Section Nine Football

COACHING WINS – THE 100 WINS CLUB (current through 2023)

It’s time to revisit our top winning coaches list, drawn up by Phil Dusenbury and updated by Rich Arnott. Here’s the updated Honor Roll according to our count. An asterisk indicates that a coach is still active. Please note that these totals represent VARSITY wins only.

#1. PAT D’ALISO (Pulaski/Monroe-Woodbury) – 216 (22-12-1 @ Pulaski; 194-49 @ M-W) … overall record: 216-61-1

#2. RON BAUER (Jeffersonville-Youngsville/Delaware Valley/Sullivan West) – 206* … overall record 206-146-5 (most wins in SNF history)

#3. JOE VIGLIONE (La Plata, MD/Port Jervis/Warwick) – 194 (1-7-1 @ LaPlata, Maryland; 155-71-5 @ PJ; 38-11 @ War) … overall record: 194-89-5

#4. RON STOVER (Sleepy Hollow/Chester) – 164 (29-26-2 @ SH; 135-60 @ Chester) … overall record: 164-86-2

#5. BOB CORVINO (Port Jervis) – 161 … overall record: 161-70-1

#6. DAVE MOSCOWITZ (Ramapo, Pelham, O’Neill) – 147* (13-14 @ Ramapo; 99-89 @ Pelham; 36-16 @ O’Neill) … overall record: 148-119

#6. CARL RELYEA (Highland) – 146 … overall record: 146-136

#8. FRED AHART (Roscoe/Roscoe-Livingston Manor-Downsville) – 143 … overall record: 143-198-3

#9. DICK WOLSLAYER (Middletown) – 142 … overall record: 142-78-7

#10. LEM ATKINS (Liverpool/Highland) – 122 (19-7-2 @ Liverpool; 103-28-3 @ Highland) … overall record 122-35-5)

#11. GREG SIRICO (Warwick) – 119* … overall record: 119-74

#12. BILL BIANCO (Newburgh) – 116* … overall record 116-37

#12. DON CLARK (Newfield/Washingtonville) – 115* (59-17 @ Newfield; 56-56 @ Wash) … overall record: 115-73

#14. MICKEY MILLION (Rondout Valley) – 110 … overall record: 110-80-16

#15. KEVIN GALLAGHER (Minisink) – 105* … overall record: 105-62

#15. TOM TEGELER (New Paltz) – 105 … overall record 105-78

#17. AL CHASE (Port Jervis) – 100 … overall record: 100-75-13

ALL-TIME EXCLUSIVE SECTION NINE COACHING WINS LEADERS WITH 100 WINS PLUS:

1. RON BAUER (J-Y/DV/Sullivan West) – 206*

2. PAT D’ALISO (Monroe-Woodbury) – 194

3. JOE VIGLIONE (Port Jervis/Warwick) – 193

4. BOB CORVINO (Port Jervis) – 161

5. CARL RELYEA (Highland) – 146

6. FRED AHART (Roscoe/Roscoe-Livingston Manor-Downsville) – 143

7. DICK WOLSLAYER (Middletown) – 142

8. RON STOVER (Chester) – 135

9. GREG SIRICO (Warwick) – 118*

10. BILL BIANCO (Newburgh) – 116*

11. MICKEY MILLION (Rondout Valley) – 110

12. KEVIN GALLAGHER (Minisink) – 105*

12. TOM TEGELER (New Paltz) – 105

14. LEM ATKINS (Highland) – 103

15. AL CHASE (Port Jervis) – 100

Here are some details:
After being a head coach at Section Three’s Pulaski High for five years (1977-81), PAT D’ALISO came to Monroe-Woodbury where he assisted John Moson. In 1988 he became the Crusader head coach, and the rest is history. He has won two OCL (and American Conference) titles plus 11 Section Nine crowns. In 2004 his squad whipped Saratoga to become the first Section Nine Class AA team to win a state tournament game. That feat was quickly trumped when the Crusaders won the Class AA State Championship in 2005 and followed with three subsequent trips to the state title games. He retired as a head coach after the 2011 season.

RON BAUER started coaching as an assistant at Delaware Valley in 1966 and took over the head-coaching job for the Eagles in 1976. He’s served at both Jeff-Youngsville (one WSL title) and Delaware Valley where he earned seven Section 9D trophies before being the natural choice to be the head coach at the then newly centralized Sullivan West. As the head Bulldog, he’s won three more sectional crowns. With 11 Section Nine championships, he’s tied for the lead in that department! After not coaching Sullivan West in 2017 because the program joined the Roscoe/Livingston Manor/Downsville program, Bauer resumed coaching the Bulldogs in 2018 when the school had enough players to independently change to eight-man football. On September 30. 2022, coach Bauer earned his Section Nine football record 195th win when Sullivan West defeated Fallsburg. He has now surpassed the 200-win total in 2023.

JOE VIGLIONE coached for 32 seasons (1957-83 at PJ and 1987-91 at Warwick) after a year in LaPlata, Md. At Port he won three DUSO titles and eight OCL championships. At Warwick he won the final OCL title (which was also played for the Section Nine Class A crown versus Kingston) plus a Class B title with a state regional crown victory over Section Four Windsor in 1991. His 13 crowns make him the top dog in total championships. Coach Vigs received many compliments for winning a game at La Plata, MD, since he coached the first year of their football program in 1954. A year later, Port Jervis hired Joe to teach social studies as he also coached the Raiders linemen as an assistant.

Following Joe Viglione at Port Jervis, BOB CORVINO (1984-2007) won 12 titles, including a state regional crown victory over Section One Ossining in 1997. Corvino started as a varsity assistant, never coaching below the varsity level. After winning back-to-back Orange County League championships in 1986 and 1987, Bob then coached the Raiders to four consecutive sectional trophies from 1995-98 and another in 2001.

RON STOVER makes it to this prestigious list, having already won over 100 games for Chester since beginning the program earlier this century. He attained a 29-26-2 slate while coaching at Section One’s Sleepy Hollow back in the 90’s. He has won nine Class D titles, two Class C crowns, six state regional championships, and has brought the Hambletonians to three state final appearances. Ron’s son, Ryan, took over coaching the Chester/Seward/Tuxedo hybrid squad in 2022.

DAVE MOSCOWITZ took over the James I. O’Neill program in 2019 after John Catano returned to Section One. Dave coached from 1988-90 at Ramapo before moving on to Pelham, coaching from 1991-2011 and accumulating four league championships while still teaching there today. Moscowitz guided the O’Neill Raiders to Section Nine Class C titles in Spring 2021, Fall 2021, 2022, and also in 2023. The 2022 team went on to win state regional quarterfinal and semifinal championships, before defeating Section Three General Brown at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse to win the NYSPHSAA Class C championship. O’Neill became only the fourth Section Nine school to win a football state title since the tournament’s complete inception in 1993, the first such accomplishment from a Class C team in Section Nine. The 2023 Raiders once again appeared in the state tournament, winning the quarterfinal round regional championship over Section One Bronxville.

Highland’s CARL RELYEA took over the varsity reins in 1986. His Huskies were a Class C powerhouse in the 90’s, winning six sectional crowns from 1991 to 1998. The 1991 title had provided Highland its first football trophy in two decades. During that span of dominance, the Huskies also won a pair of state regional titles. Relyea retired from Highland after the 2015-16 academic year. He then joined his son, Matt, head coach of Poughkeepsie at the time , as an assistant

FRED AHART had more than 40 seasons of coaching varsity football under his belt. Of his wins, 99 came at Roscoe from 1979-2004. At the helm for the Blue Devils he won both the Western Sullivan League and the first two Section Nine Class D titles in 1989 and 1990. In 1990 his Devils also won a regional title. In 2005 Roscoe football merged with Livingston Manor. Along with co-coach Kevin Clifford, Ahart and the Devil Cats won two games each in 2005, 2008 and 2009. In 2010 they made it to the Section Nine Class D championship game. Sullivan West joined the already merged schools Roscoe/Livingston Manor/Downsville in 2017 and this four-school hybrid jumped up to Class C, playing C-II division football. In 2018, Roscoe/Livingston Manor/Downsville changed over to eight-man football while Sullivan West had enough players to independently play eight-man football. Fred passed away in July of 2020, leaving a legendary stamp in his educational and athletic endeavors. We cannot replace him.

Middletown’s DICK WOLSLAYER (1967-78, 83-95) could have won another 20+ games had he coached from 1979-1982. During those four years, he served as an assistant, coaching freshman and jayvee ball after his second “retirement.” He stays close to the game and could probably still go out and be a successful head coach today! This underrated and humble mentor won 63% of his games against the toughest of competition. He won a championship in his first season – a DUSO crown. Then in 1993 and ‘94 he and his Middies won back-to-back Class A sectional titles. The coach also did commentary for the Warwick cable television broadcasts during the 1979 season.

LEM ATKINS coached the Highland Huskies from 1962-77, winning 103 games and UCAL championships in 1965, ‘66, ’70, and ’71. Atkins achieved Kingston’s Daily Freeman newspaper ‘Coach-of-the-Year’ honors in 1970. A Kingston native, he worked at Liverpool HS from 1959-62, coaching both the baseball and football teams to championships during that span (with an overall football record of 19-7-2). In 1977 he passed away unexpectedly at age 47 as Highland prepared to play a week eight game at Wallkill. Although that game was cancelled, the Huskies rallied the next week to win the 1977 season-finale over Liberty, 42-6. In 1978, Ron Montalto took over the coaching job in the first of two seasons at the helm, followed by six years of coach Carl Ferraro. This bridged the gap to Carl Relyea.

GREG SIRICO took over the Warwick coaching position in 1996, 12 years after having scored the winning touchdown in the 1984 OCL championship game for the Wildcats against Pine Bush. During his first tenure at the helm through 2005, the record stood at 63-30. In 2004, Greg also coached NY to a 23-7 NY-NJ Governor’s Bowl victory, bringing the total to 64. He took over the Purple-and-Gold again in 2013 and reached the 100-win milestone in spring 2021. In 2016, Greg Sirico was elected to the SUNY Cortland C-Club Hall of Fame, thanks to a record-setting college career at the wide-receiver position. Eight years prior, the NY-NJ HS Football Coaches Hall of Fame inducted him for years of service enhancing the sport in both states. The 2000 Warwick team won the Section Nine Class A championship, losing only to eventual state champion Nyack in the state quarterfinals, the school from which Greg transferred to Warwick. In 2001, Warwick hosted and edged Section One Suffern in a special end-of-season ‘9/11 Bowl’ with funds going to that cause. The Wildcats have won five outright league titles (seven overall) under the Sirico umbrella. Perhaps the best testament to Greg’s history as coach (along with James Sciarra who went 40-25 from 2006-2012), is the sustained regular season success of the Warwick program, having qualified for Section Nine playoff tournaments a record 21 consecutive years from 2002-2023. In March of 2024, coach Sirico earned the inaugural Don Santini (longtime Section Five Fairport coach, athletic director, and football executive/mentor) Service Award for New York State Football.

BILL BIANCO took over the Newburgh coaching job in the 2009 season after serving as an assistant to former coach C.T. Chatham. The Goldbacks have had a remarkable run under Bill’s leadership, taking home eight Section Nine Class AA trophies (five straight from 2014-18), five state regional titles including the Fall 2021 subregional win, plus three appearances at the NYSPHSAA Class AA championship game in Syracuse (2011, 2014, 2022). Year in and year out, NFA continues an extremely well-run program.

DON CLARK has brought three Class AA-II league championships and one Class A Division One championship to Washingtonville in his three coaching stints (2003, 2009-2018, 2022-current). He won three Class D titles and six divisional crowns at Section Four’s Newfield High School from 1995-2002. Don has also coached as an assistant at Marist College. After then working as an assistant at Valley Central, Don then started a third term as Wizards coach in 2022, bringing home a division crown.

Rondout’s MICKEY MILLION coached from 1969-1991. Upon starting a 35-year career at Rondout in 1957, he had to follow in the footsteps of Chick Meehan, the “Father of Rondout Valley Football.” In doing so, he won two UCAL and two MHAL titles. He also coached basketball and track for the Ganders, and in 2002, had the football field named in his honor along with Chick Meehan, who led the team from 1957-68. Ironically, after retirement, coach Million traveled throughout the country with his wife Barbara in an ‘RV.’

KEVIN GALLAGHER took over the Minisink varsity football coaching position in 2006, replacing long-time coach John Bell. Gallagher is already a super-coach in the sport of wrestling, having helped the Warriors earn many accolades at the NYSPHSAA level, including a whole host of individual state championships and several Minisink Division One team state crowns. Kevin has continued the football program’s success, having coached the team to five league championships, a Section Nine Class A title in 2021, and five total championship game appearances. This has all taken place while MV plays one of the toughest schedules every season in Section Nine football. Recently, Minisink has started off its seasons by attending a scrimmage up at Section Four Maine-Endwell, a football powerhouse, where his brother Matt maintains the coaching job.

TOM TEGELER coached the New Paltz Huguenots from 2001-2019 and orchestrated four Class B sectional championships in his very successful tenure. In 2018, Tom guided the team to an unlikely playoff run all the way to the Class A finals, beating both Warwick and Goshen in the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively. Tom excelled in three different sports at Rondout Valley before becoming a Hall-of-Fame baseball standout for St. Bonaventure. After playing some minor league ball, Tegeler began his rewarding journey at New Paltz.

The legendary DONOVAN “AL” CHASE, known as “The Old Fox,” coached at Port Jervis from 1925-42 and from 1945-49. The two missing years were spent serving in the armed forces at the tail end of WW II. In his 23 seasons at the helm, his Red and Black squad, playing against much larger schools, won six DUSO titles. Chase’s most famous player was Eddie Dunn who went on to star (and even coach) at the University of Miami where his name is still in the Hurricane record books alongside the likes of Edgerrin James. Later, Dunn’s son became a part of the famous Pittsburgh Steeler “Steel Curtain” of the 70’s.

NOTE – JOHN CASTELLANO coached for a very short time in Section Nine (2014, 1-7), when the Poughkeepsie Pioneers joined this section. He went 4-13 overall in 2013-14 at Poughkeepsie. He had previously gone 180-49-1 at Section One Nyack to build a great legacy from 1988-2010. After Poughkeepsie, he continued his coaching career at Section One Westlake , sporting a 31-10 record from 2015-18. Overall, we have his record at 215-72-1. During his remarkable coaching run, he won two state titles and seven sectional championships while at Nyack. Castellano also coached Westlake to the 2015 sectional crown.

NOTE – JOHN CATANO* is another predominantly great Section One coach who performed for a relatively quick span in Section Nine (O’Neill 2017-18, 12-7). Catano ran the Croton-Harmon Section One program (83-81 from 1998-2015). He won three Section One titles and made two state finals appearances while at C-H. After departing O’Neill, John returned to Section One, taking over at his alma mater Hendrick Hudson (2019-2022, 13-17). Overall, we have the career coaching record at 108-105.