Dominick Montanye of Mohonasen runs the ball against Bethlehem at Bethlehem High School in Delmar, NY on Friday, September 18, 2026. Stephen Weaver/For the Times Union (Stephen Weaver) James Allen Thu, October 22, 2026 at 6:00 PM UTC About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ROTTERDAM - John Gallo has enjoyed success as an athlete, coach and athletic director. When he decided to become the football coach at Mohonasen, his alma mater and a school where he's a member of the athletic hall of fame, he had a simple, yet potent objective in mind.
"I went back," Gallo said, "because I wanted a Mohonasen kid to feel relevant."
Football success has been hard to come by at Mohonasen. The last time the program finished a full season with a record better than .500 was in 2006, when the team finished 5-4 under coach Scott Sabourin. Over the last 20 years, including this season, Mohonasen has posted just three seasons with four wins.
Mohonasen enters play in Week 8 sporting a 4-3 overall record and a 4-2 mark in Class A play. Friday night, Mohonasen travels to take on Columbia (4-3, 4-3) in a vital contest for both programs.
"If we could win these next two weeks, it would be like a dream come true," Mohonasen senior running back Xavierre Perez-Tucker said. "To be able to knock these teams off as an underdog would mean so much."
Last year, Mohonasen finished 3-7 overall, but went 0-4 in Grasso Division and failed to make the eight-team Class A playoffs. This season, nine teams are vying to land one of four playoff spots. There is no divisional play in Class A this season, with each team playing the other eight squads in the classification.
Over the previous three seasons, Mohonasen produced just one win in its 12 Grasso Division games.
"I am enjoying watching young men put (the) team first, and that is very rare these days," Gallo said. "You can see a core of these kids back when they were freshmen and 10th-graders where they played harder for each other. Now, they are juniors and seniors. There is no messing around. These kids are focused and locked in. I saw that coming, but I didn't expect the football prowess and the football IQ to show up as much as it has."
"I am having a good time," Mohonasen junior quarterback Dom Montanye said. "I knew we were going to be a different team this season. We were coming back into this season with a lot of returning guys that I knew could perform. We all got better. We all really got better during the offseason and we really grew our chemistry."
When Perez-Tucker began his varsity career in 2023, Mohonasen finished 0-9 overall and 0-4 in the Grasso Division. As a sophomore, he endured a 3-7 campaign where Mohonasen beat South Glens Falls for its lone Grasso Division in four division contests. Averill Park, the No. 1 seed from the Capital Division, beat Mohonasen 46-0 in the Class A quarterfinals.
Making the playoffs in a four-team format would be a significant accomplishment for Mohonasen. The team opened its season with a 21-20 triumph over Ballston Spa, a team that has crushed Mohonasen in recent years.
"Montanye could have scored on a run with us leading 21-20 with 90 seconds left. Instead, he slides down before reaching the end zone so his team could run out the remainder of the clock to seal the victory," Gallo said. "To see them all grow within a year has just been spectacular. I am having a ball."
In Week 2, Mohonasen led Troy through three quarters before dropping a 34-23 decision.
"Watching us beat Ballston Spa and then hanging with Troy, which was supposed to be the best team after Niskayuna moved up (to Class AA), showed us what we could do," Perez-Tucker said. "Unfortunately, we all played 46 minutes out of 48 minutes against Troy. That was unfortunate. Knowing we just hung with the best team in Class A, it showed us we could be special and do some things this year."
Following the loss to Troy, Gallo's charges overcame a 28-6 deficit in Week 3 and scored three straight defensive touchdowns to stun Bethlehem 32-28. Mohonasen concluded the September portion of its schedule with a 30-28 setback against Class AA foe Albany.
"We were literally two plays from being 4-0," Gallo said. "Kudos to Troy and Albany for performing well. You know what? I said this to an official a few games ago, 'I would love to have a game where I don't have a heart attack in the last few seconds to win a football game.'"
Montanye felt good about all of the team's first four outings where they ultimately went 2-2. The junior quarterback said he has noticed a change in how the team has been treated and perceived this season.
"When you start winning, everyone starts cheering you on," Montanye said. "There is definitely good morale about the team in school."
Mohonasen has prevailed in every odd-numbered week this season and lost in every even-numbered week, so, naturally, the team would like to break up that trend Friday against a Columbia squad that opened the season at 4-0 and has dropped three straight.
"It is definitely a lot more intense this season. We are really trying to make each other better in practices each week," Montayne said. "We are trying to make each other better every day. We want to win out."
Gallo led Mohonasen to a 4-3 record during the 2020 season, which was moved to the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The coach knows what is at stake for his team both on Friday and in next week's game at Queensbury; Mohonasen has a legitimate chance to qualify for the playoffs as either the No. 3 or 4 seed.
"We haven't had too many of those types of conversations," Gallo said. "Quarter-point checks are things we haven't done. Like most programs, the kids take your lead. I have tried to make sure we're focused. We have to tackle. We have to block."
"We just want to keep winning. That is all we want to do," Montanye said. "It would obviously mean a lot to make the playoffs. If we make it, no matter who we play, we're going to give it a shot. Everybody should be ready to play us. I really do believe that."
"It is really a great opportunity, not just for me, but for all of my teammates," Perez-Tucker said. "Being in this program for so long, we've been through a lot of ups and downs. My freshman year, the varsity team went 0-9. To be part of progressing the program, from zero wins to three wins to three more (in 2025), making playoffs and not making playoffs, to already having four wins is a great feeling."
Mohonasen's latest win came in a 36-23 home decision over Amsterdam. In that victory, Perez-Tucker rushed for four touchdowns, capped by a 99-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.
"He is just a remarkable young man. I am so glad I have had the pleasure to coach him," Gallo said of Perez-Tucker. "I really like to talk to him every day and see how hard he works. That 99-yard run was really something. I will never forget it."
There's more to Albany with the Times Union. Subscribe today for just 25¢.
This article originally published at Resurgent season has Mohonasen football thinking about Class A playoffs .
Source: Sports
0 Comments