WINDSOR – Norwich coach John Pluta would welcome a fast start devoid of any mistakes or turnovers. That wish will have to wait another week.
The Tornado committed six penalties in the first half, Norwich threw its first interception of the season over that same time span, and Windsor’s ball-control offense staked it to a three-TD halftime lead in a 28-14 win over the Tornado Saturday afternoon.
For the second straight week, Windsor running back Dylan Kay was charged with workhorse honors in the backfield. Steadily pounding the underbelly of the Norwich defense between the tackles, Kay rushed for 130 yards on 29 carries and one touchdown.
Windsor’s defense was also up to the task holding the Tornado (4-2) without a first down the first three possessions of the game. “If you can control the line of scrimmage, you can control the football game,” said Norwich coach John Pluta. “They controlled the line of scrimmage and took away what we like to do. They also took away our play-action passing by putting so much pressure on us up front. I thought that was the key to the game.”
Norwich was limited to five total yards of offense on three possessions in the first quarter. Windsor, for its part, moved the chains one Dylan Kay run at a time. Kay rushed the ball six times on the Black Knights’ opening drive. David Goetz hit Josh Quinn on a seven-yard first-down pass to mix it up, and Norwich aided the effort with an offsides penalty inside the 10-yard line. Noah Sibley scored from one yard out, and Goetz’s successful conversion made it 7-0
Goetz directed his team on another scoring drive, this time covering 71 yards. A Norwich offsides penalty bailed the Knights out of a critical second-and-long early in the possession. Goetz also narrowly avoided two interceptions as the Tornado’s David Carson and Casey Edwards had their hands on stray passes, but were unable to rake the ball in. Goetz moved the chains on a big 12-yard scramble to the Norwich 10, the Tornado gave away five yards on an offsides penalty, and Kay capped the second TD drive from four yards out with 8:35 left in the half.
After Tim Clark’s untimely interception that ended Norwich’s first sustained drive, Windsor needed nine plays for a third six-pointer. This time Goetz found Tim Costello on a fade pass inside the left pylon from 11 yards. Another successful point-after boot and Norwich was down 21 points at halftime.
Given Norwich’s season-high for points is 22, a comeback victory was definitely a difficult task. “To be honest, I don’t know many teams that are equipped to come back from that many points down. I don’t care what their job is,” Pluta said. “Trying to come back from that deficit is hard.”
And Norwich, as has been its modus operandi all year, played a much better second half. Clark began to regularly connect with receivers David Carson, Andrew Austin, and Tyler Slater. He finished 8-for-16 for a career-high 153 yards. Christian Hotaling completed a 15-play, 94-yard drive in the third quarter on a one-yard plunge.
A 60-yard pass from Clark to Carson set the stage for Clark’s nine-yard TD scramble with 2:37 left in the game.
Windsor answered the first of those two scores on Goetz’s 23-yard TD strike to Quinn.
”We threw the ball all over the place today,” Pluta said. “We tried in the first half, but weren’t as successful. We played much better football in the second half, but you have to play four quarters.”
Despite the second straight setback, Norwich is not out of the playoff mix. A win at Oneonta in two weeks could squeeze the Tornado into the Class B playoffs for the first time since the 2005 season. “We have to beat Oneonta, that’s the only thing we have left,” Pluta said.
Score by quarters
NHS 0 0 7 7–14
Win. 7 14 0 7–28
Scoring Summary
First quarter
W: Noah Sibley 1 run (Goetz kick)
Second quarter
