By Patrick Newell
Sun Sports Editor
One and half seasons and 13 games later, Unadilla Valley-Edmeston broke through with a win on Saturday against Moravia. It was no garden-variety victory by any stretch of the imagination, which we will quickly summarize:
• Five overtime periods, a new Section IV record
• 79 rushing attempts by the Storm including 47 from fullback Tom Giordano.
• Moravia quarterback Greg Langtry had two passes dropped in the end zone, and the Devils had a potential game-winning touchdown in the fourth overtime called back.
• Plus, there were two lengthy delays due to Moravia injuries, and the sum total of the action and inaction amounted to a 3-hour, 45-minute game.
“There were some things going on in that game that I have never seen before,” said UV-E head coach Jack Loeffler. “I’ve been in an overtime game, but certainly not five.”
The Storm haven’t played five total overtime periods over the last 12 seasons combined, and at one point an official asked Loeffler if he would settle for a tie.
Loeffler, of course, rejected the official’s notion noting his team’s need for a victory. When Jay Lloyd intercepted Langtry’s pass on fourth down, the players spilled out onto the field. “In the locker room after the game, it didn’t matter what I said or the coaches said,” Loeffler recalls. “They were cheering for everything.”
The product of the victory is a “little more zip” in practice, says Loeffler. Confidence is up heading to tonight’s game with Groton (also with just one win this season), but Loeffler confessed that he was beginning to wonder if his team would indeed get a win this year, and he heard the backdrop of negativity from the fans and community. “It always hurts to hear that talk, and I know it bothered the kids,” Loeffler said. “They’ve shouldered that and felt they had something to prove.”
Now, with the monkey off the team’s collective backs, Loeffler believes the victory may allow the Storm to turn the corner and finish the season strong. “We definitely have a lot more confidence,” he said, “and there is a belief they can do it.”
Game time is 7 p.m. tonight. Below are capsules of Chenango County’s scheduled grid matchups:

Chenango Valley (4-1) at Norwich (3-2), Friday, 7 p.m.
After finishing with three wins to end last season, Chenango Valley has won four of five this season, and that loss – to Chenango Forks last week – was anyone’s game until the late-going. “They dominated a lot of the statistics against Chenango Forks, but they had a couple key mistakes,” said Norwich coach John Pluta, “but they are talented.”
The Warriors have an accurate passer in junior signal-caller, Matt Mullins, who has completed around 62 percent of his passes for seven touchdowns and 101.6 yards per game. Nick Dadamio leads the receiving corps with 15 catches, and a balanced running game features Trevor Cola (403 yards) and fullback Derek Haven (388 yards). “I’m sure they will try to establish the run, but we expect they will throw the ball quite a bit,” Pluta said. “They play a lot of throw-and-catch, and try to get their athletes out into space.”
It couldn’t be a more important game for Norwich, who with one division loss to Chenango Forks already this season, would essentially be out of the playoff picture with another defeat.
Chris Mattingly leads the Norwich offense with 350 yards rushing and four touchdowns, but is now manning the fullback position. Jesse Prosser vaulted into the starting lineup a week ago, and rushed for over 100 yards. Shane Thompson and Nate Foote alternate time at the third running back position for Norwich.

Hancock (0-5) at Oxford (3-2), Friday, 7 p.m.
No team has given up more points than Hancock in Section IV, who are allowing an astounding 52 points per game. Strangely, one of the best-kept secrets on the Wildcats is the cool efficiency of starting quarterback Chris Hallstead. Hallstead is second in Section IV with 714 yards passing, he has seven TD tosses and completes a razor-sharp 64 percent of his attempts. “We know Hallstead is pretty good, and when we scouted them, they ran their offense out of the shotgun formation about 70 percent of the time,” said Oxford coach John Curtis. “They have some guys who can catch the ball, but they like to get the ball to their tailback (Aaron Gorshack) as many times as they can.”
Scott Shackelton has emerged as Oxford’s go-to running back with consecutive 100-yard rushing days, and he is among the Section IV leaders with 11 touchdowns. Steve Locke leads all Chenango County quarterbacks with 465 yards passing.

B-G (4-1) at Deposit (2-3) (Sat)
Deposit, with two division losses already in the books, is essentially out of the playoff picture, and the Lumberjacks can dent B-G’s postseason aspirations with a victory Saturday. “They have some size and good speed,” said B-G coach Tim Mattingly. “They have some weapons and can throw the ball. We expect it to be a physical ball game.”
This Deposit offering is by no means similar to the one a year ago that beat Oxford for the Class D title. The Lumberjacks are eighth in scoring defense out of 11 Class D teams allowing 28 points per game, and have been blown out by Oxford, Delhi, and Unatego.
B-G, meanwhile, has three shutouts in its four wins including a 20-0 victory over Groton a week ago. Teams are quickly learning to stack up the Bobcats’ running game and force B-G into a passing mode. Groton, at times, had all 11 defenders near the line of scrimmage to contain the running attack. “We anticipate that same type of defense from Deposit,” Mattingly said. “We’re going to have to throw the ball, and we have to be efficient when we do that.”
B-G QB Chris McGinnis is coming off his most effective game throwing for 80 yards on 4-of-8 attempts, while not throwing any interceptions. Chad Cornish returned from a week off to lead the running attack with 79 yards and one touchdown.

Greene (4-1) at Moravia (2-3), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
Tim Paske took in most of Moravia’s five-overtime loss to UV-Edmeston last Saturday, and took note of the Storm’s ability to gouge out yards on the inside. “We’re bigger than them up front, and I think we should be able to pound the ball and wear them down,” Paske said. “That should open up other opportunities.”
Moravia does present Greene’s defense with a unique look. Last week, the Devils ran their offense almost exclusively from the shotgun formation. Quarterback Greg Langtry is an accurate passer who was victimized by several dropped balls last week. Still, he is among Section IV’s leaders in passing yards, and running back Zach Hargett tops his targets. “Defensively, we have to stay disciplined and we put some new coverages this week,” Paske said. “Langtry is solid – one of the top three in our section – and he has good chemistry with Hargett.”

S-E (0-5) at Cazenovia (5-0) (Sat.), 1:30
Cazenovia, says S-E coach Mick James, is clearly the Class B team to beat in Section III this season. The Lakers have allowed just two touchdowns all season and have three shutouts including a 61-0 shellacking of A-P-W last weekend. And the offense is no slouch either averaging 42.6 points per game. “They’re good – that’s where we want to be,” James said. “They remind a lot of Chenango Forks, only they throw the ball better. They force you to defend the whole field.”
In all of the Lakers’ games this season, reserves have spent a healthy chunk of time on the field in the second half. Piling up the big yards to establish those leads are quarterback Cole Koesterer, running back Brian Bartlett, and Koesterer’s favorite receiver targets, Tyler Ahern and Andrew McCallops. “We’re going into this game with nothing to lose and everything to gain,” James said, whose club is still searching for win number one. “We have to learn not to back down, and we’ll go after them.”
Billy Northey has been a consistent producer in the running game for S-E, and James has recently added Nate Kline to the running back mix. “I have told the guys we can’t take one play off or one second off this week,” James said. “This is the best team we will see all year.”