FOOTBALL
Norwich 48, Oneonta 22
ONEONTA - Norwich put up its highest scoring performance in the John Martinson coaching era, and won its fourth straight game beating longtime rival Oneonta Friday night.
Kyle Edwards, Michael Oralls, and Michael Sutton all had two rushing touchdowns, and Edwards added a 66-yard punt return for another score. Edwards became the first Norwich player in recent memory to rush for 100 yards and catch at least 100 yards worth of passes. With his punt return, Edwards finished with 279 all-purpose yards.
“No doubt, we were very balanced running and passing the ball,” Martinson said. “Mike (Sutton) had some great hook-ups throwing it to Kyle where only he could catch it.”
Oneonta snagged the momentum early when Skylar Thompson ran 86 yards for the opening score.
The Tornado (4-1) responded with three consecutive touchdowns before halftime. Mike Oralls, Edwards, and Sutton had TD runs giving NHS a 20-8 halftime advantage. That margin grew to 33-8 in the third when Edwards scored his second TD, then ran back the punt return.
Over the next two minutes, Oneonta came together to throw a scare at Norwich. Thompson returned the ensuing kickoff after the Edwards TD return 90 yards to paydirt. Oneonta then recovered an onside kick to set up a short scoring drive. Scott Conrade’s six-yard TD run closed the Norwich lead to 33-22.
From that point, it was all Norwich. Oralls, again starting in place of injured Grant Brightman, ran 68 yards for a touchdown, and Sutton’s second TD keeper closed the math. Oralls finished with 121 yards rushing, Edwards had 113 yards on the ground to go with 100 yards receiving on five catches. Sutton threw for 107 yards on 6-of-9 attempts.
Next on the docket for Norwich is defending Class A state champion Maine-Endwell, who moved down to the Class B ranks this season. “From what we’ve seen so far, Maine-Endwell might just be the best team in the state – regardless of classification,” Martinson said. “We’re pretty impressed with them, and I’m sure most people will have us as the underdog. We’ll focus on playing our best football of the year to beat Maine-Endwell.”
JV notes: Norwich’s junior varsity team posted a 19-0 shutout win over Oneonta Saturday. Cameron Edwards threw a pair of TD passes to Everett Thompson, and Jacob Perrone added a TD run and 134 yards on the ground. Matt Craig contributed 90 rushing yards. The Norwich JV team forced numerous turnovers and had four sacks. Key players on the defensive side were Perrone, Craig, Daniel Conant, Sam Barber, and Nick Murphy.
Score by Quarters
Nor. 8 12 21 7–48
Ont. 8 0 14 0–22
Scoring Summary
O: Skylar Thompson 86 run (Lord pass to Spataro)
N: Michael Oralls 8 run (Oralls run)
N: Kyle Edwards 10 run (kick failed)
N: Michael Sutton 2 run (pass failed)
N: Edwards 1 run ( pass failed)
N Edwards 66 punt return (Stewart kick)
O: Thompson 90 kickoff return (pass failed)
O: Scott Conrade 6 run (Thompson run)
N: Oralls 68 run (Edwards run)
N: Sutton 1 run (Stewart kick)
Football Summary
N O
First downs 12 10
Total yards 387 195
Rushes-yds 44-280 37-130
Passing yds 107 65
Comp-att-int 6-9-0 5-11-0
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1
Punts-avg 1-39 5-29.6
Penalties-yds 6-45 8-65
Time of Poss. 26:09 21:51
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (N) Michael Oralls, 14-121; Kyle Edwards, 13-112; Keagan Franklin, 3-17; Michael Sutton, 5-10; Jaden MacRabie, 2-7; Matt Burke, 1-6; Danny Carson, 2-6; Tristan Rifanburg, 4-1. (O) Skylar Thompson, 9-101; Scott Conrade, 14-48; Sam Sherrill, 2-11; Timmy Bemis, 1-3; Tim Kamina, 1-3; Jonathon Vega, 2-1; Mike Bitzer, 1-(-3); Brendan Lord, 7- (-34).
Passing: (N) Sutton, 6-9-0, 107 yds; (O) Lord, 5-11-0, 65 yds.
Receiving: (N) Edwards, 5-100; M. Burke, 1-7; (O) Andre Dewitt, 2-28; Matt Robinson, 2-24; Joe Spataro, 1-13.
Sidney 21, Greene 8
SIDNEY - Even in its one loss, Sidney controlled the line of scrimmage and controlled the time of possession. It was no different Friday night as the Warriors held Greene to 43 yards of total offense, and all but eliminated the Trojans from Class C playoff contention.
The Trojans (3-2) now need a series of tiebreakers to have any shot at returning to the postseason.
“Sidney had a nice game plan, and we just had a tough time getting anything going on offense,” said Greene coach Tim Paske. “They did a nice job stuffing the run, and this is probably our lowest output (on offense) since I’ve been here.”
After driving the ball, yet falling victim to untimely turnovers, Sidney completed its first scoring drive with 26 seconds remaining in the first half. Junior quarterback Patrick Vibbard’s seven-yard TD pass to Mike Cruz combined with Billy Kozak’s two-point run made it 8-0 at the half.
Sidney had seven fumbles in the game, and the Trojans recovered four to stay in contention. As for taking advantage of those miscues, Sidney’s defense was stifling. “The field conditions were sloppy, and we had a couple of key penalties when we were in short yardage,” Paske said. “Those things hurt, especially when yards are tough to come by.”
Vibbard threw his second TD pass of the game in the third quarter finding Mike Ward on a 10-yard hookup.
Trailing 14-0, Greene sliced the deficit quickly with yet another special teams score. Dan Treadwell’s second return touchdown of the season, a 70-yarder after Ward’s score, gave Greene new life.
Greene regained possession down 14-8 with about six minutes left, but failed to move the ball. In short order, Nathan McDonald quashed Greene’s victory hopes with a 51-yard TD gallop.
The Warriors ran 71 total plays to Greene’s 34 and finished with 335 yards of total offense. “Usually that type of play discrepancy is the other way around,” Paske said. “We tried to open things up with the passing game and had a couple of drops. It’s tough to swallow, but that’s part of the game.”
Greene hosts Newark Valley on Friday.
Score by quarters
Gre. 0 0 0 8-8
Sidn 0 8 0 13-21
Scoring Summary
Second quarter
S: Vibbard 7 pass to Mike Cruz (Kozak run)
Fourth quarter
S: Vibbard 10 pass to Mike Ward (run failed)
G: Treadwell 70 kickoff return (Treadwell run)
S: McDonald 51 run (Walters kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (G) Mike Beckwith, 9-26; Dan Treadwell, 8-24; Joe Beckwith, 9-3; T. Parris, 1-1; cole Browning, 2- (-17). Total: 29-37. (S) McDonald, 23-154; Kozak, 13-39; Walter, 11-61; Zimmer, 7-22; Mike Chase, 1-11; Vibbard, 6-(-12). Totals: 61-274.
Passing: (G) Joe Beckwith, 1-5-1, 6 yds; Cole Browning, 0-1-0. (S) 6-10-0 61, 2 TDs.
Receiving: (G) Mike Beckwith, 1-6. (S) Cruz, 3-30; Zimmer, 1-12; Ward, 1-10; Kozak, 1-9.
Canastota 13, Sherburne-Earlville 6
