With the exception of Greene, Chenango County’s remaining roster of football teams are coming off opening-day losses. It’s not the way to start any season, but the positive is that none of those early defeats were a division battle.
Norwich plays a second straight non-leaguer, this time at Ithaca. John Martinson, first-year coach for the Tornado, knows NHS has had its way in the occasional meetings with the Little Red over the past two decades. In fact, it’s been at least 20 years since Norwich has lost to Ithaca, and the last meeting, a 42-12 NHS win to end the 2007, is an example of the Purple dominance.
“We’ve traditionally been successful against Ithaca, but we’ve had a chance to break down film, and Ithaca is a little atypical compared to what they used to be.”
Norwich’s opening-game performance was a tad on the atypical side as well. The powerful running exhibited only glimpses of its potential, and the passing attack -- often times utilizing the spread-out “polecat formation” – was hit or miss.
Five turnovers against Owego didn’t help the Purple Tornado’s cause either, but the bottom line was individual performance, position by position, Martinson said.
“The turnovers were a major cause, but we still didn’t play well enough at almost every position to win,” the coach said. “We’re getting our players to focus on doing their job, and doing it well.”
Greene did little wrong in a 35-0 victory over Oxford, and on the few occasions it did slip up, the Trojans rebounded.
“We turned it over twice, once in the red zone,” said Trojans head coach Tim Paske. “We were excited that we were able to hold them out of the end zone. It was a bend-but-not-break defense.”
This weekend, division battles include UV-Edmeston versus Greene; Oxford at Delhi; Clinton at Sherburne-Earlville; and Harpursville at Bainbridge-Guilford. Norwich’s trip to Ithaca tonight is the lone non-leaguer. Below are summaries of this week’s games:
Norwich (0-1) at Ithaca (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.
As was mentioned above, Norwich has not lost to Ithaca in quite some time, and throughout this decade, the Little Red have found themselves on the short side of the .500 mark. A 15-7 opening win over Cornwall may have shifted Ithaca’s mindset. “They seem to be much more balanced and fundamentally sound this year,” Martinson said. “They made a lot of first-game mistakes, as we did, but they moved the ball well and the defense was stingy. They will be a formidable opponent.”
The injury bug has nipped at Norwich the past two weeks with at least three starters missing time last week and this week. “We’ve never make injuries an excuse, we just need to shore things up,” Martinson said.
Norwich amassed just 115 yards on the ground a week ago, a statistic it will need to improve if it hopes to even its mark on the season.
–––
Harpursville (1-0) at B-G (0-1), Friday, 7 p.m.
On paper, at least, it would seem that Harpursville’s one-point win over Unatego last weekend was somewhat of an upset. “A win’s a win, and with that, I’m sure they will come in here pretty excited,” said B-G coach Tim Mattingly.
The Bobcats did not play the Hornets last season, but the previous two years – Mattingly’s first two as head coach – B-G won by a pair of touchdowns in each contest.
Mattingly is guiding a club that contained the typically-powerful Sidney offense yielding less than 200 yards. “We didn’t play badly at all last week, and I think the defense will need to step up again,” he said.
Harpursville favors a running game, and runs out of a formation that is a mirror image to that of the Bobcats. Tyler Boudreau figures to get most of the carries, although the Hornets have athleticism and speedy throughout their skill positions, Mattingly said.
–––
