Norwich 33, Susquehanna Valley 6
NORWICH – Norwich put up more points in the first half Friday night against Susquehanna Valley than it did in the first three games combined.
The Tornado scored almost at will for three quarters, and cruised to a Section IV, Division III win on homecoming weekend. Since an opening-game win at home in which it scored a single touchdown, Norwich seldom found any consistency on offense in back-to-back road losses to Chenango Forks and Vestal.
“We really did find a rhythm on offense, and we were able to mix up the pass and the run,” said Norwich second-year coach John Martinson. “We executed on offense almost to perfection, and I can’t say enough about what coach (Tom) Stoddard did with the offensive line.”
Norwich (1-0, 2-2) took its opening drive 87 yards on 12 plays to open up the lead. Josh Favaloro scooted 36 yards to finish the drive. A 36-yard pass from Seth Thomsen to Jon Foulds to the SV one set up Thomsen’s one-yard sneak late in the opening stanza.
Patrick Taylor’s 11-yard TD jaunt with just over four minutes remaining in the half pushed the lead to 20-0, and the Tornado managed a defensive stop to set up the last score of the opening two quarters. The Thomsen-to-Foulds connection worked its magic with just 1.6 seconds left in the first half as Foulds raked in a 19-yard TD reception. Thomsen finished 5-for-6 for 120 yards, and Foulds had his best night as a varsity player totaling four catches for 87 yards. Norwich amassed 400 yards of total offense – 275 rushing and 125 passing – to nearly double its best effort to date.
Just as impressive was the Tornado defense holding a Sabers lineup to a single touchdown in the fourth quarter, and leading rusher Laurent Dure had just 18 yards on four carries. Dure came into the game averaging over 130 yards rushing per game. “I thought we had a good defensive game plan to stop their speed and stop their fullback trap up the middle,” Martinson said. “We won the field position battle all game, and we were able to set up our play-action pass. We got Jon Foulds involved in the offense, and that loosened up their defense even more. The line created some big holes...I have to give big props to the offensive line.”
Norwich’s final score came on Thomsen’s 11-yard keeper in the third quarter.
SV broke up the shutout with a 52-yard TD pass play in the fourth stanza. Until that touchdown pass, the Sabers had less than 100 yards of total offense for the game.
“This win was important for everyone in the program, and we got everyone into the game,” Martinson said. “This reaffirms what we’re doing in the program. I don’t think the kids had any doubt, but we needed to put some points on the board. This is a good start to division play. Chenango Valley will be a formidable opponent next week.”
Favaloro led Norwich with 86 yards rushing, and Mackay Hotaling added 71 yards on the ground.
Score by quarters
SVall 0 0 0 6–6
NHS 12 15 6 0–33
Scoring Summary
N: Josh Favaloro 36 run (kick failed)
N: Seth Thomsen 1 run (pass failed)
N: Patrick Taylor 11 run (Mackay Hotaling run)
N: Thomsen 19 pass to Jon Foulds (Favaloro kick)
N: Thomsen 11 run (kick failed)
SV: Sam Green 52 pass from James Chantry (pass failed)
Team Summary
SV N
First downs 6 16
Rushes-yds 20-77 40-275
Passing yards 64 125
Comp-att-int 4-9-1 6-7-0
Punts-avg 3-34.7 0-0
Penalties-yds 5-35 4-35
Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-1
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (SV) Ryan Novobilski, 13-77; Laurent Dure, 4-18, Dylan Brandow, 1-1, Chantry, 1-(-6), Zach Barker, 1-(-13). (N) Josh Favaloro, 4-86; Mackay Hotaling, 9-71, Tyler Hoffman, 5-29, Seth Thomsen, 7-23, Nick McCullough, 3-20, Grant Brightman, 3-16, Patrick Taylor, 1-11; Morgan Crawford, 1-7; Kegan Levesque, 2-4; Tony Loscavio, 1-4, Morgan Cleveland, 2-2; Darrel Humphrey, 2-2.
Passing: (SV) Chantry, 4-9-1, 64 yards, TD. (N) Seth Thomsen, 5-6-0, 120 yards, TD; Nate Ashton, 1-1-0, 5 yards.
Receiving: (SV) Sam Green, 2-51, D. Brandown, 1-8, Dure, 1-5. (N) Jon Foulds, 4-87, Josh Whaley, 1-33, Ian Weaver, 1-5.
Oxford 35, Deposit-Hancock 0
HANCOCK – Oxford showed no ill-effects from a heart-breaking emotional loss last week to Delhi.
The Blackhawks chewed up yards in big chunks against the Eagles’ defense rushing for a season-high 298 yards. Paul Wonka rushed for a career-high 208 yards and three TDs, and Booker Davis added two more rushing scores.
“It was a little better than I expected,” said Oxford coach Mike Chrystie. “I know they are still working on coming together as a program, but I don’t think we anticipated shutting them out and putting up points the way we did. The running game was a testament to the guys blocking up front. I don’t remember the last time an Oxford individual ran for 200 yards. Paulie and Booker had great games, but it all started up front.”
Davis started the scoring with a 15-yard score in the first. Wonka had the next three dashing 49, 8, and 46 yards. Davis had the last touchdown, an eight-yard run in the third period, and Andrew Golden tacked on a 27-yard field goal in the fourth.
The Oxford defense, in recording the shutout, allowed just 72 total yards of offense. “It’s nice to see a zero next to the other team’s score,” Chrystie said. “It was a total team effort, and the guys who don’t normally see as much time, they played their hearts out, and they were the ones who secured the shutout.”
Oxford (3-1) hosts Bainbridge-Guilford on Friday.
Score by Quarters
Oxf. 13 12 7 3–35
D-H 0 0 0 0–0
Scoring Summary
O: Booker Davis 15 run (kick failed)
O: Paul Wonka 49 run (Andrew Golden kick)
O: P. Wonka 8 run (kick failed)
O: P. Wonka 46 run (pass failed)
O: B. Davis 7 run (Golden kick)
O: Golden 27 field goal
Team summary
O DH
First downs 10 8
Rushes-yds 42-298 25-7
Comp-att-int 2-9-0 6-16-1
Passing yds 6 65
Punts-avg 3-30 4-24.3
