With a chance to move on to the Section IV Class B championship game next, Norwich will look to upset the Chenango Forks Blue Devils on their home field. The odds, however, are stacked against the Tornado in the eyes of the Section IV football world. Forks is undefeated with an 8-0 record while Norwich heads into the game at 5-3. 

Scoring is no problem for the Blue Devils

The last three meetings between Norwich and Chenango Forks have ended with the Blue Devils scoring 49 points and winning by at least four touchdowns. In the 2018 season, Forks has scored a total of 334 points, an average of 41.75 points per game.

In the first meeting this season, the Tornado scored first by the Blue Devils responded with 42 unanswered points before adding an additional touchdown late in the fourth.

The way Chenango Forks scores is mostly in the ground game. In the earlier game this season between Norwich and the Blue Devils, Forks was without standout running back Jerimah Allen as he was sideline with an illness he had been battling since the summer.

Forks’ Lucas Scott, a stocky sophomore back, stepped up to have the game of his young career. He tallied a total of five touchdowns – four on the ground and one through the air – and racked up 170 yards on 25 carries. However, since the return of Allen, Scott’s numbers have dropped.

Allen is a small, shifty back who will patiently wait to blast through the holes that are opened by his big lineman. Once in open field, he turns on his speed and breaks for the long yard gains.

Norwich will have to limit the extra yardage down field. Teams like Owego and Maine-Endwell were able to do so and it led to a closer score as well as limited points by the Blue Devils.

How will Norwich answer

The Tornado defense will have to have a big game, stopping the run. And honestly, it will come down to wrapping up the ball carrier.

When the two teams met earlier this season, the Norwich tackles had a hard time bringing down the Forks runners. It wasn’t because they didn’t have the right angle to make the tackle. Actually, the Tornado had the perfect tackle lined up for the majority of the game. The issue was the Norwich defenders were tackling too high or leaving their feet in the attempt to finish the play.

This led to the Blue Devils’ ball carriers breaking free of the Tornado player and gaining extra yards. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen just once or twice. It was for the entirety of the game, leading to the 484 offensive yards gained by Forks in the contest.

Norwich will to do to the most fundamental detail of being a defender to stay in the game and that is simply wrap up the ball carrier.

Size matters

If you have seen the Norwich and Chenango Forks teams at any point this season, there is a huge size advantage in favor of the Blue Devils.

Forks, with their size, is able to hold the offensive and defensive lines against most teams, including the Tornado. It helps when the average height on the line is 6-foot, 262 pounds. Norwich’s average weight on the line is 216 pounds.

As Mark Twain said, “It’s not about the size of the dog in the fight, it’s about the size of the fight in the dog.”

Norwich can be quick off the ball and when the first step is an advantage in your favor, things can happen. Several times during the week two meeting between the teams, the Tornado defenders were able to get into the back field. They will have to continue to do the game to at least keep the game within reach.

Key injury

The Purple Tornado have been battered all season long, win or lose. In the first meeting, Norwich lost David Berger, the third running back to the speedy carrying core, early in the game due to a knee injury. He returned to games later but did not start seeing the offensive side of the field until Norwich’s game against Fulton.

In their week five Thursday night game, the Tornado saw Berger go down again but he was able to get back onto the playing field a little later in the game. Two players who weren’t able to were Zach Mills and Drew Walsh.

Mills left the game with an knee injury and Walsh, after several attempts to stay in the game, exited with an ankle sprain.