BINGHAMTON – One would be hard-pressed to find a more stunning and thoroughly dominant turnaround in the annals of Norwich football history.
About the only way to avenge any sort of defeat in the same season is to make the playoffs, and the Tornado made the most of their postseason opportunity Saturday evening at snow-covered Binghamton Alumni Stadium.
Just three weeks earlier, the Tornado took it on the chin against Johnson City, 24-12, but reversed that outcome with a 35-0 thrashing of the state-ranked Wildcats. “You never expect this (result) at all, but it was a different feeling on the field from the previous week,” said Norwich coach John Martinson, referring to a 32-21 loss to Chenango Valley. “We executed our game plan in every way, and to have days from our fullback Grant (Brightman) – and Kyle (Edwards) had a big day, too – it says a lot about our offensive line.”
Brightman scored three touchdowns for Norwich (5-3) and rushed for 158 yards against a JC outfit that limited Norwich to just 63 yards rushing in the first encounter. Norwich has another opportunity to rectify a setback this Friday against Chenango Valley, who advanced to the Section IV Class title game with a 26-7 win over Owego.
Norwich capitalized on Johnson City’s miscues, and it had plenty of opportunities to do so recovering five fumbles and picking off one pass.
The Tornado opened the game’s scoring with a Kyle Edwards 1-yard scoring run early in the first quarter. The Tornado lost its only fumble of the game on its first play from scrimmage, but held JC without a first down. NHS then set the tone for the game methodically and powerfully driving down the field.
Later in the first quarter, events took a turn for the worse on the JC side of the field after Norwich forced one of its many stops of the game. The snap to Wildcats punter DeShaun Jones sailed over his head, and a recovery at the 3-yard line had Norwich threatening for another first-quarter score. On fourth-and-goal, Brightman plowed in from two yards out to kickoff his big day of offense making it 14-0.
Following a JC turnover, Norwich padded the advantage before halftime. Edwards’ second TD run, this time covering 30 yards, upped the advantage to three scores. Thomsen’s two-point toss to Edwards made it 22-0 at the halftime break.
Johnson City controlled the third quarter in every way but the scoreboard. Norwich’s defense made two fourth-down stops in its own end, and forced one of Wildcats’ two punts on the evening. After the second stop of the quarter, Norwich, who had the ball for less than three minutes in the quarter, struck gold on a quick-hitting run from Brightman. Brightman, a junior fullback who has rarely ventured more than two or three yards downfield this season without some sort of contact, burst 68 yards for the first of his two long TD runs in the second half.
Coming off yet another Johnson City fumble, it was “rinse and repeat” for Brightman in the fourth, who rumbled 61 yards for the capping score. Brightman was on the lookout for any chasing defenders, but there were none to be found.
Fittingly, another lost Johnson City fumble ended its day on offense – a 209-yard performance littered with miscues due to Norwich’s aggressive defensive approach. “We’re excited as we can be,” Martinson said. “We got a second chance against Johnson City, and now we have a second chance against the reigning Section IV champions. Whoever comes out on top in that game will be deserving of that title. We’ve put in our game plan, and we’ll give it to our kids on Monday.”
Norwich’s 321 total rushing yards was its best this season, and the defensive shutout was the first since a 2010 opening-game win over Whitney Point. Edwards added 93 yards rushing for NHS, who netted nearly eight yards per carry for the game.
Score by quarters
NHS 14 8 6 7–35
JCty 0 0 0 0–0
Scoring Summary
First quarter
N: Kyle Edwards 1 run (Seth Thomsen run), 10:18
N: Grant Brightman 2 run (pass failed), 2:40
