NORWICH - Owego failed its "Oralls" exam Friday night at Norwich High School.

Fueled by the hard running of junior fullback Michael Oralls, the Purple Tornado upended previously-unbeaten and state-ranked Owego.

Oralls ran for 203 yards on 31 carries, and although he didn't score a touchdown, he factored heavily in each of the NHS's four touchdowns.

"We certainly rode him tonight," said Norwich coach Mike Chrystie of Oralls. "He had 22 carries by halftime, and after we scored twice in the third quarter, he got kind of fatigued and had to sit out a couple of series. He got some rest, but he's going to be our stud back, and a lot of our offense is predicated on his success. If he has a good game, we'll probably have a good game."

It was a two-minute span in the third quarter that gave Norwich a much-desired cushion. Taking the second-half kickoff down the field, Norwich running back Keagan Franklin dashed outside on an option pitch from quarterback Mike Sutton and in the endzone from two yards out. During the run, though, Owego was assessed two personal foul penalties worth 30 yards. That moved Norwich's kickoff position from its 40 to Owego's 30.

"With that field position, it was a no-brainer for us to attempt an onside kick," Chrystie said.

Owego knew it, too, but that didn't stop NHS from executing the special teams play. Sutton, who normally isn't in on special teams, recovered kicker Zan Stewart's kick inside the Owego 20. A few plays later, Sutton scored the last of his three touchdowns behind a lead block from Oralls.

About the only thing missing from Oralls' day was a touchdown, but with Owego keying on him near the goal line, he unselfishly helped pave the way for Sutton as a lead blocker. Most importantly, Sutton's last score made it 25-7.

The rest of the way, Owego was in hurry-up pass mode. "They were throwing it all over the place in the fourth quarter, but we kept things in front of us for the most part, and we had some big sacks to slow them down," Chrystie said.

NHS interior defensive linemen Adrian Moses and Dan Conant had two sacks apiece of Owego QB Brandon Morris, and Morris was sacked six times in the game. The Indians signal-caller did throw for 194 yards, but much of that came when his team trailed by three scores. Owego also had under 100 yards rushing with nearly half of those yards coming on the visitor's first drive of the game.

"We knew that if we shut down their running game and kept their big receiver in front of us, we had a good chance at success," Chrystie said. "Owego is a good team, and we executed about as well as we could."

Both teams scored on their opening possession. Norwich drove the ball using nearly 4 1/2 minutes as Sutton kept the ball on a seven-yard score breaking numerous tackles on his way to the goal. Owego countered that touchdown in a mere three plays. Dan Wolfe busted a 42-yard run on his team's first play from scrimmage, and Wolfe polished off the expeditious drive on a three-yard score.

Down 7-6, Norwich grabbed the lead back one minute before halftime on Sutton's one-yard run. Sutton complemented Oralls' big day with 56 yards rushing and 65 yards passing.

With back-to-back wins now in the books for Norwich, it appears the blowout loss to Vestal in week one is a distant memory. "I think we turned some heads with this victory," Chrystie said. "I don't think a lot of people had us beating Owego, but this proves to the kids that if we stick together, good things will happen.'

JV notes: Norwich’s juniors played to a 16-16 at Owego Saturday morning as the Indians kicked a tying 28-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. Norwich trailed 13-6 in the third quarter when Jordan Vinal scored on a one-yard run, and Nick Murphy converted the two-point conversion making it 14-13. Norwich added a safety late in the third after an Owego miscue for the three-point lead. Norwich’s opening touchdown came on its opening drive as Murphy and Carlos Ithier had big runs, and Cole Rifanburg hauled in a 27-yard pass from Vinal. The junior varsity plays at Windsor Thursday at 6 p.m.

Score by quarters

Ow. 7 0 0 8–15

NHS 6 6 13 0–25

Scoring Summary