Grid Forecast: Battle of unbeatens
Someone has to stop Sidney’s 15-game winning streak, and Greene’s Tim Paske hopes his team is the one to do it in a matchup up unbeaten Section IV Division IV opponents tonight at Sidney.
The Warriors rolled to a Class C state title a year ago with a nearly unstoppable offensive attack. The wins have continued this year, although they needed to rally in the second half to beat Walton last week, and the week before needed a 40-yard field goal from Andy Foote in the fourth quarter to prevail over Delhi.
“Sidney is the big dog on the block, and if you look at their games this season, they have learned from last year,” Paske said. “To come from behind the last two weeks like they have, it shows a lot of character.”
Quarterback Parker Umbra leads an extremely balanced offense with 424 yards passing so far this season to go with 159 yards rushing. And the rushing yards are meted out judiciously, with four backs totaling rushing yards ranging between 137 and 224 yards. The leader, Jarred Mertz, has three rushing TDs, while fullback Mike Burpoe (189 yards), has a team-high four rushing scores.
The Trojans are off to their best start in Tim Paske’s four-year tenure, and its the best beginning to the season for any Greene team since the inception of the Section IV Football Conference almost 15 years ago. “The kids that were coming back saw the success we had last year (6-3 record) and the work kids put into the weight room during the offseason,” Paske said. “We talked about building a foundation for this program and taking it to the next level. We’re a stronger team and it goes all the way down through the lower levels.”
A win for Greene would ensure a winning season, clinch at least a tie for the division title, and almost lock up the Trojans’ third postseason berth in the program’s history. Incidentally, it would also even Paske’s career log as head coach at 16-16. “Sidney is an opportunistic team that takes advantage of its opponents’ mistakes,” Paske said. “This is uncharted water for us going into this type of a big game. Last week we showed how to keep our composure after we fell behind, we made adjustments, and the kids responded. Sidney will try to come out and punch us in the mouth; we just need to be consistent for 48 minutes.”
Below are capsules of this week’s local football games:
Bainbridge-Guilford (3-1) at Groton (1-3), Friday, 7 p.m.
Groton did not score a point until the third week of the season when it defeated Odessa-Montour. In its three losses, the host club has given up more than 40 points and 300 yards a game, and the offense has averaged less than 150 yards a game all told. “We figure this is a chance to get back on track, and we know Groton will probably commit a lot of men to the line of scrimmage to stop our running game,” said B-G coach Tim Mattingly. “We really want to stick to that (running the ball) and we’re going right at them. It’s our strength, and we think we can do it.”
Willie McGinnis, in his first year at running back, leads the B-G attack with 395 yards rushing and eight touchdowns.
Groton’s Kyle Reed has a 100-yard rushing game under his belt, and quarterback Peter Jackson has thrown for 155 yards.
Oxford (2-2) at Newfield (3-1), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
Newfield is not the same powerhouse team that battled Oxford for division titles year in and year out in the early part of this decade, and last year the Blackhawks exerted their dominance winning an 18-0 final in the Class D playoffs and holding the Trojans to just 31 yards of offense.
Limiting Newfield to that number of yards again may be a hard task with quarterback Mike Armstrong among the Section IV leaders with 532 yards and six touchdowns. Aaron Catlin has 16 catches for 301 yards and three scores, while bullish fullback Sam Miller leads a balanced running game with 192 yards. The only loss on the Trojans’ docket was a 40-6 blowout to Seton Catholic Central in which the Saints amassed nearly 400 total yards. “They don’t appear to be really big, so we’re going to run right at them,” said Oxford coach John Curtis.
Junior running back Scott Shackleton has emerged out of a crowded Oxford backfield as the go-to guy. He has scored at least two rushing touchdowns in every game so far (nine for the season), and has a team-high 251 yards rushing.
Moravia (2-2) at UV-Edmeston (0-4), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
It’s no secret UV-Edmeston is starving for a victory. In a defeat to Seton Catholic Central a week ago, the Storm played a competitive first half before the Saints rolled in the third quarter to hand UV-E its 13th straight defeat. “The thing we’ve done this week is to take the pressure off the kids and not having them thinking about going to 1-4,” said UV-E coach Jack Loeffler. “We’re telling them to go out and play hard, have fun, and the wins will come.”
What the Storm face is a team that has thrown the ball more times this season – 96 in fact – than any other team in Section IV. Greg Langtry is second in all of Section IV with 610 yards passing to go with seven TD tosses. Zach Hargett has two 100-yard receiving days under his belt, and also leads his team in rushing. “Moravia isn’t a powerhouse, and I believe we have the talent to beat them,” Loeffler said. “Newfield (beat Moravia 19-6) got most of its yards last week on the inside, and I think that will be our point of attack.”
Maine-Endwell (2-2) at Norwich (2-2), Friday, 7 p.m.
In a break from its division schedule, Norwich faces an old foe in its return home, and one coming off an impressive 41-14 win over Elmira Free Academy. Jesse Stephens rushed for a season-high 164 yards and three touchdowns for the Spartans, and leads his club in rushing yards (357) and receiving yards (136 on six catches). Quarterback Steve Yeager has hit his target at a 58 percent completion rate (21-for-36), and is among Section IV’s leaders in passing yards with 373.
Norwich hopes to turn around a sloppy 40-0 loss to Windsor in which it committed a season-high 10 penalties as well as five turnovers.
S-E (0-4) at South Jefferson (3-1), at Liverpool H.S, 2:45 p.m.
South Jefferson presents the S-E defense with a wide-open attack with multiple sets, spread formations, and a standout quarterback to engineer that offense, said S-E head coach Mick James. “Their quarterback throws and runs the ball well, so we have to play real good positional defense, and play like we did last week,” James said. “We have to run the ball, control the clock, and not put it on the floor. If we can keep their offense off the field, I like our chances. They are a team that likes to score quick.”
Over the past two weeks, S-E’s defense and offense have shown vast improvements. After allowing over 330 yards per game on defense the first two contests, S-E has given up just 128.5 yards per game the last two.
Flipping to the offense, since a 93-yard output against Ilion in week two, the Marauders have jumped to 169 and 263 yards of total offense in weeks three and four respectively. “We’ve made some changes on offense and we’re starting to get an identity there,” James said. “We’ve played well except for the fumbles, and I think we’re certainly capable of winning some games. We just can’t make the mental mistakes.”
The Warriors rolled to a Class C state title a year ago with a nearly unstoppable offensive attack. The wins have continued this year, although they needed to rally in the second half to beat Walton last week, and the week before needed a 40-yard field goal from Andy Foote in the fourth quarter to prevail over Delhi.
“Sidney is the big dog on the block, and if you look at their games this season, they have learned from last year,” Paske said. “To come from behind the last two weeks like they have, it shows a lot of character.”
Quarterback Parker Umbra leads an extremely balanced offense with 424 yards passing so far this season to go with 159 yards rushing. And the rushing yards are meted out judiciously, with four backs totaling rushing yards ranging between 137 and 224 yards. The leader, Jarred Mertz, has three rushing TDs, while fullback Mike Burpoe (189 yards), has a team-high four rushing scores.
The Trojans are off to their best start in Tim Paske’s four-year tenure, and its the best beginning to the season for any Greene team since the inception of the Section IV Football Conference almost 15 years ago. “The kids that were coming back saw the success we had last year (6-3 record) and the work kids put into the weight room during the offseason,” Paske said. “We talked about building a foundation for this program and taking it to the next level. We’re a stronger team and it goes all the way down through the lower levels.”
A win for Greene would ensure a winning season, clinch at least a tie for the division title, and almost lock up the Trojans’ third postseason berth in the program’s history. Incidentally, it would also even Paske’s career log as head coach at 16-16. “Sidney is an opportunistic team that takes advantage of its opponents’ mistakes,” Paske said. “This is uncharted water for us going into this type of a big game. Last week we showed how to keep our composure after we fell behind, we made adjustments, and the kids responded. Sidney will try to come out and punch us in the mouth; we just need to be consistent for 48 minutes.”
Below are capsules of this week’s local football games:
Bainbridge-Guilford (3-1) at Groton (1-3), Friday, 7 p.m.
Groton did not score a point until the third week of the season when it defeated Odessa-Montour. In its three losses, the host club has given up more than 40 points and 300 yards a game, and the offense has averaged less than 150 yards a game all told. “We figure this is a chance to get back on track, and we know Groton will probably commit a lot of men to the line of scrimmage to stop our running game,” said B-G coach Tim Mattingly. “We really want to stick to that (running the ball) and we’re going right at them. It’s our strength, and we think we can do it.”
Willie McGinnis, in his first year at running back, leads the B-G attack with 395 yards rushing and eight touchdowns.
Groton’s Kyle Reed has a 100-yard rushing game under his belt, and quarterback Peter Jackson has thrown for 155 yards.
Oxford (2-2) at Newfield (3-1), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
Newfield is not the same powerhouse team that battled Oxford for division titles year in and year out in the early part of this decade, and last year the Blackhawks exerted their dominance winning an 18-0 final in the Class D playoffs and holding the Trojans to just 31 yards of offense.
Limiting Newfield to that number of yards again may be a hard task with quarterback Mike Armstrong among the Section IV leaders with 532 yards and six touchdowns. Aaron Catlin has 16 catches for 301 yards and three scores, while bullish fullback Sam Miller leads a balanced running game with 192 yards. The only loss on the Trojans’ docket was a 40-6 blowout to Seton Catholic Central in which the Saints amassed nearly 400 total yards. “They don’t appear to be really big, so we’re going to run right at them,” said Oxford coach John Curtis.
Junior running back Scott Shackleton has emerged out of a crowded Oxford backfield as the go-to guy. He has scored at least two rushing touchdowns in every game so far (nine for the season), and has a team-high 251 yards rushing.
Moravia (2-2) at UV-Edmeston (0-4), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
It’s no secret UV-Edmeston is starving for a victory. In a defeat to Seton Catholic Central a week ago, the Storm played a competitive first half before the Saints rolled in the third quarter to hand UV-E its 13th straight defeat. “The thing we’ve done this week is to take the pressure off the kids and not having them thinking about going to 1-4,” said UV-E coach Jack Loeffler. “We’re telling them to go out and play hard, have fun, and the wins will come.”
What the Storm face is a team that has thrown the ball more times this season – 96 in fact – than any other team in Section IV. Greg Langtry is second in all of Section IV with 610 yards passing to go with seven TD tosses. Zach Hargett has two 100-yard receiving days under his belt, and also leads his team in rushing. “Moravia isn’t a powerhouse, and I believe we have the talent to beat them,” Loeffler said. “Newfield (beat Moravia 19-6) got most of its yards last week on the inside, and I think that will be our point of attack.”
Maine-Endwell (2-2) at Norwich (2-2), Friday, 7 p.m.
In a break from its division schedule, Norwich faces an old foe in its return home, and one coming off an impressive 41-14 win over Elmira Free Academy. Jesse Stephens rushed for a season-high 164 yards and three touchdowns for the Spartans, and leads his club in rushing yards (357) and receiving yards (136 on six catches). Quarterback Steve Yeager has hit his target at a 58 percent completion rate (21-for-36), and is among Section IV’s leaders in passing yards with 373.
Norwich hopes to turn around a sloppy 40-0 loss to Windsor in which it committed a season-high 10 penalties as well as five turnovers.
S-E (0-4) at South Jefferson (3-1), at Liverpool H.S, 2:45 p.m.
South Jefferson presents the S-E defense with a wide-open attack with multiple sets, spread formations, and a standout quarterback to engineer that offense, said S-E head coach Mick James. “Their quarterback throws and runs the ball well, so we have to play real good positional defense, and play like we did last week,” James said. “We have to run the ball, control the clock, and not put it on the floor. If we can keep their offense off the field, I like our chances. They are a team that likes to score quick.”
Over the past two weeks, S-E’s defense and offense have shown vast improvements. After allowing over 330 yards per game on defense the first two contests, S-E has given up just 128.5 yards per game the last two.
Flipping to the offense, since a 93-yard output against Ilion in week two, the Marauders have jumped to 169 and 263 yards of total offense in weeks three and four respectively. “We’ve made some changes on offense and we’re starting to get an identity there,” James said. “We’ve played well except for the fumbles, and I think we’re certainly capable of winning some games. We just can’t make the mental mistakes.”
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