It’s been feast or famine offensively through two weeks, conversely, defenses have either bent slowly or allowed the floodgates to open.
Greene has scored more points than any of the 46 grid outfits in Section IV with 96. Yet, those points have come against two winless clubs who are ranked number 44 and 45 in points allowed per game.
On the flip side of the ball, the Trojans have not allowed a point in those two games, and are the only team in Section IV to start the season with back-to-back shutouts. Greene’s defense is allowing just 120.5 yards per game, a good indicator that the shutouts were no accident. “Those are just stats right now,” said Greene’s seventh-year mentor, Tim Paske. “What we talk about is playing four quarters, no matter who is in the game. We take a lot of pride in that.”
The polar opposite of Greene, UV-Edmeston, is starving for eligible players after racking up injury after injury, and it has not scored a point through two weeks. The Storm were down to their third-string quarterback against powerhouse Greene last weekend, and after another series of in-game injuries, were unable to complete the contest in the fourth quarter. “We had 18 eligible last week, and three more were hurt (against Greene),” said UV-E coach Jack Loeffler. “We had low numbers to start, and we’ve had some bad luck with injuries. Fatigue is a big thing when you have low numbers, and when that sets in, injuries happen.”
Oxford has shown the ability to move the ball the opening two weeks, and quarterback John Wonka leads all Chenango County signal-callers with 311 yards passing. As well as the Blackhawks have thrown the ball, the defense has yielded a whopping 239 yards passing per game and 826 yards of total offense. “If Harpursville (Oxford’s opponent this week) throws the ball all over, it will be the first time they’ve done that this year,” said Oxford coach Mike Chrystie. “We’ve spent all week in practice shoring up our pass defense. Not many coaches say this, but we want to make (Harpursville) beat us with the running game.”
One unique statistic for the Norwich Purple Tornado is its defensive scoring. Despite an 0-2 start, NHS has given up the fewest points (37) through two weeks in Division III. Four of the five Division III clubs, though, are winless with Chenango Valley (1-1) the only club to earn a victory.
Norwich’s struggles reside mainly on the offensive side. The Tornado have scored just one touchdown in each of the first two weeks, and are averaging just 115 yards rushing per game.
Bainbridge-Guilford and Sherburne-Earlville, both with 1-1 records, are as close to the norm as possible. The Bobcats have not allowed 200 total yards of offense in either of its two games, and on offense, are putting up a pedestrian 243.5 yards per game.
The Marauders bounced back from a poor week one defensive performance to clamp down on Clinton. On offense, S-E’s consistent rushing attack has put up 233 and 236 yards respectively.
Below are summaries of this weekend’s matchups:
Harpursville (1-1) at Oxford, (0-2), Friday, 7 p.m.
It’s week three, and already the Blackhawks are in a must-win situation. With one division loss already in the books, a second setback would make it extremely difficult to qualify for the playoffs. “It’s an important weekend if we want to stay in the race,” Chrystie said. “If we can stay in the game early on and not turn it over, I think we can gain confidence. I know we can move the ball. We did it last week and we did it the first week against Greene.”
Harpursville, a spread offense last year, has moved to a run-based Wing-T attack, not unlike that used by the likes of Norwich and Walton. The Hornets feature running backs Tyler Boudreau and Camryn Brown, and the offense is run by senior quarterback Ryan Dalpiaz.
Bainbridge-Guilford (1-1) at Hancock (1-1), Friday, 7 p.m.
Hancock will score points, but will yield on defense as well as evidenced by the 51-14 drubbing it took last week against Deposit.
The Wildcats’ spread offense is geared around quarterback Dylan Oralls, a returning starter and among the top returning passers this season in Section IV.
B-G’s defense has been fairly stingy and avoided giving up the big play. Through two games, the Bobcats’ defenders are allowing 176 total yards per game.
Offensively Jake Taylor’s 126 rushing yards paces a balanced attack. Quarterback Justin Pepper is coming off a four-TD rushing performance a week ago.
