffany (1915-16) … Coach Baxter (1917-18) … Coach Ligon (1919) … Coach Chapin (1920) … Coach Schwartz (1921) … Coach Stevens (1922-34) … Coach Elder (1935-45) … Stan Hemingway (1946-59) … Charles ‘Rip’ Fornal (1960-81) … Rick Ruchdeschel (1982-87) … John Mosin (1988-94) … C.T. Chatham (1995-2008) … Bill Bianco (2009-current).

KINGSTON:
Coach Schumaker (1915) … G. Warren Kias (1927-39) … Willard Burke (1946-63) … Frank Modica (1964-69) … Tony Badalato (1970-83) … Dave Gettlemen (1984) … Rick Clausi (1985-93) … Tom Loughlin (1994-2008) … Jeramie Collins (2009-2015) … Nick Badalato (2016) … Quintin Johnson (2017-current).

Newburgh leads the series that dates back to the formation of Kingston HS in 1915 by a 61-52-5 slate.

2023 UPDATE: Newburgh 37, Kingston 0