CHENANGO BRIDGE – Instead of running into the playoffs with a full head of steam, Norwich will enter Section IV postseason play with a bit of a limp.

Norwich dropped its second game in as many weeks, and the latest setback came with the outright Division III title on the line. Kevin Cox ran the Chenango Valley option exquisitely finishing with four touchdowns and 135 yards rushing in a 32-21 win over the Tornado Saturday afternoon.

The Warriors won their fourth straight game and forced a three-way tie for the division crown with Norwich and Oneonta. By virtue of the tie-breaking system, CV earned the top seed and a home playoff game, while Norwich (4-3) fell to the second spot and will play Johnson City this coming weekend on the road.

“Chenango Valley executed its game plan to perfection,” said Norwich coach John Martinson, who has guided the Tornado to the playoffs in each of his three seasons. “They really hurt us with the option. We worked all week long on it, but it’s hard to defend when you don’t see it. We tried to give them many different looks, but Cox runs it very well for them.”

While CV was exceptionally swift in moving down the field and scoring, Norwich churned out its yards in small doses. The ball-control offense was the Tornado’s best defense in the first half, and a 16-play drive that chewed up nearly eight minutes of time hoisted Norwich to a 14-13 halftime lead. The Tornado moved the ball past midfield, but stalled after a third-and-five pass fell incomplete. However, Norwich gained new life when its punter, Kyle Edwards, was knocked down as he followed through on his punt. A 15-yard penalty was enforced, and Norwich plowed ahead. On a fourth-and-seven from the CV 10, Norwich went to the air again, and this time quarterback Seth Thomsen found his mark. Edwards, dragging across the back of the endzone, dove to the ground to haul in the low throw from Thomsen, the NHS quarterback’s second TD pass of the game. Zan Stewart, a call-up from junior varsity, put Norwich up by one with the successful point-after boot.

CV nearly regained the lead before the half marching to Norwich’s 12, but Edwards knocked down a fourth-down pass from Cox to end the threat. “I felt like we were a little worn down at halftime, but I knew we were getting the ball back,” said Warriors coach Jay Hope. “I felt like they hadn’t really stopped us, and if we could do the same thing, it might energize us and deflate them. That’s kind of the way it transpired.”

The Warriors received a big spark on the second play of the second half when Adam Greene ran for an 18-yard first down. The rest of the drive it was Cox running the mid-line option, and fullback Dominik Forbidussi keeping Norwich honest with powerful inside runs. Cox’s two-yard sneak capped a 66-yard excursion, and it put the Warriors up for good.

Defensive stops came at a premium, but CV was able to slow Norwich down forcing a punt on the next sequence of downs. Taking over at its own 20, CV went to Greene first, who raced left on a sweep right for 29 yards. An unsportsmanlike penalty on Norwich added 15 yards to the end of the run, and CV was on the move again. Cox ran it three of the next four plays on similar option totes, and his third score of the day covered five yards.

Norwich closed to with 26-21 early in the fourth when Patrick Taylor raced in from three yards out. In less than three minutes, CV upped the lead back to 11 points. Greene bolted for 22 yards, Cox converted a third-and-long with a nifty naked bootleg run to the left, and Cox’s 14-yard TD run ended the day’s scoring.

“I think it was a battle of attrition, and they really got after us in the second half,” Martinson said. “We came out flat at the beginning of the second half, and they drove it right down the field. I was happy with the way we responded to come back to five points, but we just couldn’t hold them.”

Greene ran for 130 yards and CV finished with 327 yards rushing against a Norwich defense that had proven itself quite stout against the run most of the season. “It was like a mirror image on both sides,” Hope said. “I think we stopped them just enough versus they didn’t stop us just enough. It was a fun game to coach, and I know it had to be a fun game to watch.”

Norwich took the ball on its opening possession 38 yards for a touchdown. Thomsen returned the kickoff 44 yards, and Thomsen had a pair of fourth-down runs to extend the drive. Thomsen’s 15-yard TD pass to Cody Bradbury put Norwich up a touchdown.

Cox and the Warriors needed five plays to tie the game with Cox’s 26-yard option keeper to paydirt setting the tone for the rest of the afternoon.

JV notes: Leading by eight at halftime, 14-6, Norwich’s JV team put 28 points on the board in the second half to beat CV, 42-18. The Tornado juniors (6-1 on the season) finished division play with an unblemished mark. Michael Oralls ran for 200 yards and two touchdowns. Tristan Rifanburg scored twice, while Keagan Franklin and Matt Burke added TD jaunts.

Score by quarters

Nor. 7 7 0 7–21

C.Va. 7 6 13 6–32

Scoring Summary

First quarter

N: Seth Thomsen 15 pass to Cody Bradbury (Zan Stewart kick)

CV: Kevin Cox 26 run (Eric Silvanic kick)