Week 5 is where the 2026 Section IX football season starts to get less forgiving.
Twenty games are on the board from Thursday through Saturday: two Thursday, 13 Friday and five Saturday. The slate includes unbeaten teams trying to stay clean, division races that can separate quickly, and several programs that need an answer before October gets any deeper.
The full schedule is available on the KOT845 Football Schedule, and every matchup can be followed through Game Night.
Friday update: Beacon won 49–6 and Tri-Valley won 46–32 on Thursday. Open the Friday night guide for all 13 kickoffs, Game Centers and tonight’s storylines →
Read the Week 5 coverage
Start with Coach I’s picks for all 20 games, the October 7 Power 40 explanation and the class rankings.
- Thursday’s guide: Beacon’s defense and Tri-Valley’s next step
- Saugerties at unbeaten Beacon
- Valley Central at Middletown: the Class AA test
- Four Class A games that can separate the field
- Why Monticello–Poughkeepsie matters to both programs
- Seven games that can move the playoff picture
- Five teams under pressure
Friday’s biggest one: Valley Central at Middletown
No. 1 Middletown (5-0) hosts No. 7 Valley Central (4-1) in one of the most important Class AA games on the Week 5 board.
Middletown has cleared every test so far, including a 28-13 road win over Pine Bush in Week 4. Valley Central comes in after beating FDR 20-7 and has positioned itself directly in the AA race.
This is more than a rankings game. It is a chance for Middletown to keep control of its unbeaten start and for Valley Central to force its way into the top tier of the class.
Open Valley Central at Middletown Game Center →
Newburgh heads to Pine Bush
No. 2 Newburgh Free Academy (4-1) visits No. 10 Pine Bush (1-4).
Newburgh followed its shutout of Cornwall by beating Monroe-Woodbury 38-7 in Week 4. The Goldbacks remain right behind Middletown in the Power 40 and have another AA road game before the race tightens further.
Pine Bush has been tested repeatedly. Its Week 4 loss to Middletown was competitive enough to show why this cannot simply be treated as a schedule formality.
Open Newburgh at Pine Bush Game Center →
Class A gets two major separation games
No. 3 Washingtonville (4-1) hosts No. 17 Wallkill (3-2) after Washingtonville’s 37-7 win over previously unbeaten Goshen. Wallkill enters off a 21-7 Week 4 victory.
Open Wallkill at Washingtonville Game Center →
Then there is No. 8 Minisink Valley (2-3) at No. 4 Our Lady of Lourdes (4-1). Lourdes has scored 53, 39, 31 and 52 points in its last four games. Minisink is trying to respond after Cornwall pulled away for a 49-20 Week 4 win.
Open Minisink at Lourdes Game Center →
Cornwall has a chance to keep building
No. 5 Cornwall (2-3) hosts No. 18 Warwick (0-5).
Cornwall’s record still carries the damage of a difficult September, but Week 4 looked different. The Dragons put up 49 in a win over Minisink Valley and now get another chance to build momentum before the back half of the schedule.
For Warwick, the urgency is obvious. The Wildcats are still looking for their first win.
Open Warwick at Cornwall Game Center →
Thursday gives Week 5 an early start
Week 5 begins Thursday with two games:
- Tri-Valley at Pine Plains/Rhinebeck
- Saugerties at Beacon
Beacon enters the week 5-0 after a 63-34 win over New Paltz. That makes Thursday more than an appetizer: one of the section’s remaining unbeaten teams is immediately on the clock.
Open Saugerties at Beacon Game Center →
Port Jervis comes home after a shutout
No. 6 Port Jervis (3-2) hosts Red Hook on Friday after shutting out Saugerties 33-0 in Week 4.
The Raiders have now had two very different weeks in a row: a 28-7 Erie Bell loss at Middletown followed by a road shutout. Week 5 is another chance to establish what the second half of the season is going to look like.
Open Red Hook at Port Jervis Game Center →
O’Neill and Spackenkill meet Friday
James I. O’Neill (3-2) travels to Spackenkill (2-3) in another matchup worth tracking closely.
O’Neill beat Rondout Valley 23-8 in Week 4. Spackenkill is coming off a 31-25 loss to Chester in a game that turned late. Both teams still have enough season in front of them for Friday to matter.
Open O’Neill at Spackenkill Game Center →
The complete Week 5 slate
Thursday, October 8
- Tri-Valley at Pine Plains/Rhinebeck
- Saugerties at Beacon
Friday, October 9
- Sullivan West at Fallsburg
- Millbrook at Ellenville
- James I. O’Neill at Spackenkill
- Rondout Valley at Dover
- Red Hook at Port Jervis
- Wallkill at Washingtonville
- Monticello at Poughkeepsie
- Minisink Valley at Our Lady of Lourdes
- Goshen at FDR
- Warwick at Cornwall
- Newburgh Free Academy at Pine Bush
- Valley Central at Middletown
- Kingston at Monroe-Woodbury
Saturday, October 10
- Pawling at Onteora
- Eldred at Rockland Central
- John S. Burke Catholic at Chester Academy
- Highland at Marlboro
- New Paltz at Liberty
What Week 5 can change
The calendar says midseason. The standings are starting to say more than that.
Middletown can strengthen its grip on Class AA. Valley Central can disrupt it. Newburgh can keep pressure on the top. Washingtonville and Lourdes can make Class A harder to chase. Beacon can get to 6-0 before most of the section even reaches Friday night.
And for teams sitting around .500—or still searching for their first win—the room for a slow response is disappearing.
Follow the updated Section IX standings and tiebreak picture, the KOT845 Power 40, and Game Night throughout Week 5.
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