NORWICH – In a game where big defensive stops came at a premium, Unatego forged a inpenetrable wall to halt a tying Norwich touchdown drive Friday night.
Anthony Bazarnik’s fourth-down run came up one yard short of the fourth-down marker, and Unatego converted two first downs in the final 2 1/2 minutes to run out the clock and close out a 36-28 non-league victory.
The Spartans, who narrowly missed a Class C playoff spot by a mere one point, finish 7-2, while Norwich (4-5) saw its run of four straight winning seasons come to an end. “They have a heck of a football team, and we knew that coming in,” said Norwich coach John Pluta. “They’re big and physical up front, and they have a lot of speed.”
The Spartans’ double-H combination of Alex Hendrickson and Austin Henchey wreaked havoc on the Tornado defense with the aid of a tremendous surge up front. Hendrickson rushed for 214 yards and three touchdowns, and Henchey had 88 yards on the ground and two scores.
Hendrickson’s biggest run came on the Spartans’ first possession of the second half. Norwich punter Jesse Prosser pinned Unatego back to its 11-yard line following a short Tornado drive. Hendrickson immediately extricated his club from that predicament racing 84 yards down the right sideline. Only a shirttail tackle at the Norwich five by Nate Foote kept Hendrickson out of the endzone. One play later, however, Hendrickson was in for six points and the 28-20 lead.
Norwich used 6 1/2 minutes on its next possession to punch in the tying touchdown. Shane Thompson’s 53-yard kickoff return situated the host club in Unatego’s end, and a pair of fourth-down conversions by Bazarnik and Robert Martin kept the driving moving forward. Martin scored on a one-yard sneak, and then Martin hit Tyler Slater on the two-point conversion for the tie.
Norwich amassed 285 yards on the ground in the game and over 300 yards of offense, but had few answers for Unatego’s prolific and speedy offense. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Spartans drove 56 yards on five plays to move ahead for keeps. Hendrickson had 40 of those yards including a 16-yard touchdown with 6:56 to play.
Norwich reached the Unatego 37 late in the game after a pair of first downs before stalling. “They were tough to stop, but I thought our kids battled hard all game,” Pluta said. “Our offensive line did a tremendous job tonight, and this a fine group of young men. I’m proud to have coached them this season.”
Unatego scored on its first three possessions of the first half, two of those on Henchey TD runs. The only stop in the half came when quarterback Kyle Palmer had a pass tipped at the line of scrimmage, and was intercepted by Tornado senior lineman Amos Parry.
Brennan Ryan scored on two TD runs in the first half, and Bazarnik added his first TD late in the first half that pulled Norwich to within 22-20.
Hendrickson rushed for 214 yards on the day to go with his three touchdowns.
Football Summary
N U
First downs 16 18
Rushes-yds 55-275 33-355
Passing yds 28 100
Comp-att-int 1-3-0 6-10-1
Punts-avg 2-22 1-47
Fumbles-lost0-0 1-0
Penalties-yds 3-15 5-30
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (N) C. Mattingly, 15-72; A. Bazarnik, 18-62; B. Ryan, 9-58; R. Martin, 7-47, N. Foote, 5-39, J. Prosser, 1-(-3). (U) A. Hendrickson, 15-214, A. Henchey, 9-88; K. Palmer, 4-32, A. Knowlton, 5-21.
Passing: (N) Martin, 1-3-0, 28 yards; (U) Kyle Palmer, 6-10-1, 100 yards.
Receiving: (N) K. Edwards, 1-28; (U) Joe Innes, 3-73, O. Moss, 2-16, A. Hendrickson, 1-11.
Score by quarters
Unat. 16 6 6 8–36
NHS 8 12 8 0–28
Scoring Summary
First quarter
U: Hendrickson 5 run (Palmer pass to Henchey)
N: B. Ryan 3 run (Ryan run)
U: Henchey 11 run (Hendrickson run)
Second quarter
N: B. Ryan 3 run (run failed)
U: Henchey 37 run (run failed)
N: A. Bazarnik 3 run (pass failed)
Third quarter
U: Hendrickson 5 run (run failed)
N: Martin 1 run (Martin pass to Slater)
Fourth quarter
U: Hendrickson 16 run (Hendrickson run)