Football
Chenango Forks 23, Norwich 0
NORWICH – Chenango Forks’ Section IV winning streak of over 50 games and five years without a loss was halted earlier this season by Corning East. Still, one streak remains, and that is a division winning streak of six years as the Tornado fell to the Blue Devils Friday night.
Chenango Forks, with no division losses along with Windsor, is assured another Class B postseason berth after this win. “Forks is a heck of a football team, but we’re proud of the effort of our kids,” said Norwich coach John Pluta. “Our kids played a terrific game.”
Norwich, which suffered its first two-game losing streak in a 3-4 campaign, did little offensively for a quarter and a half, and the Blue Devils’ running-back-by-committee approach led to a pair of scores.
Quarterback Bryan Lance hit paydirt on a one-yard keeper, and Lance threw a six-yard scoring pass to Jason Gildea in the second.
Norwich sustained its first offensive drive late in the half, but was derailed by a five-yard procedure penalty.
Bending but not breaking, Norwich halted a 75-yard Forks drive in the third quarter in which the Blue Devils came as close as the one-foot line. A five-yard penalty forced a field goal.
Down 17 points, Norwich drove from its 15 all the way to Forks 25 getting first-down runs from Chris Mattingly and Brennan Ryan. a fumbled center-to-quarterback exchange ended that drive.
Dylan Warner added a 13-yard scoring run in the fourth, and Forks finished with 322 yards rushing as four backs had at least 51 yards rushing. “Penalties and mistakes kind of got us off our stride,” Pluta said. “Those types of things hurt against good teams like Chenango Forks.”
Norwich (3-4) plays at longtime rival Oneonta on Friday.
JV notes: Norwich rallied from a 7-0 deficit getting two TD passes from Tim Clark to David Carson before falling late in the game to the Blue Devils, 14-12. The Purple junior varsity club fell to 2-5 overall.
Football Summary
CF N
First downs 20 13
Rushes-yds 56-322 36-161
Passing yds 35 58
Comp-att-int 2-2-0 3-6-1
Punts-avg 1-31 4-21.3
Fumbles-lost 2-2 2-1
Penalties-yds 7-43 3-15
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (CF) Joe Aston, 14-80; Dylan Warner, 13-72; Nick Stephens, 9-52; Bryan Lance, 11-51; Max Ginty, 4-30; Jarred Wells, 1-20; Ray Lord, 1-7; Tim Zdimal, 2-5; Tom McMillen, 1-5. (N) Chris Mattingly, 13-70; Brennan Ryan, 8-64; Nate Foote, 5-22; J. Prosser, 3-6; S. Thompson, 2-5; R. Martin, 5-(-6).
Passing: (CF) Lance, 2-2-0, 35 yds, TD. (N) R. Martin, 3-6-1, 58 yards.
Receiving: (CF) Garrett Cade, 1-29; Jason Gildea, 1-6. (N) B. Ryan, 1-22; Tyler Slater, 1-22; N. Foote, 1-14.
Score by quarters
CFks 7 7 3 6–23
NHS 0 0 0 0–0
Scoring summary
First quarter
CF: Lance 1 run (Warner kick)
Second quarter
CF: Gildea 6 pass from Warner (Warner kick)
Third quarter
CF: Warner 24 field goal
Fourth quarter
CF: Warner 13 run (kick failed)
V-V-S 40, Sherburne-Earlville 12
SHERBURNE – Vernon-Verona-Sherrill scored 34 points in the first half, and could have virtually named the final score, said S-E coach Mick James after Friday’s defeat.
It left the Marauders at 0-7 with two non-league games remaining. “It was a frustrating for us,” James said. “In the first half we missed tackles and guys weren’t where they were supposed to be on defense.”
The Red Devils scored four rushing TDs in the first half and one by pass. The second quarter, S-E’s bug-a-boo all season, resulted in three scores for the visiting club. “We made some first downs on offense, then we would forget how to block,” James said. “We made it easy for them, but in the second half we played a lot harder and with more guts.”
The Marauders broke up the shutout with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Nick Beadle scored on an eight-yard TD run, and Wheeler Brunschmid hauled in Mike Maynard’s 25-yard scoring toss.
James was not sure of next week’s opponent, but believes in may be Jordan Elbridge.
Score by Quarters
VVS 14 20 6 0
S-E 0 0 0 12
Scoring summary
V: #2 25 run (kick failed)
V: #10 37 pass to #22 (Two-point pass good)
V: # 44 3 run (kick good)
V: #44 10 run (kick good)
