Norwich pulls out emotional win
ONEONTA – Throw records out the window when Norwich and Oneonta meet on the gridiron.
In an emotional matchup that had a playoff-like air, a gritty Tornado team drove for the winning score in the final two minutes to salvage a 20-15 victory Friday night at Lloyd Baker Field.
Norwich senior quarterback, Robert Martin, guided the Purple on a 10-play, 54-yard drive, and his seven-yard bootleg keeper hit paydirt with 1:51 to play.
Oneonta drove to the Norwich 34 in the final seconds, but NHS linemen Marco Knuth and Jose Santos sacked Oneonta quarterback Brandon Southard on the final play of the game to seal the victory.
“All year long this group has kept coming back,” said Norwich coach John Pluta. “We got back up off the floor in this game after they took the lead…coach Hoover (Adam) is family to me, and I’m best of friends with his parents. This is an emotional win; I watched Adam grow up, and he’s done a great job over there.”
Hoover’s club gained control of the game completing two long touchdown drives in the second half to take the lead with 7:33 left in the game. Quarterback Brandon Southard improvised on a two-point conversion that gave his club the lead. After rolling to his right and finding no open receivers, he avoided a sack by the Tornado’s Amos Parry, raced back to his left and dove inside the left pylon for the one-point lead. “We did a nice job dictating the pace on offense in the second half,” Hoover said. “They capitalized on our mistakes in the first half, and it’s tough to come back from 14 points down against a team like Norwich.”
Norwich’s Wade Kornegay set up Norwich on its last drive with a tough-running kickoff return to the 46. Utilizing fullback Brennan Ryan, the Tornado moved for a first down into Oneonta territory. Chris Mattingly’s 22-yard run positioned the Purple in the red zone, but three runs netted just seven yards, and Norwich was faced with a fourth-and-three. Oneonta bailed Norwich out giving the visitors first-and-goal after and offsides penalty, and on the next play, quarterback Robert Martin rolled out to the right on a bootleg. Getting a key block from Brian Wightman to seal the right end, Martin launched himself into the endzone past two defenders.
“We scored on that play in the first half (TD pass from Martin to Keegan Edwards),” Pluta said of the winning score. “Robert made the choice to run it this time, and when he came around the end, there was no one there.”
Oneonta drove inside Norwich territory, but Marco Knuth and Jose Santos sacked Southard on the final play to end the game. Until Norwich’s final drive, it did not have a first down in the second half, while Oneonta held the ball for 15 of the 24 minutes.
“They did to us what we wanted to do, and that was keep the ball out of our offense’s hands,” Pluta said of the time of possession disparity.
Norwich’s Ryan blocked Oneonta’s first punt attempt of the game, and Martin returned it to the Oneonta eight. Ryan scored on a one-yard plunge just 3:22 into the contest. Mattingly, who finished with 106 yards rushing, had a 52-yard TD run nullified near the goal line due to an illegal block behind him. Still, Norwich was positioned at the Oneonta 13, and Martin’s eight-yard TD strike to a diving Edwards upped the halftime lead to 14-0.
Oneonta turned the tables driving 57 yards for a score on its first possession of the second half. A 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on NHS aided the cause, and Southard snuck over the goal line from one yard out.
Again, Norwich stalled on three downs giving the ball back to Oneonta. Moving methodically down the field and converting two fourth-down plays along the way, Oneonta reached the NHS two, but failed to score six points after a fine defensive stand.
No matter, Oneonta would score its touchdown moments later. Mattingly had the ball poked loose, and the fumble was recovered in the endzone by Oneonta junior, Lane Potter.
JV notes: Norwich won its third game of the season topping the Oneonta junior varsity, 44-6. Alex Williams had two TD runs, Eric Owen and Kyle Acenowr added a pair of scoring runs, and Tim Clark threw two TD passes to David Carson. Norwich hosts Susquehanna Valley Saturday.
Football Summary
N O
First downs 7 12
Rushes-yds 33-183 51-176
Passing yds 17 8
Comp-att-int 2-4-0 1-4-0
Punts-avg 3-28 2-32
Fumbles-lost 1-1 3-1
Penalties-yds 6-54 1/2 6-30
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (N) C. Mattingly, 14-106; B. Ryan, 13-39; J. Prosser, 3-29; R. Martin, 1-7, Thompson, 2-2. (O) M. Hopkins, 26-105; B. Pidgeon, 14-39; Johnson, 3-18; Carr, 5-18; Southard, 3-(-2).
Passing: (N) Martin, 2-4-0, 17 yds, TD; Southard, 1-4-0, 8 yds.
Receiving: (N) Slater, 1-9, Edwards, 1-8. (O) Rice, 1-8.
Score by quarters
NHS 7 7 0 6—20
OHS 0 0 7 8—15
Scoring Summary
First quarter
N: Ryan 1 run (Ryan kick)
Second quarter
N: Edwards 8 pass from Martin (Ryan kick)
Third quarter
O: Southard 1 run (kick good)
Fourth quarter
O: Potter fumble recovery in endzone (Southard run)
N: Martin 7 run (pass failed)
In an emotional matchup that had a playoff-like air, a gritty Tornado team drove for the winning score in the final two minutes to salvage a 20-15 victory Friday night at Lloyd Baker Field.
Norwich senior quarterback, Robert Martin, guided the Purple on a 10-play, 54-yard drive, and his seven-yard bootleg keeper hit paydirt with 1:51 to play.
Oneonta drove to the Norwich 34 in the final seconds, but NHS linemen Marco Knuth and Jose Santos sacked Oneonta quarterback Brandon Southard on the final play of the game to seal the victory.
“All year long this group has kept coming back,” said Norwich coach John Pluta. “We got back up off the floor in this game after they took the lead…coach Hoover (Adam) is family to me, and I’m best of friends with his parents. This is an emotional win; I watched Adam grow up, and he’s done a great job over there.”
Hoover’s club gained control of the game completing two long touchdown drives in the second half to take the lead with 7:33 left in the game. Quarterback Brandon Southard improvised on a two-point conversion that gave his club the lead. After rolling to his right and finding no open receivers, he avoided a sack by the Tornado’s Amos Parry, raced back to his left and dove inside the left pylon for the one-point lead. “We did a nice job dictating the pace on offense in the second half,” Hoover said. “They capitalized on our mistakes in the first half, and it’s tough to come back from 14 points down against a team like Norwich.”
Norwich’s Wade Kornegay set up Norwich on its last drive with a tough-running kickoff return to the 46. Utilizing fullback Brennan Ryan, the Tornado moved for a first down into Oneonta territory. Chris Mattingly’s 22-yard run positioned the Purple in the red zone, but three runs netted just seven yards, and Norwich was faced with a fourth-and-three. Oneonta bailed Norwich out giving the visitors first-and-goal after and offsides penalty, and on the next play, quarterback Robert Martin rolled out to the right on a bootleg. Getting a key block from Brian Wightman to seal the right end, Martin launched himself into the endzone past two defenders.
“We scored on that play in the first half (TD pass from Martin to Keegan Edwards),” Pluta said of the winning score. “Robert made the choice to run it this time, and when he came around the end, there was no one there.”
Oneonta drove inside Norwich territory, but Marco Knuth and Jose Santos sacked Southard on the final play to end the game. Until Norwich’s final drive, it did not have a first down in the second half, while Oneonta held the ball for 15 of the 24 minutes.
“They did to us what we wanted to do, and that was keep the ball out of our offense’s hands,” Pluta said of the time of possession disparity.
Norwich’s Ryan blocked Oneonta’s first punt attempt of the game, and Martin returned it to the Oneonta eight. Ryan scored on a one-yard plunge just 3:22 into the contest. Mattingly, who finished with 106 yards rushing, had a 52-yard TD run nullified near the goal line due to an illegal block behind him. Still, Norwich was positioned at the Oneonta 13, and Martin’s eight-yard TD strike to a diving Edwards upped the halftime lead to 14-0.
Oneonta turned the tables driving 57 yards for a score on its first possession of the second half. A 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on NHS aided the cause, and Southard snuck over the goal line from one yard out.
Again, Norwich stalled on three downs giving the ball back to Oneonta. Moving methodically down the field and converting two fourth-down plays along the way, Oneonta reached the NHS two, but failed to score six points after a fine defensive stand.
No matter, Oneonta would score its touchdown moments later. Mattingly had the ball poked loose, and the fumble was recovered in the endzone by Oneonta junior, Lane Potter.
JV notes: Norwich won its third game of the season topping the Oneonta junior varsity, 44-6. Alex Williams had two TD runs, Eric Owen and Kyle Acenowr added a pair of scoring runs, and Tim Clark threw two TD passes to David Carson. Norwich hosts Susquehanna Valley Saturday.
Football Summary
N O
First downs 7 12
Rushes-yds 33-183 51-176
Passing yds 17 8
Comp-att-int 2-4-0 1-4-0
Punts-avg 3-28 2-32
Fumbles-lost 1-1 3-1
Penalties-yds 6-54 1/2 6-30
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (N) C. Mattingly, 14-106; B. Ryan, 13-39; J. Prosser, 3-29; R. Martin, 1-7, Thompson, 2-2. (O) M. Hopkins, 26-105; B. Pidgeon, 14-39; Johnson, 3-18; Carr, 5-18; Southard, 3-(-2).
Passing: (N) Martin, 2-4-0, 17 yds, TD; Southard, 1-4-0, 8 yds.
Receiving: (N) Slater, 1-9, Edwards, 1-8. (O) Rice, 1-8.
Score by quarters
NHS 7 7 0 6—20
OHS 0 0 7 8—15
Scoring Summary
First quarter
N: Ryan 1 run (Ryan kick)
Second quarter
N: Edwards 8 pass from Martin (Ryan kick)
Third quarter
O: Southard 1 run (kick good)
Fourth quarter
O: Potter fumble recovery in endzone (Southard run)
N: Martin 7 run (pass failed)
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