Offensive line, unsung players big keys to Greene’s success
The focus in the headlines and in the box scores for Greene remains star quarterback Nate Whittaker, and his key stablemates in the backfield, Garrett Hickey and Dan Carlin. All three are in the 200-plus-yard rushing category, and receivers Josh Clink and Brendan Kinne balance the attack.
All along, though, head coach Tim Paske has pointed toward the offensive line as the key to the success. “It’s starts up front, and they do all of the dirty work that doesn’t show up in the statistics,” Paske said.
Anchored by Tyler Kehl at center, and joined by Austin Euchenhofer, Evan Engler, Nic Puglisi, and Alex Kenyon, the Trojans are Chenango County’s top scoring team at over 40 points a game. It’s lowest point total was a 36-22 win over Tioga, and Paske was subbing out his first-team unit midway through the third quarter.
The offensive line is getting due credit here, and so, too, should dutiful blocker Brian Day. Day, a situational running back who occasionally gets a carry, lines up as an end just off the line of scrimmage. “He’s doing a great job of blocking for us on the corner,” Paske said. “He’s a guy who is behind the scenes, but is doing a great job.”
On the defensive side of the ball, it is the team’s smallest defender (in weight) who is coming up big. Junior Nick Wilcox, he of three straight Section IV wrestling titles, is averaging over 10 tackles a game. Junior Tyler Beckwith, who is also a sectional wrestling champion, is picking up nearly double-digit tackles as well. Mind you, neither player is seeing full-game time as the Trojans have had all three games well in hand by the fourth quarter.
That comfortable fourth-quarter feeling may take a week off tonight when Windsor invades Trojans territory. “I’m worried about slowing them down,” Paske said.
The Black Knights were derailed a week ago against Waverly suffering their first loss, while the Wolverines posted their first win. Still, Windsor sports a multi-dimensional attack that features the run and the pass.
Quarterback Matt Murray is throwing for over 100 yards a game, and his favorite target thus far is twin brother Mark Murray. “They are the type of team that will throw the ball on any down or distance,” Paske said. “We have to be ready for that.”
Friday night’s game is the first of two straight non-division games for Greene before resuming its bid for a fifth-ever division title. “It’s nice to play all your division games consecutively, but this is a good change of pace,” Paske said. “If any of our kids get banged up, they have a chance to get healthy for the division games.”
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The rest of this week’s local games:
Holland Patent (1-2) at Norwich (3-0), Friday, 7 p.m.
Holland Patent suffered a shellacking against unbeaten Oneida a week ago giving up 300 passing yards and over 500 total yards of offense in a 45-13 defeat.
Highlights in the defeat came from Stephen Falk, who had a TD run and a TD reception from Tyler Mann.
Norwich’s pattern of falling behind early and turning it on thereafter continued in a 22-7 win over Chenango Valley last Friday, the first win over the Warriors in three seasons.
Unlike the previous two games where it went to the pass to move the chains, Norwich stuck with the ground game, played stingy defense, and won going away. Mike Moon had his best game of the season rushing for 75 yards and two scores. Through three games, Norwich has not allowed a second-half touchdown, and is giving up 189 yards per game.
UV-Edmeston (0-3) at Deposit (0-3), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
UV-Edmeston was counting on its defense to hold the fort until the offense caught fire. Last weekend, Harpursville broke through the fort and scorched the Storm defense to the tune of over 500 yards of offense. “We knew what they would run and I thought we would stop it,” said UV-E coach Jack Loeffler. “We were a step slow, there was a lot of arm tackling and missed tackles. We had some issues with fundamentals, and give Harpursville credit, they did a nice job. They ran at our strength, and the beat us at it.”
Next on the docket for UV-E is a Saturday trip to Deposit. Last season, Deposit pulled out a fourth-quarter win on a TD pass against the Storm en route to a Class D division title. The Lumberjacks, while still talented and physical, have yet to find the victory column. Its first two losses were nail-biters, and last week against B-G, Deposit matched the Bobcats yard for yard, but not score for score. “Both teams come in oh and three, and one team will leave one and three,” Loeffler said. “We hope that team is us.”
UV-E had two touchdowns from Jay Lloyd a week ago and one TD run from Eric Bennett. Bennett’s TD run in the first quarter against Harpursville was incorrectly credited to Lloyd.
S-E (2-1) at Westmoreland (3-0), Saturday, 2 p.m.
Sherburne-Earlville faces an unbeaten Bulldogs club that needed a fourth-quarter TD pass to defeat Delhi last weekend, 21-14. Dan Smith threw a 70-yard scoring toss to Justin Becker for the winner. Becker has five TDs on the season with a pair of two-TD games against Clinton and Canastota.
“Westmoreland has a wide-open attack. It’s a typical Section III team where you have to defend the whole field,” said S-E coach Mickey James. “They send a lot of different players at you, and do a lot of situational substitutions.”
The Marauders have a stake in this year’s Section III Class C South playoff race. Already a game down after losing to Cazenovia in week one, the Marauders cannot afford another league loss. “This is the first big game in their varsity careers,” James said of his squad. “If they have goals to go to the playoffs, they need to win this week.”
Nate Kline leads the S-E rushing attack with 485 yards through the first three games. The Marauders put up 344 yards rushing a week ago against Mount Markham, the second best rushing total in James’ three seasons.
Oxford (0-3) at Seton Catholic Central (1-2), Saturday, 7 p.m. at Binghamton Alumni Stadium
Seton Catholic Central is an improved team over the one that was winless a year ago, said Oxford coach Mike Chrystie. “They are different from last year,” Chrystie said. “They have some size, and they like to throw to the outside.”
The Saints sport the top passing game in Section IV at 171 yards per game. James Hranek has 514 yards and three scoring tosses, and receivers Chris Furner and Joeseph Martin share the team lead with 13 catches apiece. We’ve struggled to make plays on the outside, and I’m sure Seton will try to attack that,” Chrystie said.
Despite the winless start, Chrystie said Oxford’s slate is clean entering division play. “We want to get out to an early lead, that is something we haven’t done yet,” he said. “Getting down (on the scoreboard) begins to wear on you as a team.”
Sidney (2-1) at Bainbridge-Guilford (3-0), Friday, 7 p.m.
Returning home after a two-week road trip, B-G puts its unbeaten record on the line against the Warriors, who dropped their first game last weekend to Greene in lopsided fashion. B-G head coach Tim Mattingly lauded the athletes on Sidney’s side of the ball including quarterback Dylan Umbra, senior running back Mike Guerriere, and running back Aaron Wood.
B-G’s attack is led by running back Dustin Ross, who has 491 yards rushing in three games. The Bobcats, who lost starting receiver Dustin Rutz to injury in week one, lost his backup, J.J. Banta, to an injury. Banta led the team in receiving before a third-quarter knee injury in the win over Deposit last Saturday.
All along, though, head coach Tim Paske has pointed toward the offensive line as the key to the success. “It’s starts up front, and they do all of the dirty work that doesn’t show up in the statistics,” Paske said.
Anchored by Tyler Kehl at center, and joined by Austin Euchenhofer, Evan Engler, Nic Puglisi, and Alex Kenyon, the Trojans are Chenango County’s top scoring team at over 40 points a game. It’s lowest point total was a 36-22 win over Tioga, and Paske was subbing out his first-team unit midway through the third quarter.
The offensive line is getting due credit here, and so, too, should dutiful blocker Brian Day. Day, a situational running back who occasionally gets a carry, lines up as an end just off the line of scrimmage. “He’s doing a great job of blocking for us on the corner,” Paske said. “He’s a guy who is behind the scenes, but is doing a great job.”
On the defensive side of the ball, it is the team’s smallest defender (in weight) who is coming up big. Junior Nick Wilcox, he of three straight Section IV wrestling titles, is averaging over 10 tackles a game. Junior Tyler Beckwith, who is also a sectional wrestling champion, is picking up nearly double-digit tackles as well. Mind you, neither player is seeing full-game time as the Trojans have had all three games well in hand by the fourth quarter.
That comfortable fourth-quarter feeling may take a week off tonight when Windsor invades Trojans territory. “I’m worried about slowing them down,” Paske said.
The Black Knights were derailed a week ago against Waverly suffering their first loss, while the Wolverines posted their first win. Still, Windsor sports a multi-dimensional attack that features the run and the pass.
Quarterback Matt Murray is throwing for over 100 yards a game, and his favorite target thus far is twin brother Mark Murray. “They are the type of team that will throw the ball on any down or distance,” Paske said. “We have to be ready for that.”
Friday night’s game is the first of two straight non-division games for Greene before resuming its bid for a fifth-ever division title. “It’s nice to play all your division games consecutively, but this is a good change of pace,” Paske said. “If any of our kids get banged up, they have a chance to get healthy for the division games.”
–––––
The rest of this week’s local games:
Holland Patent (1-2) at Norwich (3-0), Friday, 7 p.m.
Holland Patent suffered a shellacking against unbeaten Oneida a week ago giving up 300 passing yards and over 500 total yards of offense in a 45-13 defeat.
Highlights in the defeat came from Stephen Falk, who had a TD run and a TD reception from Tyler Mann.
Norwich’s pattern of falling behind early and turning it on thereafter continued in a 22-7 win over Chenango Valley last Friday, the first win over the Warriors in three seasons.
Unlike the previous two games where it went to the pass to move the chains, Norwich stuck with the ground game, played stingy defense, and won going away. Mike Moon had his best game of the season rushing for 75 yards and two scores. Through three games, Norwich has not allowed a second-half touchdown, and is giving up 189 yards per game.
UV-Edmeston (0-3) at Deposit (0-3), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
UV-Edmeston was counting on its defense to hold the fort until the offense caught fire. Last weekend, Harpursville broke through the fort and scorched the Storm defense to the tune of over 500 yards of offense. “We knew what they would run and I thought we would stop it,” said UV-E coach Jack Loeffler. “We were a step slow, there was a lot of arm tackling and missed tackles. We had some issues with fundamentals, and give Harpursville credit, they did a nice job. They ran at our strength, and the beat us at it.”
Next on the docket for UV-E is a Saturday trip to Deposit. Last season, Deposit pulled out a fourth-quarter win on a TD pass against the Storm en route to a Class D division title. The Lumberjacks, while still talented and physical, have yet to find the victory column. Its first two losses were nail-biters, and last week against B-G, Deposit matched the Bobcats yard for yard, but not score for score. “Both teams come in oh and three, and one team will leave one and three,” Loeffler said. “We hope that team is us.”
UV-E had two touchdowns from Jay Lloyd a week ago and one TD run from Eric Bennett. Bennett’s TD run in the first quarter against Harpursville was incorrectly credited to Lloyd.
S-E (2-1) at Westmoreland (3-0), Saturday, 2 p.m.
Sherburne-Earlville faces an unbeaten Bulldogs club that needed a fourth-quarter TD pass to defeat Delhi last weekend, 21-14. Dan Smith threw a 70-yard scoring toss to Justin Becker for the winner. Becker has five TDs on the season with a pair of two-TD games against Clinton and Canastota.
“Westmoreland has a wide-open attack. It’s a typical Section III team where you have to defend the whole field,” said S-E coach Mickey James. “They send a lot of different players at you, and do a lot of situational substitutions.”
The Marauders have a stake in this year’s Section III Class C South playoff race. Already a game down after losing to Cazenovia in week one, the Marauders cannot afford another league loss. “This is the first big game in their varsity careers,” James said of his squad. “If they have goals to go to the playoffs, they need to win this week.”
Nate Kline leads the S-E rushing attack with 485 yards through the first three games. The Marauders put up 344 yards rushing a week ago against Mount Markham, the second best rushing total in James’ three seasons.
Oxford (0-3) at Seton Catholic Central (1-2), Saturday, 7 p.m. at Binghamton Alumni Stadium
Seton Catholic Central is an improved team over the one that was winless a year ago, said Oxford coach Mike Chrystie. “They are different from last year,” Chrystie said. “They have some size, and they like to throw to the outside.”
The Saints sport the top passing game in Section IV at 171 yards per game. James Hranek has 514 yards and three scoring tosses, and receivers Chris Furner and Joeseph Martin share the team lead with 13 catches apiece. We’ve struggled to make plays on the outside, and I’m sure Seton will try to attack that,” Chrystie said.
Despite the winless start, Chrystie said Oxford’s slate is clean entering division play. “We want to get out to an early lead, that is something we haven’t done yet,” he said. “Getting down (on the scoreboard) begins to wear on you as a team.”
Sidney (2-1) at Bainbridge-Guilford (3-0), Friday, 7 p.m.
Returning home after a two-week road trip, B-G puts its unbeaten record on the line against the Warriors, who dropped their first game last weekend to Greene in lopsided fashion. B-G head coach Tim Mattingly lauded the athletes on Sidney’s side of the ball including quarterback Dylan Umbra, senior running back Mike Guerriere, and running back Aaron Wood.
B-G’s attack is led by running back Dustin Ross, who has 491 yards rushing in three games. The Bobcats, who lost starting receiver Dustin Rutz to injury in week one, lost his backup, J.J. Banta, to an injury. Banta led the team in receiving before a third-quarter knee injury in the win over Deposit last Saturday.
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