NORWICH – It was about as bad a start as Norwich could have drawn up. Yet, the Tornado overcame an early case of the fumbles to improve to 3-0.
Senior running back Mike Moon ran for two touchdowns and a game-high 75 yards in a 22-7 home victory over Chenango Valley Friday night. Quarterback Tim Clark added a one-yard TD keeper, and the Norwich defense blanked CV over the last three quarters.
“We just need to have our ball security the whole game, and I think we would have run over them if we were able to hold onto the ball,” Moon said after the victory. “We haven’t beaten (Chenango Valley) in my three years on varsity. It’s a great win, and we were looking forward to this all week.”
Norwich held CV in check on the opening possession, and took over at its own 26. On the first play, Moon had the ball poked out of his hands as he rushed up the middle, and the Warriors recovered.
Norwich was able to hold CV out of the endzone keyed by a dual sack from Morgan Cleveland and Jake Fazio that forced a fourth-and-long.
Taking over at its own nine, the quarterback-to-running back exchange between Clark and Paddy Law was botched, and CV senior Brian Stinson played the role of opportunistic defender grabbing the ball.
Stinson polished off a three-play drive from the eight putting the Warriors on top . It wasn’t an unfamiliar position for Norwich, who have trailed in all three games this season.
“It’s never good when the first two plays you call are fumble right and fumble left,” said Norwich coach John Pluta. We just couldn’t hold them out on the short field. When we’ve made teams go 80 or 90 yards, we’ve been pretty stingy.”
By the end of the first quarter, not unlike its first two games, the light bulb went on for the Norwich offense. Moon, Law, and Tyler Slater started to find running room behind their offensive line, and Moon nearly scored the first NHS TD breaking off a 38-yard run up the middle. No matter, Norwich found the endzone on fourth down with Clark nosing over the goal. A missed extra-point left the Tornado a point down.
Chenango Valley stepped up and took its miscue turn with a pair of costly snaps. The first snap – on a fourth-down punt attempt – sailed over Stinson’s head, and he was tackled by Slater at the 27.
A pass interference play on the subsequent play moved Norwich to the 13, and Moon scored the first of his TDs five plays later from a yard out. Moon’s two-point conversion had Norwich on top for good.
“(The first half), has been like that all season for us,” said CV head coach Jay Hope. “I feel we’re a pretty good team, but we’re making costly errors at the wrong time.”
The second bad snap ruined a march deep into Norwich territory in the final moments of the first half. One play after Rocco Testani’s 15-yard first-down pass to Courtney Thomas that reached the Tornado 15, the snap in shotgun formation zipped over Testani, and Norwich’s Vaughn Labor rescued the NHS defense with a key fumble recovery with 31 seconds left in the half.
Chenango Valley was held to 81 yards of total offense in the second half, and never traveled inside the NHS 30 over the final two stanzas.
For Norwich’s defense, it pitched a third straight second-half shutout, and in this game, it didn’t allow a TD over the final three quarters.
“I felt we ran the ball effectively at times, but they established their running game and they had the better go of it on the running side,” Hope said. “ That’s their ballgame. They run the ball and attack on defense, and they did those two things. The game didn’t come down to the miscues, they just plain-old beat us.”
Norwich added an insurance touchdown with 6:11 remaining in the fourth quarter. Paddy Law had two first-down runs, and Moon’s seven-yard TD rush completed a 63-yard excursion.
“We’re pleased with the progress and we’re getting a little bit better every game,” Pluta said. “These (three) games have not been easy. All three teams we have played were Class B playoff teams last year.”
Norwich hosts a non-league game this Friday against Section III’s Holland Patent. Holland Patent dropped a 41-13 final to Oneida this past weekend. Norwich plays at Oneida (3-0) Oct. 17.
JV notes: Norwich’s junior varsity improved to 2-1 with a thrilling come-from-behind victory Saturday. Seth Thomsen’s one-yard TD sneak with 24 seconds remaining gave the Tornado JV squad a 26-22 win. Jimmy Testani set up the winning score blocking a Chenango Valley punt. Earlier in the game, Jon Foulds had a TD pass reception from Thomsen, and also recovered a teammate’s fumble in the endzone for a TD.
Score by quarters
