Football
Binghamton 35, Norwich 26
NORWICH – Norwich could not have asked for a better beginning to its season Friday night against Binghamton. Then, the Patriots flipped the script.
In 13 seconds, the Patriots scored their first TD, and then added a go-ahead score on a pick six. Those scores were part of a 28-point second stanza that keyed a 35-26 win over the Purple Tornado.
“We weren’t as physical a team as Binghamton, and we felt going in we needed to be physical, take care of the ball, and limit big plays,” said Norwich coach Mike Chrystie. “We didn’t do a good job of that in the second quarter. We made a good run, but we were playing catchup the rest of the game.”
Binghamton sophomore quarter John Petrucci threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns, and senior running back Supreme Jones ran for 145 yards and two TDs. Jones’ second score was ultimately the back-breaker as it answered a Norwich score and raised the lead to 35-18 midway through the third quarter.
Norwich capitalized on Binghamton’s bad snaps and early penalties to jump out to a surprising advantage. NHS sophomore quarterback Cole Rifanburg threw a 16-yard on-the-money TD strike to Zan Stewart for the only score of the first, and early in the second, a snap to Binghamton’s punter sailed over his head and into the end zone for the two-point safety.
Norwich got the ball near midfield after the free kick, but failed to capitalize. Buoyed by the defensive stop, Binghamton’s offense came alive. Petrucci directed his team on a long scoring drive that ended with a turnover. Norwich, however, immediately coughed the ball up, and Dan Sellepack rushed 23 yards up the middle for Binghamton’s first touchdown.
On the first play from scrimmage following the ensuing kickoff, Binghamton linebacker Dan Jeffrey returned an interception 31 yards for a touchdown. With the exception of a late-quarter 43-yard field goal by Stewart – believed a new school record – Norwich had little go right as it went into halftime trailing 28-12.
Petrucci made one of his few mistakes on the opening drive of the second half when he was intercepted at the 37 by Norwich senior Mike Oralls. Oralls was the go-to guy on the Norwich drive as well carrying the ball for two first downs, and scoring from one yard out on the fourth play of the 37-yard drive.
Norwich went for two points to trim the margin to eight points, but the pass attempt was incomplete.
Binghamton’s offense went to work on the next drive. Petrucci completed two passes, one for a first down, and Jones crushed any Norwich momentum scampering 62 yards for the score. Jones took the ball up the middle, bounced the play outside, and easily outraced the Norwich defense untouched to paydirt.
The three-score advantage was clearly not insurmountable, but Norwich would mount just one more scoring drive.
Rifanburg directed a 65-yard scoring march keyed by first down runs by Oralls and Alec Weaver, and Stewart hauled in a 23-yard TD toss from Rifanburg in which he outjumped the defensive back for the ball.
Norwich had the ball for just two minutes and 27 seconds in the fourth with one drive ending in an interception, and the second drive a three-play sequence that led to a punt.
Oralls had 81 yards rushing to lead the Norwich offense, and Stewart caught three balls for 46 yards. Rifanburg had 56 yards rushing and 75 passing in his debut game. “We executed well in the first and third quarters and forced Binghamton to commit more guys to the run,” Chrystie said. “We made some plays on the outside, we just weren’t as consistent as we needed to be to win the game.”
About Rifanburg’s initial outing, one that was mixed with plenty of positives along with the usual first-game mistakes: “We have stuff to work on, but all in all, Cole played well and with poise,” Chrystie said. “We showed he can run and throw the ball, and we’re not limiting the offense with him. The whole package is out there.”
Norwich (0-1) plays at Owego Friday.
Score by quarters
Bingh. 0 28 7 0—35
Norwich 7 5 14 0—26
Scoring Summary
N: Cole Rifanburg 16 pass to Zan Stewart (Stewart kick)
