Grid Preview: Trojans in playoff atmosphere against Tioga tonight
All but one of Chenango County’s football teams is vying for a winning season, yet just one is in the postseason hunt as we embark on week eight, the penultimate in Section IV’s regular season.
Greene, a playoff qualifier last year in Class C, needs to shake off consecutive losses and defeat Tioga tonight at home to duplicate that feat. Both teams enter with identical won-loss records within Division V with all the respective wins and losses coming to the same teams. “We have an opportunity to make the playoffs two years in a row, and not too many players from Greene can say that,” said Greene head coach Tim Paske. “We talked to the kids and asked them what type of legacy do they want to leave behind. We want to establish a consistent program and make this a year in and year out thing. We’re right at the level where we want to be competing with the top teams. Now it’s time to take that our turn and beat those top teams.”
Elsewhere, Sherburne-Earlville and UV-Edmeston renew a longtime rivalry this evening. The Storm need to win their last two contests to finish with a winning record, while the Marauders have an eye on a four-win season.
Norwich is one win from a five-win campaign, and can do that by knocking off Windsor on its senior recognition night at the new Ulrich Field.
Oxford is one game below .500 and travels to Whitney Point Saturday in a non-division game, while B-G, already with a winning season secured, makes the trip to Delhi for its last Class D division game. Below are capsules of this week’s contests:
Tioga (3-4) at Greene (4-3), Friday, 7 p.m.
One team will play out its schedule with a meaningless week nine game, while the other will travel to Unatego for the first round of the Class C playoffs. The Trojans are coming off back-to-back losses, the first time in nearly 2 1/2 seasons, but both were to playoff-bound opponents in the division. In fact, all of the Trojans’ defeats have come to this year’s Class C playoff qualifiers.
“After last week’s loss Lansing, we told the guys in the locker room that our playoffs start now,” Paske said. “If we want to win and make the playoffs, this is really our first playoff game. That’s the approach we’re taking.”
The Tigers lost one of the top backs in Section IV, Eric Wiseman, to injury at the start of the season. Josh Manuel has stepped in to lead the traditionally-strong Tioga running game, while David Ulrich has grabbed a few yards on the ground himself, while also moving into the quarterback spot on occasion. Wiseman, according to Paske, may suit up tonight, and as the top returning rusher in Section IV, he presents an additional threat to the Trojans’ defense. “Wiseman is a heck of a back, but a couple others (Manuel, Ulrich) have stepped up,” Paske said.
Playing the comparative score game, the Trojans’ losses the last two weeks were by single digits – one in overtime to Trumansburg. Meanwhile, Tioga has suffered lopsided losses to Greene’s three conquerors by a combined 125-33.
Greene quarterback Nate Whittaker, who was a starting tailback a year ago, has found his groove from the signcaller’s spot. He is completing 57 percent of his passes this season for a county-leading 562 yards and eight TDs. Over the last two weeks against stiff divisional competition, Whittaker has put together his two best games throwing for 198 total yards and one score, while rushing for 99 yards and three TDs. Jake Wentlent has established himself as the Trojans’ go-to back with a team-high 536 yards this season.
Sherburne-Earlville (2-5) at UV-Edmeston (3-4), Friday, 7 p.m.
The players on each of these two squads are too young to remember this longtime rivalry, but the Storm’s coaching staff certainly hasn’t forgotten. “Looking back at the rivalry, I have been on both sides (coaching UV-E and S-E), and my young assistants have been a part of it as players,” said UV-Edmeston head coach, Jack Loeffler. “We’ve been hyping this game all week and the younger coaches have been going nuts. These players, though, are a generation behind, and they’re not losing sight of their focus this week. They are focused on what they need to do.”
What the Storm defense needs to do is limit S-E’s 1,000-yard back, Billy Northey. Northey has six 100-yard games already this season and is over 1,100 yards. Phil Price leads the Marauders’ receiving group with 16 catches.
“We have to stop Northey, and no one really has,” Loeffler said. “We admit he’ll probably get some good yardage, but if we can disrupt things and get a good push on our line, we hope to put the skids on him.
“From everything I hear about him, he is the real deal.”
The Storm are coming off a three-overtime defeat to Harpursville (20-14), and two of those touchdowns came in the extra period. Discounting those additional periods, the Storm has allowed one touchdown or less on defense in five straight games. “In preseason, we thought we had some good talent, we just didn’t show it the first two games,” Loeffler said. “We’ve won some games this year, but we’re not over the hump yet. We still need to do the little things to get to the next level. I thought we outplayed Harpursville last week, but the mistakes killed us. Really good teams do not make that many mistakes.”
Oxford (3-4) at Whitney Point (1-6), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
Oxford jumps two classifications to play Class B Whitney Point on Saturday, and the Blackhawks will find a Golden Eagles club that is struggling to put points on the board and keep opponents out of the endzone
Whitney Point has the second lowest scoring offense in all of Section IV at less that seven points a game, while on defense, the 185 points allowed is next to last among the 12 Class B teams and near the bottom overall. “I told the guys this a great opportunity to showcase Class D against Class B,” said Oxford coach Mike Chrystie. “I have stressed to the team all week not to look at their record because they play in a higher division and a higher class.”
Oxford is coming off its second single-digit division loss this season, and it needs a victory tomorrow to avoid its first losing campaign in five seasons. The Blackhawks’ run defense continues to stand out giving up just 93 yards a game over the last four games; however, two of those games they suffered defeats.
Senior running back Scott Shackelton has remained a bright spot for the Oxford offense rushing for 397 yards and three touchdowns over the last four contests.
B-G (5-2) at Delhi (3-4), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
B-G faces the top passing offense in Class D football when it travels to Delhi Saturday. Trent Kathmann has six TD passes for the Bulldogs and averages 111 yards a game through the air. Luke Burns is clearly the one Kathmann looks to the most with 24 catches, while also acting as the recipient of all six TD passes.
“Kathmann throws a nice ball and we’ll have to put pressure on him,” said B-G coach Tim Mattingly. “They have some good receivers and run their offense from a variety of sets.”
The Bobcats were eliminated from postseason contention last week when Deposit upended the Bulldogs. Still, there is more redemption to be earned, Mattingly said. His squad beat Oxford last week to avenge a blowout loss from 2006, and it can do the same this week against Delhi, who beat B-G by three TDS a season ago. “This win would be nice for us,” Mattingly said. “Delhi hammered us and Oxford really put it to us last year. It would be a nice step forward for our program to go into Delhi and come out with a win.”
B-G junior back Dustin Ross has four 100-yard rushing games this season and 878 yards. He is on track to become the first 1,000-yard rusher for the Bobcats in nearly a decade
Windsor (4-3) at Norwich (4-3), Friday, 7 p.m.
Norwich runs into an offense that has moved away from a ball-control running game with the sprinkling in of passes, to a two-headed, four-armed passing attack – Matt Murray and David Goetz – who have combined for over 1,200 yards passing and 13 touchdowns this season. The duo makes up the number two passing offense in all of Section IV, and no school has been immune to the Black Knights’ aerial efficiency. Murray and Goetz put up big numbers, albeit in losses, to Class B playoff qualifiers Chenango Forks and Chenango Valley the last two weeks, with 200-plus yard games through the air, and counting a win over Oneonta, the Black Knights’ signalcallers have three straight 200-yard passing games.
The alternating quarterback system has shown no real favorites among a talented receiving corps. Tim Costello, Mike Gnall, Tip Martino, and Loch Doolittle have all carried the load in different games. Dylan Kay tops the running game.
Norwich can secure a winning season and hopes to avenge a 40-0 defeat to Windsor a year ago in which it mustered just 157 yards of total offense. Norwich running back Chris Mattingly needs 49 yards in this game to reach 2,000 for his three-year career.
Greene, a playoff qualifier last year in Class C, needs to shake off consecutive losses and defeat Tioga tonight at home to duplicate that feat. Both teams enter with identical won-loss records within Division V with all the respective wins and losses coming to the same teams. “We have an opportunity to make the playoffs two years in a row, and not too many players from Greene can say that,” said Greene head coach Tim Paske. “We talked to the kids and asked them what type of legacy do they want to leave behind. We want to establish a consistent program and make this a year in and year out thing. We’re right at the level where we want to be competing with the top teams. Now it’s time to take that our turn and beat those top teams.”
Elsewhere, Sherburne-Earlville and UV-Edmeston renew a longtime rivalry this evening. The Storm need to win their last two contests to finish with a winning record, while the Marauders have an eye on a four-win season.
Norwich is one win from a five-win campaign, and can do that by knocking off Windsor on its senior recognition night at the new Ulrich Field.
Oxford is one game below .500 and travels to Whitney Point Saturday in a non-division game, while B-G, already with a winning season secured, makes the trip to Delhi for its last Class D division game. Below are capsules of this week’s contests:
Tioga (3-4) at Greene (4-3), Friday, 7 p.m.
One team will play out its schedule with a meaningless week nine game, while the other will travel to Unatego for the first round of the Class C playoffs. The Trojans are coming off back-to-back losses, the first time in nearly 2 1/2 seasons, but both were to playoff-bound opponents in the division. In fact, all of the Trojans’ defeats have come to this year’s Class C playoff qualifiers.
“After last week’s loss Lansing, we told the guys in the locker room that our playoffs start now,” Paske said. “If we want to win and make the playoffs, this is really our first playoff game. That’s the approach we’re taking.”
The Tigers lost one of the top backs in Section IV, Eric Wiseman, to injury at the start of the season. Josh Manuel has stepped in to lead the traditionally-strong Tioga running game, while David Ulrich has grabbed a few yards on the ground himself, while also moving into the quarterback spot on occasion. Wiseman, according to Paske, may suit up tonight, and as the top returning rusher in Section IV, he presents an additional threat to the Trojans’ defense. “Wiseman is a heck of a back, but a couple others (Manuel, Ulrich) have stepped up,” Paske said.
Playing the comparative score game, the Trojans’ losses the last two weeks were by single digits – one in overtime to Trumansburg. Meanwhile, Tioga has suffered lopsided losses to Greene’s three conquerors by a combined 125-33.
Greene quarterback Nate Whittaker, who was a starting tailback a year ago, has found his groove from the signcaller’s spot. He is completing 57 percent of his passes this season for a county-leading 562 yards and eight TDs. Over the last two weeks against stiff divisional competition, Whittaker has put together his two best games throwing for 198 total yards and one score, while rushing for 99 yards and three TDs. Jake Wentlent has established himself as the Trojans’ go-to back with a team-high 536 yards this season.
Sherburne-Earlville (2-5) at UV-Edmeston (3-4), Friday, 7 p.m.
The players on each of these two squads are too young to remember this longtime rivalry, but the Storm’s coaching staff certainly hasn’t forgotten. “Looking back at the rivalry, I have been on both sides (coaching UV-E and S-E), and my young assistants have been a part of it as players,” said UV-Edmeston head coach, Jack Loeffler. “We’ve been hyping this game all week and the younger coaches have been going nuts. These players, though, are a generation behind, and they’re not losing sight of their focus this week. They are focused on what they need to do.”
What the Storm defense needs to do is limit S-E’s 1,000-yard back, Billy Northey. Northey has six 100-yard games already this season and is over 1,100 yards. Phil Price leads the Marauders’ receiving group with 16 catches.
“We have to stop Northey, and no one really has,” Loeffler said. “We admit he’ll probably get some good yardage, but if we can disrupt things and get a good push on our line, we hope to put the skids on him.
“From everything I hear about him, he is the real deal.”
The Storm are coming off a three-overtime defeat to Harpursville (20-14), and two of those touchdowns came in the extra period. Discounting those additional periods, the Storm has allowed one touchdown or less on defense in five straight games. “In preseason, we thought we had some good talent, we just didn’t show it the first two games,” Loeffler said. “We’ve won some games this year, but we’re not over the hump yet. We still need to do the little things to get to the next level. I thought we outplayed Harpursville last week, but the mistakes killed us. Really good teams do not make that many mistakes.”
Oxford (3-4) at Whitney Point (1-6), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
Oxford jumps two classifications to play Class B Whitney Point on Saturday, and the Blackhawks will find a Golden Eagles club that is struggling to put points on the board and keep opponents out of the endzone
Whitney Point has the second lowest scoring offense in all of Section IV at less that seven points a game, while on defense, the 185 points allowed is next to last among the 12 Class B teams and near the bottom overall. “I told the guys this a great opportunity to showcase Class D against Class B,” said Oxford coach Mike Chrystie. “I have stressed to the team all week not to look at their record because they play in a higher division and a higher class.”
Oxford is coming off its second single-digit division loss this season, and it needs a victory tomorrow to avoid its first losing campaign in five seasons. The Blackhawks’ run defense continues to stand out giving up just 93 yards a game over the last four games; however, two of those games they suffered defeats.
Senior running back Scott Shackelton has remained a bright spot for the Oxford offense rushing for 397 yards and three touchdowns over the last four contests.
B-G (5-2) at Delhi (3-4), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
B-G faces the top passing offense in Class D football when it travels to Delhi Saturday. Trent Kathmann has six TD passes for the Bulldogs and averages 111 yards a game through the air. Luke Burns is clearly the one Kathmann looks to the most with 24 catches, while also acting as the recipient of all six TD passes.
“Kathmann throws a nice ball and we’ll have to put pressure on him,” said B-G coach Tim Mattingly. “They have some good receivers and run their offense from a variety of sets.”
The Bobcats were eliminated from postseason contention last week when Deposit upended the Bulldogs. Still, there is more redemption to be earned, Mattingly said. His squad beat Oxford last week to avenge a blowout loss from 2006, and it can do the same this week against Delhi, who beat B-G by three TDS a season ago. “This win would be nice for us,” Mattingly said. “Delhi hammered us and Oxford really put it to us last year. It would be a nice step forward for our program to go into Delhi and come out with a win.”
B-G junior back Dustin Ross has four 100-yard rushing games this season and 878 yards. He is on track to become the first 1,000-yard rusher for the Bobcats in nearly a decade
Windsor (4-3) at Norwich (4-3), Friday, 7 p.m.
Norwich runs into an offense that has moved away from a ball-control running game with the sprinkling in of passes, to a two-headed, four-armed passing attack – Matt Murray and David Goetz – who have combined for over 1,200 yards passing and 13 touchdowns this season. The duo makes up the number two passing offense in all of Section IV, and no school has been immune to the Black Knights’ aerial efficiency. Murray and Goetz put up big numbers, albeit in losses, to Class B playoff qualifiers Chenango Forks and Chenango Valley the last two weeks, with 200-plus yard games through the air, and counting a win over Oneonta, the Black Knights’ signalcallers have three straight 200-yard passing games.
The alternating quarterback system has shown no real favorites among a talented receiving corps. Tim Costello, Mike Gnall, Tip Martino, and Loch Doolittle have all carried the load in different games. Dylan Kay tops the running game.
Norwich can secure a winning season and hopes to avenge a 40-0 defeat to Windsor a year ago in which it mustered just 157 yards of total offense. Norwich running back Chris Mattingly needs 49 yards in this game to reach 2,000 for his three-year career.
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