Football
Oxford 29, Elmira Notre Dame 12
ELMIRA – Oxford made marked improvements on offense in one week, and the defense shut Elmira Notre Dame down for 3 1/2 quarters in Friday’s opening-game victory.
The Blackhawks showed no ill-effects of the nearly two-hour drive to Elmira for a non-league game. After recovering a short kickoff from the Crusaders to start the game, Oxford scored its first touchdown of the season in just three plays. On the first play, senior back Bryan Simpson burst up the middle, stiff-armed aside the END safety, and rumbled nearly 20 yards. Quarterback Angelo Gonzalez hit Nick Neer for 22 yards on a screen pass, and Simpson scored from six yards out on the next play. “That first play, Bryan just leveled their safety and kept running,” said Oxford coach Jeff Newton. “That play set the tone for the game.”
Oxford scored on its third possession of the game when Gonzalez hit Kevin Davis from 10 yards out, the first of two TD connections from the two juniors.
Simpson rushed for 133 yards on 19 carries, and added a second TD run in the fourth. In the interim, a bad snap by Elmira led to an Oxford safety, and by the time the backups saw full-time duty, Oxford led 29-6.
“The kids were really excited before and after the game, and they were beside themselves after the win,” Newton said. “They’re starting to believe that discipline and hard work equals success.”
Notre Dame gained just 168 total yards, and better than 70 of those came in mop-up time. When the game was on the line, Newton credited his entire defense, and linebackers Richard Ryan and Simpson in particular. “The defense definitely play well, and Richard and Bryan were key components to the middle of the defense,” Newton said.
Oxford plays Dryden this Friday. Dryden piled up 56 points in a victory over B-G this weekend. “With every game, we want to be as physical as we can and set the tone as best we can,” Newton said of his upcoming matchup.
Score by quarters
Oxf. 13 7 2 7—29
END 0 6 0 6—12
Scoring Summary
O: Bryan Simpson 6 run (Nick Neer kick)
O: Angelo Gonzalez 10 pass to Kevin Davis (kick failed)
E: Sam Bruner 3 run (run failed)
O: Gonzalez 17 pass to Davis (Neer kick)
O: Safety, END player tackled in endzone.
O: Simpson 7 run (Neer kick)
E: Tyler Jones 10 run (pass failed)
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Simpson, 19-133; Neer, 5-29; Garett Sylstra, 4-29; Gonzalez, 4-17; Trenton Lyons, 1-6; Josh Nelson, 1-14; Francisco Quintana, 1-(-9). (E) 39-123 yds (Tim Davis, 14-91)
Passing: (O) Gonzalez, 3-8-0 49 yds, TD; Neer, 0-1-0. (E) Tyler Jones, 4-12-0, 45 yds.
Receiving: (O) Davis 2-27, Neer, 1-22; (E) Tim Davis, 3-20; Chris Whitson, 1-25.
Windsor 21, Greene 0
GREENE – Windsor blanked Greene in both teams’ 2013 season finale. The Black Knights again held the Trojans scoreless Friday night, but the tenor of the game was decidedly different.
“We went into the game short-handed, but we were very strong defensively throughout the game,” said Greene coach Dave Gorton. “Last season it was a physical mismatch, and this one it was even physically.”
Robbie Crea scored two rushing touchdowns for Windsor, the second one a 79-yarder late in the game to put the contest out of reach. Until Crea’s decisive run, Windsor had less than 70 yards of rushing.
Windsor made two big plays – one on offense and one on defense – that swung the momentum its way in the first half. The Black Knights converted a big fourth down en route to a 35-yard scoring play. Then, the Black Knights stuffed a Greene fourth down play when the Trojans were driving.
“We were literally one play away on each drive,” Gorton said. “But I was pleased with the things we did, and we have grown a lot since the last time we played them.”
What was particularly pleasing for Gorton was the play of linemen Wyatt Vanderbunt and John Hadac. “The had outstanding games for us on both sides of the ball,” Gorton said.
Sophomore Luke Erickson had 43 yards rushing and 40 yards receiving to lead the Greene offense. The Trojans (0-1) play at Unatego Friday.
Score by quarters
Win. 0 8 6 7—21
Gre. 0 0 0 0—0
Scoring Summary
W: Robbie Crea 12 run (Jake Conroy pass to Dre Bosket)
W: Conroy 35 pass to Jordan Haven (kick failed)
W: Crea 79 run (Dustin Blair Kick)
Individual Statistics
Windsor rushing: 33-142 yds (Crea 26-154). (G)Tristan Carter, 2-2; Tyler Dicker, 2-3; Justin Carmin, 1-2 Luke Erickson, 21-43; Josh Harrington, 3- -2, Zach Orzell, 6-22; Shawn Brigham 1-1; Mitch Walters, 1-0.
Passing: (W) Jake Conroy, 9-14-1, 154 yds; (G) Josh Harrington, 3-8-1, 39 yds; Orzell, 3-6-0, 39 yds.
Receving: (W) Dre Bosket, 4-60; Cody Hageman, 2-44; Jordan Haven, 3-53; (G) Erickson, 3-40; Jordan Harrington, 1-13 Brigham, 1-23; Dylan Barton, 1-3.
Moravia 24, Unadilla Valley 18
MORAVIA – Moravia used a hurry-up offense to drive more than half the field in the last two minutes, and scored on the final play from scrimmage in Saturday’s win over Unadilla Valley.
Moravia snapped the ball with 1.5 seconds left on the clock, and Cole Johnson’s 20-yard TD pass Alex Dizkiewicz with zero seconds remaining snapped an 18-18 tie.
“We certainly threw a scare into them,” said UV coach Mark Segina. “It was a tough game to lose, but we never quit and battled hard for four quarters. In that sense, it was a win.”
Unadilla Valley struggled for any semblance of a running game, and trailed 12-0 at halftime. The Storm went to the air – big time – to swing the game’s momentum and eventually tie the game at 18-18.
Jared White threw second-half TD passes of 89, 46, and 85 yards in that order to Ryan Postma for touchdowns. Postma’s last score knotted the game up with 1:50 left in the game.
White threw for what is believed a school-record 288 yards on 8-for-14 passing, and Postma finished with what is believed another school record totaling 255 yards receiving on four catches.
“They had a good defense that was blitzing and keying on Alex (Avolio) in our running game,” Segina said “We went to what the defense was giving us, and (the long pass) was what they were giving us.”
Moravia scored its first three touchdowns on short runs, and held a significant advantage in time of possession. But those yards were hard yards, Segina said. “They didn’t have huge gains, but the way they moved the ball was very Waltonesque,” Segina said. “Being down two touchdowns and the way they were controlling the ball, we could have hung our heads. Instead, the kids sucked it up and believed we could come back.”
Score by quarters
UV 0 0 6 12–18
Mor. 6 6 0 12–24
Scoring Summary
First quarter
M: Dylan Richards 7 run (PAT failed)
