GREENE – Chenango Forks didn’t even attempt a pass its first two games of the season. Over the past two weeks, the Blue Devils have proven that not only is the forward pass a nice tool in their offensive shed, but they are pretty darn skilled at it as well.
Jimmy Miller followed up his four-TD day a week ago at Sidney with three TD runs against Greene Friday, and quarterback Casey Lanave threw a pair of second-half TD passes to Derek Foster in a 33-14 win here Friday night.
Lanave was 4-for-4 for 88 yards – all in the second half – and he had another TD pass in the second half called back due to penalty. Forks was particularly effective in its second-half execution with all four scoring drives taking no longer than 2 minutes and 41 seconds.
Greene held possession of the ball for 17 out of 24 minutes in the second half, but three turnovers – and three other fumbles – gave the visiting Blue Devils a welcomed boost. “One of the keys we talked about all week was taking care of the football,” said Greene coach Tim Paske. “We put the ball on the ground in the second half, and that definitely hurt us. You’re not going to win many games when you do that, especially against a team like Chenango Forks.”
Greene gave up a score to Forks on the first drive of the game, but bounced back after forcing a Forks turnover driving 64 yards on 16 plays – and using over eight minutes of possession time – to tie the game on Kurt Shear’s one-yard scoring run. The extra-point by Tim Gell gave Greene a 7-6 lead at halftime.
Greene had the ball after the second-half kickoff, and moved across midfield after a first down. A fourth-down pass, though, by Keegan Cerwinski was picked off Lanave, who returned it to the 44. On the second play after the change of possession, Lanave’s first pass of the game was on the money to Ryan Lamond gaining 27 yards. Miller capped the drive with a 15-yard run up the middle to give Forks the lead.
Greene gained a first down on its next sequence, but a bad handoff exchange on a reverse to running back Kevin Beers was recovered at the Greene 26 by Alec Fletcher. An ineligible receiver penalty on the next play wiped away Miller’s 26-yard TD reception from Lanave. No matter, Lanave went up top on a second-and-long pass to Foster for a 28-yard score. Lanave kept the passing success coming when he found Zach Kolb on the two-point conversion raising the lead to 20-7.
Greene had one more significant offensive drive as Kurt Shear carried the ball seven times on a 10-play, 65-yard scoring drive. Kyle Stanton added two key runs, and Shear’s three-yard scoring run along with Gell’s boot on the point-after pulled Greene to within six points.
From there, it was a combination of Forks offensive precision and Greene turnovers that led to the final two scores.
A short kickoff gave Forks the ball at midfield, and Miller popped a 43-yard TD run up the middle completing a 49-yard drive in all of 80 seconds.
Greene fumbled the ball on the next possession, and Forks needed just 1:50 of time to capitalize. Lanave tossed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Foster, who outjumped Greene’s Jeremy Flohr for the ball at the goal line.
“Defensively, we had a couple of breakdowns,” Paske said. “We had guys in position. Sometimes we made the play, sometimes we didn’t.”
Shear continued to get the lion’s share of the carries throughout the game carrying it 36 times for 166 yards, that rushing total the highest individual total against Forks this season. “I’d rather have the win (than the yards),” Paske said of Shear’s performance. “The players are really hurting after this, and they’re disappointed because they know they can play against this team.”
Score by quarters
CForks 6 0 14 13–33
Greene 0 7 0 7–14
Scoring Summary
First quarter
CF: Jim Miller 9 run (kick failed), 9:06
Second quarter
