What to do when your playoff aspirations vanish? Win the rest of your games, said Oxford coach Mike Chrystie.
“The games now are the ones that build character,” Chrystie said. “We’re preaching a no-quit attitude. There is a tradition of winning here, and it would be a disservice to past teams to quit now.”
The Blackhawks are coming off a bruising loss to Deposit, and host a physical Delhi club tonight. The Bulldogs were whipped by Walton a week ago in one of the section’s best rivalry games, and what was also a rematch of last year’s Class D finals game. It was the third straight division shutout for the imposing Warriors, who appear to be in a class by themselves. “Walton is such a strong team, so you can’t base a team on its performance against Walton,” Chrystie said of Delhi. “ Delhi does different things on offense that will give teams problems. They can throw the ball and their quarterback is athletic.”
Until last week’s game, Delhi signal-caller, Trent Kathmann, had four straight 100-yard passing days. In a seesaw battle against Harpursville two weeks ago, Kathmann had 156 yards through the air and running backs Davionne Price and Devon Bedient each went over 100 yards rushing in a 34-32 win. Luke Burns is Kathmann’s top receiving target with 19 catches and three touchdowns. “Our pass defense will be tested this weekend, and we know we’re facing a solid team,” Chrystie said. “One thing you know you’ll get from Delhi is a well-coached, well-prepared team.”
Also on the weekend grid docket, B-G plays Hancock and S-E hosts unbeaten Cazenovia tonight. Saturday, Norwich travels to Chenango Forks; UV-Edmeston hosts Southern Springs; and Greene travels to Trumansburg for a Saturday night affair.
This week’s games:
B-G (3-2) at Hancock (1-4), Friday, 7 p.m.
The wins have come infrequently for the Wildcats the past three seasons, however, after a win over Newark Valley a week ago, B-G coach Tim Mattingly expects to face a team that is brimming with confidence. “This could be a trap game for us, and we talked about that this week,” he said. “They have some kids that can play, some quick backs, and they are pretty physical.”
Zach Miller had four TDs rushing against Newark Valley, and Hancock amassed 436 yards of total offense. Quarterback Dylan Oralls threw a TD pass to John Marino, and Oralls added a TD run to the mix. “We have to be focused and go down there and take care of business,” Mattingly said. “They are a team capable of scoring points, and any time you face that type of club, it can be dangerous.”
B-G quarterback Chris McGinnis is coming off a career-high 206-yard passing day and three scores. He leads Chenango County passers with seven TD passes this season.
Norwich (3-2) at Chenango Forks (5-0), Saturday, 2:30 p.m.
No Section IV, Class B team has beaten Chenango Forks the past six seasons, although Chenango Valley came as close as anyone the past two seasons. Forks needed a TD pass from Jake Reynolds to Garrett Cade with 22 seconds left in the contest to pull that victory out. It was the second comeback win for Forks this season, who also scored a fourth-quarter TD to beat Corning East, 15-12.
