FOOTBALL
Norwich 29, Windsor 14
WINDSOR – With two-way starters Levi Lorimer and Grant Brightman not in the lineup Friday night, Norwich coach John Martinson said the shuffling of his starting lineup looked like a Chinese fire drill early on.
“To be honest, the early part of the game was somewhat of a blur,” Martinson said.
It wasn’t long before the Norwich lineup found its seats in a division-opening victory at Windsor.
Michael Oralls moved from tight end to fullback for Brightman, and finished with 111 yards rushing an three touchdowns. Oralls scored on runs of 13, 30, and 36 yards, the last of those three coming with 2:52 left in the third to raise the Tornado’s lead to 29-0.
“We’ve seen Michael run the ball on JV the last two years, so we knew he could run it,” Martinson said. “We weren’t surprised by what he did. It was a good change of pace, and it opened running lanes for Keagan (Franklin) and Kyle (Edwards).”
Norwich drove for its first score after stopping Windsor. Trent Stone and Matt Burke combined on a sack of Black Knights quarterback Josh Cady to spearhead the NHS defense. Following Oralls’ second score, the Tornado scored with 13 seconds left in the first half as Mike Sutton found Edwards on a three-yard TD pass.
The Norwich defense held Windsor’s top ballcarrier, Isma’il Griffin to just 57 yards on 17 carries, and Windsor’s two scores came in the second half of the final quarter.
Burke and Oralls had nine total tackles, Franklin finished with eight tackles, and Stone added a fumble recovery. “We dominated special teams and field position, and the defense really shut down Griffin,” Martinson said. “That was our goal. They started to throw the ball and get away from what they like to do. We felt this was our coming out party on offense and on defense.”
Norwich visits winless Oneonta next Friday, its fourth road game in five starts.
NOTES: Community members are invited to attend a bonfire as a show of support for the Norwich football program this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at East Side Park. Norwich’s junior varsity team dropped a 30-27 final to Windsor. Jacob Perrone had 152 yards and one score, and Frankie Garcia added 102 yards rushing. Matt Craig, Carlos Ithier, and Cameron Edwards finished with TD runs, and Brendon Budd kicked three extra points.
Score by quarters
NHS 7 12 10 0–29
Wind. 0 0 0 14–14
Scoring Summary
First quarter
N: Michael Oralls 13 run (Zan Stewart kick)
Second quarter
N: Michael Oralls 30 run (kick failed)
N: Kyle Edwards 3 pass from Michael Sutton (run failed)
Third quarter
N: Stewart 20 field goal
N: Oralls 36 run (Stewart kick)
Fourth quarter
W: Darick Bartlow 9 run (run failed)
W: Ben Rivera 20 pass from Josh Cady (Calvin Whalen run)
Individual statistics
Rushing — Norwich, Michael Oralls 11-107, Keegan Franklin 5-43, Kyle Edwards 11-59, Tristan Rifanburg 2-13, Michael Sutton 4-7. Windsor, Isma’il Griffin 17-57, Calvin Whalen 10-56, Darick Bartlow 8-34, Josh Cady 8-5.
Passing — Norwich, Michael Sutton 5-9-0-51. Windsor, Josh Cady 10-20-0-108.
Receiving — Norwich, Michael Oralls 2-29, Kyle Edwards 3-22. Windsor, Tyler Kost 2-13, Frank Martino 2-15, Michael Niggli 5-60, Ben Rivera 1-20.
Oxford 28, Groton 20
GROTON – Oxford stuffed Groton’s two-point conversion attempt to tie the game midway through the fourth, then iced the game with reliable tailback Paul Wonka in a pivotal road victory Friday night.
Wonka completed a long drive to end the scoring with his third rushing touchdown of the game, a five-yarder. The stout senior finished with 217 yards on 38 carries, and moved past the 3,000-yard rushing mark for his career.
“After last week (28-0 loss to Newark Valley), I didn’t know how we would come out,” said Oxford coach Ray Dayton. “I hoped that we would come out and respond well, and we did that.”
Groton, unbeaten and state-ranked coming into the game, had little success running the ball finishing with just 23 rushing yards against the Oxford defense. Instead, quarterback Chris Hatfield went to the air throwing for 191 yards and two touchdowns. The Indian’s third TD of the game made it 22-20. On the two-point try, Wonka and Caleb Cutting stepped up to make the big stop.
Wonka, meanwhile, served as the workhorse in his best rushing performance of the season. His workload in carries was the most in any single game of his four-year career. Dayton, though, didn’t hesitate to continue giving his top runner the ball. “When you’re getting six yards a carry, what else would you do?” Dayton said. “If you look at the great coaches, Jim Hoover and Dave Kelly, they’re not going to change what’s working. They do the same things over and over until you stop them. That’s our same philosophy and approach.”
Oxford did show some offensive balance. Quarterback Jody Smith threw for 104 yards and one score to Andrew Golden, and Cameron Heggie added four catches for 64 yards.
The Blackhawks (2-2) return to division play this week when they play Unatego. The Spartans have won three straight and are coming off a 39-point drubbing of previously-unbeaten Bainbridge-Guilford.
Score by quarters
Oxf. 6 8 6 8–28
Grot. 8 6 0 6–20
Oxford scoring plays
First quarter
Wonka 1 run (kick failed
Second quarter
Wonka 25 run (Wonka run)
Third quarter
Jody Smith 20 pass to Andrew Golden (conversion failed)
Fourth quarter
Wonka 4 run (Wonka Run)
Individual statistics (Groton’s incomplete)
Rushing: (O) Paul Wonka 37-217, Joe Jackson, 9-50; Jody Smith 3-6, Chris Graves 1-(-2), Colton Langille 1-(-1.) (G) Hatfield 7- (-27), Zeke Wright 7-33, Joey Scaglione 3-6, Damian Young 3-11.
Passing: (O) Jody Smith 6-12-1-104, 1 TD. Groton Central, Chris Hatfield 8-12-0-191.
Receiving: (O) Oxford, Andrew Golden 2-40, Cameron Heggie, 4-64.
Unadilla Valley 22, Whitney Point 20
WHITNEY POINT – Unadilla Valley used some trickery to take the lead in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, and survived a missed field goal with 25 seconds left in a two-point win at Whitney Point Saturday afternoon.
Dakota Kolvik ran for the tying touchdown, his first score as a UV player. On the extra point for the lead, UV executed a fake kick to perfection. Kurt Haycook took off on the hold attempt. With a run/pass option, Haycook successfully hit Dillon Rifanburg on the two-point toss.
“We had missed an extra point earlier in the game kicking the ball, and I thought we had a better chance (of making the conversion) by faking it,” said UV coach Daryl Decker.
The drama in the game was far from over. Whitney Point drove against the UV defense only to fumble it away. Reserve lineman Kevin Prosser recovered the loose pigskin for UV with three minutes left on the clock.
After converting a first down, UV fumbled the ball back to Whitney Point. With just over 90 seconds left, the Golden Eagles nearly pulled off the comeback. “Our defense held when it needed to, and I called timeout twice to ice their kicker,” Decker said. “The last few minutes were a little crazy.”
UV drove for a touchdown on its opening possession. Kody Homann, a running back for the Storm, threw a TD to Justin Hofer on a halfback option pass that covered 20 yards. Homann added a TD reception pulling in a 40-yard scoring toss from Haycook that made it 14-14 at halftime.
Homann, due to a groin injury, saw limited duty on offense, and on the defensive side, was often moved from his linebacker position to the defensive line. In his stead, Haycook, Hofer, Kolvik, and Rifanburg had big days at the skill positions, and the UV team as a whole played its best game. “What I told them after the game is that we finally put together four quarters of good football,” Decker said. “The defense held when it had to, and we proved that we can win coming from behind.”
