ENDICOTT – Newark Valley’s plan was the run the ball against Greene Saturday afternoon at Ty Cobb Stadium. The Trojans’ defense was perfectly disagreeable with that plan, and took the stance of an immovable object.
Newark Valley had negative four yards of rushing for the game and just 50 total yards. The Cardinals’ one threat to score was stonewalled at the one as Greene went on to record its third shutout of the season, 30-0.
It was the second-ever Section IV, Class C playoff win for Greene (9-0), who play in the school’s second sectional title game this coming weekend against Waverly. “We would have liked a better first half today, but we’ll take it,” said Greene ninth-year head coach, Tim Paske. “The kids are believing and believe in themselves. That’s where it all starts.”
The Trojans played without leading rusher Jeff Carlin, who reinjured a bum ankle on a punt return, his only offensive touch of the game. The rest of the way, Carlin limped onto the field as the holder for placekicker Tim Gell.
Without Carlin, Greene leaned a bit more on fullback Keegan Cerwinski. Cerwinski rushed 28 times for 174 yards and two first-half touchdowns. Cerwinski’s two-yard run late in the first half made it 13-0, and it followed one of the key sequences of the contest.
After a Greene drive stalled at the NV 19, the Cardinals took over with 1:17 left on the clock, and were poised to hold Greene to a 7-0 halftime lead.
On first and second down, Greene held the Cardinals to two net rushing yards. Greene called its last two timeouts after each run stop, and left NV with a third-and-long. Surprisingly, the Cardinals went for a home run type of pass, but quarterback Mason Shutts just overthrew intended target Austin Argente.
Forced to punt with just under a minute left, Shutts, the punter, dropped a perfectly snapped ball, and he was tackled at the eight by a swarm of Greene defenders. Two plays later, Cerwinski padded his team’s advantage. “I told the guys in the timeouts that we would get an opportunity to block a punt, so let’s get after it and do it,” Paske said. “That was a huge play. They fumbled the snap, which helps, but our kids were right there anyway. We work on special teams every day in practice, and they are a big part of the game.”
Greene rushed for 196 of its 308 yards after halftime with Cerwinski finding big holes, and backfield mate Trevor Parrish running for 77 yards in the second half alone. Cerwinski had three first-down runs for Greene, the last a 20-yarder to the 13 set up Dan Dickman’s 13-yard scamper. Gell added the PAT raising the count to 20-0. On his last run of the drive, Cerwinski sidestepped a would-be NV tackler at the line of scrimmage, and scooted outside for the big gain. “I started cutting for the first time all year, and decided to be a little fancier,” said the Trojans senior, who surpassed 700 yards rushing for the season after Saturday’s game. “I just kept running it up north and south instead of going to the sidelines, and tried to get as many yards as I could.”
Newark Valley drove from its 37 to the Greene one on its first possession of the third. Shutts completed three first-down passes, the last a 22-yard connection with Argente to the Greene seven. Three running plays netted six yards, but the interior of Greene’s line and the linebacking corps won the line of scrimmage holding the Cardinals’ Larry Kazmarcik to a one-yard loss on fourth down.
Newark Valley never caught the scent of the endzone the rest of the way, and had negative 12 yards of offense in the fourth quarter alone. Controlling the line of scrimmage has been Greene’s forte all season, and Saturday’s game was perhaps its best overall defensive performance, especially considering the quality of the opposition.
“We talk a lot about forcing a team to do something they don’t want to do or don’t do well, playing into our favor,” Paske said. “Our kids up front all year long, Ricky Carbone, Kyle Stanton and Trevor Flohr, our TNT (tackle, nose tackle, tackle), have done a heck of a job taking away inside runs. They did a great job executing the game plan today.”
Early in the fourth, Gell split the uprights on a 39-yard field goal, and Parrish tacked on a nine-yard scoring run midway through the fourth.
Cerwinski opened the scoring with a 13-yard TD run in the second quarter, and it came on a fourth-and-four. Cerwinski swept right behind a convoy of blockers, and broke through the endzone nearly untouched. It was the type of running room he would enjoy the rest of the afternoon.
Score by quarters
NV 0 0 0 0–0
Gr. 0 13 7 10—30
Scoring summary
Second quarter
