Grid Preview: Rematch for Greene in Class C playoffs
Five out of Chenango County’s six football clubs enter the final week of the regular season with a .500 record or better, but only one, Greene, still entertains thoughts of playing beyond week nine.
The Trojans roared to a 34-8 thrashing of Tioga last Friday to put a stamp on a second straight postseason appearance, and what awaits is a rematch with the number one seed in Section IV, Class C football, Unatego, tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Ty Cobb Stadium in Endicott. The Spartans beat Greene at home in week two, 26-8.
“Our goal at the beginning of the year was to make the playoffs again,” said Greene coach Tim Paske. “The team achieved that goal, and the next goal was the win a playoff game. Since the playoff system started in 1993, we have made the playoffs three times – this is the fourth – and we haven’t won a playoff game.”
Perhaps no offensive player in Section IV is more valuable to his team than the Spartans’ Alex Hendrickson. Hendrickson has 18 rushing touchdowns and four receiving touchdowns and has a pair of 200-yard rushing games over his last three including a season-high 263 yards and four TDS against Sidney to put him over 1,000 yards for the season. He averages over 10 yards a carry and had three touchdowns over 60 yards last week.
“Number one, we don’t want to give up the home run play,” Paske said of Unatego and Hendrickson specifically. “Whether its Hendrickson, their quarterback (Kyle Palmer) or someone else. We’ve seen Unatego quite a bit and have a handle on the things they like to do in certain situations. Now it’s a matter of having kids in the right position and executing.”
After Hendrickson, no other back on the Unatego roster has as many as 250 yards rushing (Dane Hedlund is second with 213), and the Trojans contained Hendrickson from a yardage standpoint allowing Hendrickson a season-low 66 yards rushing to go with 40 yards receiving. Still he managed to punch the ball in the endzone twice – a TD run and TD reception.
Palmer has not passed the ball much for Unatego with just 361 yards on 23-of-45 attempts. Interestingly, 114 of those yards on a 6-for-10 effort came against Greene.
The bread and butter of Unatego’s squad is a stout, physical defense that blanketed and blanked Greene’s offense for three quarters. The Trojans put up nearly half of their 205 yards of total offense in the fourth quarter against a mix of Unatego starters and reserves, while also getting a TD run from leading rusher Jake Wentlent.
“We’ve talked this week about just executing the offense, getting the first down and moving the chains,” Paske said. “Earlier in the season, the kids thought they needed to make that big play. If we get first downs and move the chains, eventually we’ll get to the endzone.”
The Trojans mix their carries to a variety of backs including Wentlent, Garrett Hickey, Chris Engler, Dan Carlin, and quarterback Nate Whittaker; however, it is Wentlent who has moved to the forefront as the overall leader. Wentlent averages nearly nine yards a carry in racking up over 700 yards to go with his seven rushing touchdowns.
Whittaker suffered an arm injury in the second half of last week’s win that should not affect his game time status, and he is easily the most efficient and accurate of local passers. The junior lefty slinger is completing 57 percent of passes for about 75 yards a game and nine scores. Justin VanWert is Whittaker’s top target and leads Chenango County with 21 catches and seven scores.
Paske says his team has grown up a great deal in the two months since the team opened the season. He also is preaching the “nothing to lose” mentality for tomorrow’s game. “We know people think we’re the underdog and don’t have a chance,” he said. “We’re telling the kids to go out and have fun, relax, and just play football. We’ve shown we can play at the competitive level of the top teams in our class, now it’s time to start beating them.”
Elsewhere this weekend:
Sherburne-Earlville (2-6) plays on the turf of Waterville High School for a “home” game against Canastota (5-3). The Lakers’ three losses this season all came to unbeaten teams at the time they played them... . Also tonight, Norwich (5-3), with a winning season already clinched, finishes the campaign with a third straight home game against Ithaca (1-7). The Little Red have one of the worst scoring defenses in Section IV giving up 34.1 points per game, while Norwich has one of the best allowing just 11.5 points per game. ...Tonight, B-G (6-2) can solidify the best regular season record in the area and finish on a five-game winning streak at local rival Sidney (2-6). Junior Dustin Ross went over the 1,000-yard rushing mark last weekend, the first B-G back to reach that total since John Stevens in 2000. ...Saturday, UV-Edmeston (4-4) looks for its first winning season since 2004 playing at Delhi (3-5). The Storm defense has allowed eight points or less in five of six games, a stretch in which it has gone 4-2 to pull to .500... .Oxford’s up and down season winds down at longtime rival Newfield (2-6) tomorrow. The Blackhawks (4-4) will face a Trojans club that has one of the top passing offenses in Section IV led by quarterback Mike Armstrong.
The Trojans roared to a 34-8 thrashing of Tioga last Friday to put a stamp on a second straight postseason appearance, and what awaits is a rematch with the number one seed in Section IV, Class C football, Unatego, tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Ty Cobb Stadium in Endicott. The Spartans beat Greene at home in week two, 26-8.
“Our goal at the beginning of the year was to make the playoffs again,” said Greene coach Tim Paske. “The team achieved that goal, and the next goal was the win a playoff game. Since the playoff system started in 1993, we have made the playoffs three times – this is the fourth – and we haven’t won a playoff game.”
Perhaps no offensive player in Section IV is more valuable to his team than the Spartans’ Alex Hendrickson. Hendrickson has 18 rushing touchdowns and four receiving touchdowns and has a pair of 200-yard rushing games over his last three including a season-high 263 yards and four TDS against Sidney to put him over 1,000 yards for the season. He averages over 10 yards a carry and had three touchdowns over 60 yards last week.
“Number one, we don’t want to give up the home run play,” Paske said of Unatego and Hendrickson specifically. “Whether its Hendrickson, their quarterback (Kyle Palmer) or someone else. We’ve seen Unatego quite a bit and have a handle on the things they like to do in certain situations. Now it’s a matter of having kids in the right position and executing.”
After Hendrickson, no other back on the Unatego roster has as many as 250 yards rushing (Dane Hedlund is second with 213), and the Trojans contained Hendrickson from a yardage standpoint allowing Hendrickson a season-low 66 yards rushing to go with 40 yards receiving. Still he managed to punch the ball in the endzone twice – a TD run and TD reception.
Palmer has not passed the ball much for Unatego with just 361 yards on 23-of-45 attempts. Interestingly, 114 of those yards on a 6-for-10 effort came against Greene.
The bread and butter of Unatego’s squad is a stout, physical defense that blanketed and blanked Greene’s offense for three quarters. The Trojans put up nearly half of their 205 yards of total offense in the fourth quarter against a mix of Unatego starters and reserves, while also getting a TD run from leading rusher Jake Wentlent.
“We’ve talked this week about just executing the offense, getting the first down and moving the chains,” Paske said. “Earlier in the season, the kids thought they needed to make that big play. If we get first downs and move the chains, eventually we’ll get to the endzone.”
The Trojans mix their carries to a variety of backs including Wentlent, Garrett Hickey, Chris Engler, Dan Carlin, and quarterback Nate Whittaker; however, it is Wentlent who has moved to the forefront as the overall leader. Wentlent averages nearly nine yards a carry in racking up over 700 yards to go with his seven rushing touchdowns.
Whittaker suffered an arm injury in the second half of last week’s win that should not affect his game time status, and he is easily the most efficient and accurate of local passers. The junior lefty slinger is completing 57 percent of passes for about 75 yards a game and nine scores. Justin VanWert is Whittaker’s top target and leads Chenango County with 21 catches and seven scores.
Paske says his team has grown up a great deal in the two months since the team opened the season. He also is preaching the “nothing to lose” mentality for tomorrow’s game. “We know people think we’re the underdog and don’t have a chance,” he said. “We’re telling the kids to go out and have fun, relax, and just play football. We’ve shown we can play at the competitive level of the top teams in our class, now it’s time to start beating them.”
Elsewhere this weekend:
Sherburne-Earlville (2-6) plays on the turf of Waterville High School for a “home” game against Canastota (5-3). The Lakers’ three losses this season all came to unbeaten teams at the time they played them... . Also tonight, Norwich (5-3), with a winning season already clinched, finishes the campaign with a third straight home game against Ithaca (1-7). The Little Red have one of the worst scoring defenses in Section IV giving up 34.1 points per game, while Norwich has one of the best allowing just 11.5 points per game. ...Tonight, B-G (6-2) can solidify the best regular season record in the area and finish on a five-game winning streak at local rival Sidney (2-6). Junior Dustin Ross went over the 1,000-yard rushing mark last weekend, the first B-G back to reach that total since John Stevens in 2000. ...Saturday, UV-Edmeston (4-4) looks for its first winning season since 2004 playing at Delhi (3-5). The Storm defense has allowed eight points or less in five of six games, a stretch in which it has gone 4-2 to pull to .500... .Oxford’s up and down season winds down at longtime rival Newfield (2-6) tomorrow. The Blackhawks (4-4) will face a Trojans club that has one of the top passing offenses in Section IV led by quarterback Mike Armstrong.
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