Week of September 15, 2026 · Presented by Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler
Rankings and analysis by KOT845 Media.
Washingtonville has climbed from fourth to second in Class A. Middletown has replaced Monroe-Woodbury atop Class AA. Beacon and Marlboro have moved past Saugerties. Sullivan West and Pawling now lead the eight-man board. Yet Cornwall, Port Jervis, Dover and Chester still occupy the same class-leading positions they held before this season began.
The records are only the starting point. We’re looking at who teams beat, how they looked, and what recent head-to-head history says when two teams are close.
History sets the starting point, not the final order. Recent playoff results matter more than ancient series totals, and current-season results matter most.
First, keep the two ranking products separate
This is the third KOT845 class-by-class board of the season: preseason, after Week 0, and now September 15. The records match the posted carousel. Burke’s 3–0 and O’Neill’s 1–2 include the forfeit between them.
The overall Power 40 is a separate comparison. Middletown began fourth overall but second in Class AA; Washingtonville began eighth overall but fourth in Class A; Port Jervis began seventh overall but first in Class B. Dover was 18th overall and already first in Class C. A change in one product must not be described as a change in the other.
From September 2 to September 9, Washingtonville moved from No. 8 to No. 6 overall, Goshen 11 to 9, Valley Central 15 to 12 and FDR 26 to 21. Those were last week’s Power 40 moves. This article is about the September 15 class rankings.
Class AA: Why Monroe started first—and why Middletown passed it
| Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middletown | 2–0 |
| 2 | Newburgh Free Academy | 1–1 |
| 3 | Monroe-Woodbury | 0–2 |
| 4 | Valley Central | 2–0 |
| 5 | Kingston | 1–1 |
| 6 | Pine Bush | 0–2 |
Progression: Monroe-Woodbury 1 → 1 → 3; Middletown 2 → 2 → 1; Newburgh 3 → 3 → 2. Valley Central, Kingston and Pine Bush have remained fourth, fifth and sixth.
Monroe’s opening position had a concrete foundation. The Crusaders beat Middletown 49–13 in the 2025 regular season and 28–21 in the championship game, securing a second consecutive Class AA title. Middletown reached that final after beating Newburgh 21–16. Those results explain why the preseason order started with Monroe, Middletown and Newburgh—not merely a preference for familiar names. The championship report documents that sequence.
That order survived Week 0. It did not survive Week 1. Middletown followed a 32–0 shutout of Arlington with a 22–21 win at Cornwall. Monroe lost to John F. Kennedy Campus, 36–20, and Washingtonville, 17–14. Newburgh answered its 35–28 loss to Curtis by beating Warwick 42–6. These are the results behind the change at the top.
Middletown opened with a 32–0 shutout of Arlington, then went to Cornwall and won 22–21. That was enough to take No. 1 from Monroe. Newburgh’s 42–6 response against Warwick moved the Goldbacks to second, while Monroe’s 0–2 start dropped the Crusaders to third.
Why Valley Central has not passed Monroe yet
Valley Central has beaten Yorktown 21–14 in overtime and Wallkill 32–25. That is a legitimate challenge to the order, not something to dismiss because the Vikings began fourth. The recent comparison still favors Monroe: the Crusaders won their 2025 sectional semifinal 42–13.
Monroe stays third for now because of its recent level, but Valley Central’s 2–0 start has closed the gap. Kingston stays fifth after beating Mount Vernon and losing 12–7 to Goshen. Pine Bush remains sixth after losses to John Jay-East Fishkill and Lourdes.
Week 2 pressure point: Middletown at Minisink is the headline, but Valley Central can make the strongest argument for another jump if it handles Lourdes.
Class A: Cornwall’s history, Washingtonville’s pressure
| Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwall | 0–2 |
| 2 | Washingtonville | 2–0 |
| 3 | Minisink Valley | 1–1 |
| 4 | Goshen | 2–0 |
| 5 | Our Lady of Lourdes | 1–1 |
| 6 | Warwick | 0–2 |
| 7 | Wallkill | 0–2 |
| 8 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 2–0 |
Progression: Cornwall 1 → 1 → 1; Washingtonville 4 → 3 → 2; Minisink 2 → 2 → 3; Goshen 6 → 4 → 4; Lourdes 3 → 5 → 5; Warwick 5 → 6 → 6. Wallkill and FDR have remained seventh and eighth.
Washingtonville’s most recent victory over Cornwall in the series record we reviewed is the 35–18 win in the 2005 season opener. A more recent meeting illustrates the gap: Cornwall won 60–7 in 2024. That history is part of why Cornwall still gets the edge.
Washingtonville has not beaten Cornwall since 2005. That matters, but it does not decide 2026 by itself. History explains why Washingtonville started behind Cornwall; current performance determines how long that order remains credible.
The Wizards have made a serious case. Their 34–16 win over Lourdes reversed the result of the 2025 Class A quarterfinal, when Lourdes eliminated Washingtonville 14–13. The 17–14 win over Monroe then supplied a second meaningful victory. Washingtonville’s climb from fourth to third to second reflects those performances.
Cornwall’s best current argument is the 22–21 loss to Middletown after opening against Rye. Washingtonville has the better early résumé, but we still give Cornwall the slight edge in team quality. Washingtonville does not need a head-to-head win to pass Cornwall; another strong result can do it.
Minisink: The defending champion, but not protected from a fall
Minisink—not Cornwall—is the defending Class A champion. The Warriors went 10–1 in 2025 and won the sectional final 24–21 over Cornwall. They also beat Lourdes 42–12 in the regular season and 52–15 in the semifinal. That establishes a clearer historical foundation than simply saying Minisink has a higher ceiling. See the 2025 final standings and Lourdes’ results.
Port’s 31–3 win was enough to drop Minisink behind Washingtonville. The Mahopac win keeps Minisink narrowly ahead of Goshen for now, but that gap is thin.
Goshen over Lourdes: A direct comparison, not just 2–0 against 1–1
Goshen beat Lourdes 48–36 in 2025. Lourdes won the 2024 meeting 58–33. Goshen owns the latest meeting, so the current order is not based on record alone.
Goshen’s wins over John Jay-Cross River and Kingston, plus last year’s 48–36 win over Lourdes, keep the Gladiators fourth. Lourdes’ 53–12 win over Pine Bush keeps the pressure on.
Warwick, Wallkill and FDR: A vulnerable order
Warwick beat Wallkill 22–21 in 2023 and 34–15 in 2024, then beat FDR 34–21 in 2025. Those recent direct results provide context for Warwick starting ahead of both. The close 2023 game also warns against presenting Warwick–Wallkill as an automatic mismatch.
Warwick went 3–7 last year, Wallkill 4–5 and FDR 1–9. FDR has already shown major improvement, beating Poughkeepsie and Monticello by a combined 86–0. Wallkill’s two losses have come by one and seven points. Warwick’s 42–6 loss to Newburgh is a significant negative.
Wallkill also beat FDR last year. Warwick, Wallkill and FDR are close.
Week 2 pressure point: FDR gets Kingston. If the Presidents keep winning against better competition, this part of the board has to move.
Class B: Port reinforces first; the defending champion falls, but not out
| Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Port Jervis | 1–1 |
| 2 | Beacon | 2–0 |
| 3 | Marlboro | 1–0 |
| 4 | Saugerties | 0–1 |
| 5 | Red Hook | 1–1 |
| 6 | New Paltz | 0–2 |
| 7 | Liberty | 0–2 |
Progression: Port Jervis 1 → 1 → 1; Beacon 3 → 3 → 2; Marlboro 4 → 4 → 3; Saugerties 2 → 2 → 4. Red Hook, New Paltz and Liberty have remained fifth, sixth and seventh.
Port did not jump into first after beating Minisink. The Raiders already held that position. The 31–3 win strengthened the case after the opening loss at Waverly. Behind them, Beacon’s wins over Ketcham and O’Neill and Marlboro’s 12–7 win over Chester earned promotions. Current results explain the movement without rewriting where the teams began.
The Port–Saugerties history requires both 2025 meetings. Port won 48–14 in the regular season. Saugerties won the championship rematch 22–21. The Sawyers earned that title on the field; the earlier loss does not diminish it. Equally, evaluating the next season can favor Port without pretending Saugerties did not win.
Saugerties’ 31–7 opening loss to Dover costs two places. The defending-champion background did not prevent a fall. It helped limit that fall while we evaluate a one-game sample. There is also direct support for keeping the Sawyers above Red Hook: Saugerties won their 2025 meeting 28–0. Red Hook’s close win over Rondout and loss to Spackenkill have not yet persuaded us to reverse that order.
Saugerties has already fallen two spots. Red Hook can pass them with a stronger win. New Paltz and Liberty stay at the bottom.
Week 2 pressure point: Port–Marlboro and Red Hook–Beacon give Class B two direct tests that can reshape the top five.
Class C: Dover’s sweep, O’Neill’s edge and Spackenkill’s challenge
| Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dover | 1–0 |
| 2 | Highland | 2–0 |
| 3 | James I. O’Neill | 1–2 |
| 4 | Spackenkill | 2–0 |
| 5 | Rondout Valley | 1–1 |
Progression: Dover, Highland and O’Neill have held first, second and third throughout. Spackenkill moved 5 → 4 → 4; Rondout moved 4 → 5 → 5.
Dover’s No. 1 position preceded its opener. Last season, the Dragons beat Highland 12–6 in the regular season and 18–3 in the Class C semifinal. Winning both meetings, including the elimination game, provides a direct foundation for beginning above the Huskies. The semifinal recap documents the sweep.
The 31–7 win over defending Class B champion Saugerties reinforced that choice. Highland is 2–0 after beating Wallkill 7–6 and Poughkeepsie 40–0, but Dover’s 31–7 win over defending Class B champion Saugerties is still the best result in Class C.
Why O’Neill remains narrowly above Spackenkill
The last two meetings are split: Spackenkill won 20–13 in 2024; O’Neill won 28–21 in 2025. The latest result supports O’Neill, but the two-season picture does not support describing this as a one-sided rivalry.
Spackenkill has already climbed from its preseason fifth position after wins over New Paltz and Red Hook. O’Neill’s played games were a 40–0 win over Haldane and a 29–22 loss to Beacon. The additional loss in its 1–2 record is the Burke forfeit. We include that result in the record without inventing an on-field performance from it.
O’Neill gets the narrow nod because it won the latest meeting with Spackenkill. Spack’s 2–0 start makes this one of the first spots we revisit. Rondout stays fifth after splitting its first two games.
Week 2 pressure point: Spackenkill at Dover can challenge the top of the class, while Highland at Rondout gives the Ravens a chance to climb back into the conversation.
Class D: Chester’s latest head-to-head meets Burke’s current pressure
| Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chester | 0–2 |
| 2 | Burke Catholic | 3–0 |
The order has not changed since the preseason. The argument around it has. Burke has outscored Monticello and Liberty 111–6 in two played games; the O’Neill forfeit brings its posted record to 3–0. Chester has lost 21–10 to Tuckahoe and 12–7 to Marlboro. The different opposition matters, but competitive losses are still losses.
The recent head-to-head is split: Burke won 12–0 in 2024, Chester won 36–20 in 2025. Chester owns the latest meeting.
The title background is also specific. Chester won the 2025 Class C final 42–6 over Dover. Burke held the Class D title without a contested sectional final. Chester won a contested Class C title; Burke advanced from Class D without a sectional final. That context matters, but it does not settle 2026.
Burke’s 40–7 win over Marlboro in 2024 supplies additional background, but it cannot decide this comparison. Chester’s loss to Marlboro happened in 2026, against a different season’s team. Using those two games as a simple mathematical chain would give an indirect, older comparison more weight than the latest Chester–Burke meeting.
Chester stays No. 1 for now because it owns the latest meeting and has faced the tougher early schedule. Burke is 3–0 and closing fast.
Week 2 pressure point: Chester needs its first win against New Paltz, while Burke gets O’Neill on Saturday. Another Burke win with Chester still winless could flip the class.
Eight-man: The rematches behind the new order
| Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sullivan West | 1–0 |
| 2 | Pawling | 1–0 |
| 3 | Millbrook/Webutuck | 1–0 |
| 4 | Eldred | 0–1 |
| 5 | Tri-Valley | 1–0 |
| 6 | Onteora | 0–1 |
| 7 | Ellenville | 1–1 |
| 8 | Pine Plains/Rhinebeck | 1–0 |
| 9 | Rockland Central | 0–1 |
| 10 | Fallsburg | 0–2 |
Movement from the previous class board: Sullivan West 2 → 1; Pawling 4 → 2; Millbrook holds third; Eldred 1 → 4; Tri-Valley 7 → 5; Onteora 5 → 6; Ellenville 6 → 7. Pine Plains, Rockland and Fallsburg remain eighth, ninth and tenth.
The Sullivan West–Pawling explanation needs both games from 2025. Pawling won the regular-season meeting 61–32. Sullivan West won the sectional semifinal 30–6. The Tigers showed they could overwhelm the Bulldogs; the Bulldogs reversed the result when the season was on the line. Sullivan West owns the latest meeting, but the earlier result makes Pawling’s case stronger than a one-game summary suggests.
Sullivan West opened with a 56–18 win over Ellenville. Pawling beat defending champion Eldred 30–6. We give Sullivan West the narrow edge because it won the latest playoff meeting with Pawling, but this is close.
Pawling over Eldred continues a recent pattern
Pawling beat Eldred 38–12 in 2024 and 49–36 in 2025 before winning 30–6 this September. The latest result continued a matchup pattern rather than appearing from nowhere because Eldred entered with a championship. The 2024, 2025 and 2026 results explain why Pawling moves decisively above the Yellowjackets.
Millbrook stays third after a 34–0 win over Fallsburg. Eldred drops to fourth, even though the Yellowjackets beat Millbrook 44–12 in last year’s semifinal. That history is why the gap remains small. History does not uniformly endorse our order, and we should not pretend it does.
The middle: Different reasons for Tri-Valley, Onteora and Ellenville
Last year, Onteora went 5–3, Ellenville 3–6, Tri-Valley 2–6 and Pine Plains/Rhinebeck 2–5. Tri-Valley’s move to No. 5 is about this year’s 18–16 win over Onteora, not last season’s record. The final Section Nine standings supply the correct records.
Tri-Valley gets fifth because it just beat Onteora 18–16. Onteora remains close in sixth. The direct historical support over Pine Plains belongs more clearly to Onteora and Ellenville: Onteora won that matchup 32–0 in 2025, and Ellenville won 22–14. Those games support keeping both ahead while we evaluate the new season.
Pine Plains’ 48–0 opener against Rockland is a positive result. It earns attention, but our eighth-place hold reflects the need to see the Bombers against different opposition before reversing the recent comparisons. Ellenville’s win over Fallsburg and loss to Sullivan West leave the Blue Devils seventh. Rockland and Fallsburg remain ninth and tenth. Week 2 pressure point: Pawling at Sullivan West is No. 2 at No. 1. That game can settle the top of eight-man immediately.
A Independent: Monticello moves ahead, with little separation
| Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monticello | 0–2 |
| 2 | Poughkeepsie | 0–2 |
Last week Poughkeepsie was first and Monticello second. We have reversed that order, but the available results do not establish a large gap. Their common opponent, FDR, beat Monticello 42–0 and Poughkeepsie 44–0. A two-point difference between those games is not meaningful separation. Week 2 pressure point: Monticello gets 2–0 Goshen, while Poughkeepsie goes to Wallkill. Either team can take control of this two-team board by simply showing real progress.
This is the least settled part of the board. Neither team has created much separation yet, so one competitive result can flip the order.
Week 2: Where these arguments get tested
Thursday, September 17 brings Washingtonville at Newburgh, FDR at Kingston and Highland at Rondout. Those games test Washingtonville’s rise, FDR’s placement behind winless Class A teams and the separation within Class C. Friday includes Cornwall at Monroe-Woodbury, Lourdes at Valley Central, Port Jervis at Marlboro, Red Hook at Beacon, Spackenkill at Dover and Pawling at Sullivan West. Middletown visits Minisink on Saturday. The Section Nine Week 2 schedule lists those matchups; the KOT845 schedule is the place to follow updates.
These rankings state where KOT845 stands on September 15. They do not promise where any team will stand next Tuesday. Recent head-to-head games, playoff results and longer historical patterns provide context, but they are not substitutes for evaluating the current season. A team can improve beyond its past, and a former champion can fall below its previous level.
History explains where we started. It does not get the final vote on where we finish.
Read the KOT845 rankings methodology, explore Section IX Football History Watch, and follow the schedule and results throughout the season.
