Evening Sun Report
FOOTBALL
Norwich 20, Susquehanna Valley 8
CONKLIN – Norwich’s punishing, methodical offensive attack summoned a big play at just the right time.
With no time remaining on the first-half clock, senior quarterback Seth Thomsen ran 35 yards for a touchdown to give NHS much-needed momentum in Saturday’s opening-game victory at Susquehanna Valley.
Thomsen had just made a strong punt return into SV’s territory, and with 2.2 seconds left in the half, Norwich head coach John Martinson called a deep passing play. “When Seth got outside the pocket, he saw that (Sus Valley’s) coverage was good. He decided to take it down the sideline, and he eluded three tacklers. Looking at the film, that play was all Seth. It’s something you can’t coach.”
Norwich was assured of at least a 7-0 halftime lead before Thomsen’s big rush. Earlier in the second quarter, Kyle Edwards’ four-yard TD run – his first varsity score – put Norwich on the board. Thanks to a penetrating, aggressive defense, Norwich had the game well in hand throughout. Lineman Kegan Levesque had three tackles for a loss, and sophomore linebacker Jaden MacRabie made two tackles for a loss.
Norwich padded the lead in the third thanks to its special teams. Junior Danny Carson blocked an SV punt that was recovered by the Tornado’s Ryan Hayes. Thomsen completed a short touchdown drive on a four-yard option keeper.
Sus Valley scored late in the game, but the final result was no longer in doubt. Norwich allowed just 146 yards of SV offense. “The weather was probably the worst in my 25 years of coaching football,” Martinson said, noting the high temperature and humidity. “It was the first time I let my kids take their helmets off in a game. We told the kids to be prepared for (the weather), and they did a great job of helping each other out. Art Rigas did a fantastic job calling the defense, and our young men played assignment football.”
Norwich plays its home opener on Friday against Owego.
Score by quarters
NHS 0 14 6 0–20
SVa. 0 0 0 8–8
Scoring Summary
N: Kyle Edwards 4 run (Jaden MacRabie kick)
N: Seth Thomsen 35 run (MacRabie kick)
N: Thomsen 4 run (MacRabie kick)
SV: Laurent Dure 15 run (John Gage run)
Team summary
N SV
First downs 20 11
Rushes-yds 54-226 30-99
Passing yds 42 47
Comp-att-int 2-7-2 5-15-0
Punts-avg 0-0 3-36
Fum-lost 2-1 3-3
Penalties-yds 4-40 1-5
Individual Statistics
Rushing (SV) Laurent Dure, 10-72; Mark Yezzi, 5-18; Jimmy Mitchell, 4-17; John Gage, 1-1; Sean Mullins, 1-0. Vince LaMantia, 9- (-9). (N) Grant Brightman, 20-72; Patrick Taylor, 11-57; Kyle Edwards, 7-51; Seth Thomsen, 11-37; Kegan Levesque, 2-6; Danny Carson, 2-3; Jaden MacRabie, 1-0.
Passing: (N) Seth Thomsen, 2-7-4, 42 yards. (SV) Vince LaMantia, 5-15-0, 47 yards.
Receiving: (N) Cody Bradbury, 2-42. (SV) Jimmy Mitchell, 2-10; Chris Quintin, 1-16; Brandon Edwards, 1-16; Mark Yezzi, 1-5.
Bainbridge-Guilford 41, UV-Edmeston 31
BAINBRIDGE – Bainbridge-Guilford was smacked in the mouth on the opening kickoff of the season. The Bobcats’ players stood up and regrouped with perhaps its best offensive mix in years.
Senior Billy Holden ran for 218 yards and four touchdowns, and he also caught an 80-yard TD pass from Corbin Palmer in B-G’s third opening-day win over UV-E in four seasons.
“Billy had a great day, and you also have to credit our young offensive line,” said B-G coach Tim Mattingly. “The line did a great job of opening holes.”
UV-E, under first-year head coach Brian Banks, showed flashes of speed and talent that should make it a difficult foe to defend the rest of the season. Junior Justin Hofer took the opening kickoff straight up the field scoring from 70 yards out. “After (Hofer) ran that one back, we just squib kicked our kickoffs the rest of the way,” Mattingly said. “We did a lot of chasing in this game and had to take great angles of pursuit on their ball carriers. We put some licks on their backs, and they bounced back up.”
A steady diet of Holden – and timely passes from Palmer – allowed B-G to set the tempo for the remainder of the first half and through the third quarter.
Palmer’s 56-yard scoring pass to Ryan Porter tied the game up. On the next possession, though, UV-E’s Hofer capped the Storm’s only sustained offensive drive of the first half dashing 30 yards for the score.
From there, the Bobcats scored 27 straight points with Holden scoring on 36, 3, and 11-yard runs to go with his pass receiving touchdown.
UV-E’s Kody Homann interrupted B-G’s scoring streak diving in from one yard out. Holden and the Bobcats quickly answered on Holden’s fourth score, another three-yard run.
Overall, B-G ran for 303 yards, and Palmer was 8-for-11 for 225 yards. “The key to the offense was Paler, and I have not had a quarterback in my time here who runs the offense as well as he does,” Mattingly said. “We were able to utilize all of our offensive talent, and with all of our weapons, we are trying to do a better job mixing the pass with the run.”
UV-E, forced into passing mode, tacked on two scores late in the fourth quarter. Senior Brandon Miles threw a pair of scoring tosses hitting Homann on a 41-yard strike, then finding Conklin for a 30-yard TD hookup.
Hofer led UV-E with 69 yards rushing, and Miles was 5-for-12 for 119 yards.
Score by quarters
UVE 13 0 0 18–31
B-G 13 15 6 7–41
First quarter
UVE: Justin Hofer 70 kickoff return ( kurt Haycook kick)
