Norwich completes division title run
GREENE – Norwich was not in a sharing mood on Saturday.
In a game that was shifted from Chenango Valley High School to Greene’s newly-installed field turf due to poor field conditions, the Purple Tornado made the Trojans’ field their own for a day, and completed a perfect run through division play with a 21-7 win over Chenango Valley Saturday afternoon.
Win or lose, Norwich was in the playoffs, but it much preferred an outright Section IV Division III championship over a three-way tie with CV and Oneonta.
“We didn’t want to share this title with anyone,” said Norwich first-year coach John Martinson. “To go into the playoffs as the number two seed...we’ve been playing too good of football for that, and we believed we earned this. That’s why I’ve been carrying this (division title) patch around. We weren’t going to cut this into threes – this is ours.”
Norwich’s improved offensive play took control on its first drive of the game. An Alex Williams sack of CV signal-caller Ricky Rufflo on third down forced a punting situation.
Norwich advanced to the Warriors’ seven, but a penalty led to a missed field goal.
Norwich’s defense again stiffened, and this time NHS finished its drive. Christian Hotaling roughed up the CV defense with a powerful 24-yard inside run, and the burly senior rambled six yards for the TD.
“The line was blocking well and the two hole was there all day,” Hotaling said. “We were just trying to run it down their throats.”
CV all but forgot the running game after the first quarter with the exception of a few plays here and there. Ruffo guided his club on a 64-yard TD drive, the last play a 15-yard scoring hookup with Cameron Fedish. The successful point-after knotted the game up.
Hotaling broke free on Norwich’s next possession with a career-best 65-yard run to the three-yard line. Used to running in low gear, Hotaling admitted to running out of steam around the 10-yard line. “I was struggling to get there, and I was surprised the field was so wide-open,” he said.
Two plays later, Hotaling powered in from one yard out to give Norwich the lead for good. Hotaling finished with 155 yards rushing on 20 carries to lead the 295-yard rushing day for Norwich.
Alex Williams, filling in for Hotaling in the third quarter, burst 39 yards for the capping score, and he finished with 55 yards rushing in the game. “We were taking the two hole like we did against Oneonta, and that’s where Christian and Alex were getting all of their yards today,” Martinson said. “I didn’t appear, and I could be wrong, that Chenango Valley made an adjustment to stop that. Our kids were making great blocks, and Christian was running today like a man possessed.”
Norwich’s defense was equally possessed limiting a potent CV offense to 163 total yards. Paddy Law and Andrew Austin had interceptions, Mike Reilly forced a fumble that was recovered by Tyler Hoffman, and Keegan Levesque, Hoffman, Reilly, and Teddy Jerome had sacks or tackles for a loss.
In winning five straight games, Norwich has found a way to blend its core seniors with four sophomores and one freshman starter.
“A lot of our seniors played as sophomores when they started, and they weren’t leaders then, they were role players,” Martinson said. “Between weeks three and eight, they’ve become better leaders on and off the field. That’s truly made a difference.”
Norwich will play Johnson City on Friday in the first round of the Class B playoffs. The Wildcats beat the Tornado 23-7 in a contest where NHS suffered key injuries, and gave up 13 points on drives of less than 10 yards.
“In order to play well in the playoffs, we needed to play well in this game,” Martinson said. “We’re a different team now. To win five games in a row says a lot about this team.”
Score by quarters
NHS 7 7 7 0–21
CVa. 0 7 0 0–7
Scoring summary
First quarter
N: Christian Hotaling 6 run (Favaloro kick)
Second quarter
CV: Cameron Fedish 15 pass from Ricky Ruffo (C. Mahoney kick)
N: Hotaling 1 run (Favaloro kick)
Third quarter
N: Alex Williams 39 run (Favaloro kick)
Team Summary
N CV
First downs 12 9
Rushes-yds 53-295 23-54
Passing yds 0 110
Comp-att-int 0-3-1 11-20-2
Punts-avg 2-39.0 3-31.0
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties-yds 5-30 3-25
Individual statistics
Rushing: (N) Christian Hotaling, 20-155; Alex Williams, 5-55; Mackay Hotaling, 11-34; Paddy Law, 5-17; Casey Edwards, 2-16; Seth Thomsen, 5-12; Nate Wilbur, 1-5; Damien Marvin, 1-4; Tyler Hoffman, 1-2; Josh Favaloro, 1-2; Morgan Crawford, 1-(-5). (CV) Devin Carroll, 6-47; Cam Moochly, 7-13; Matt Wolford, 2-9; Ricky Ruffo, 8-(-15).
Passing: (N) Seth Thomsen, 0-3-1, 0 yards; (CV) Ricky Ruffo, 11-20-2, 110 yards, TD.
Receiving: (CV) Cam Fedish, 6-57; Rocky Dinga, 3-30; C. Moochly, 1-16; D. Carroll, 1-7.
In a game that was shifted from Chenango Valley High School to Greene’s newly-installed field turf due to poor field conditions, the Purple Tornado made the Trojans’ field their own for a day, and completed a perfect run through division play with a 21-7 win over Chenango Valley Saturday afternoon.
Win or lose, Norwich was in the playoffs, but it much preferred an outright Section IV Division III championship over a three-way tie with CV and Oneonta.
“We didn’t want to share this title with anyone,” said Norwich first-year coach John Martinson. “To go into the playoffs as the number two seed...we’ve been playing too good of football for that, and we believed we earned this. That’s why I’ve been carrying this (division title) patch around. We weren’t going to cut this into threes – this is ours.”
Norwich’s improved offensive play took control on its first drive of the game. An Alex Williams sack of CV signal-caller Ricky Rufflo on third down forced a punting situation.
Norwich advanced to the Warriors’ seven, but a penalty led to a missed field goal.
Norwich’s defense again stiffened, and this time NHS finished its drive. Christian Hotaling roughed up the CV defense with a powerful 24-yard inside run, and the burly senior rambled six yards for the TD.
“The line was blocking well and the two hole was there all day,” Hotaling said. “We were just trying to run it down their throats.”
CV all but forgot the running game after the first quarter with the exception of a few plays here and there. Ruffo guided his club on a 64-yard TD drive, the last play a 15-yard scoring hookup with Cameron Fedish. The successful point-after knotted the game up.
Hotaling broke free on Norwich’s next possession with a career-best 65-yard run to the three-yard line. Used to running in low gear, Hotaling admitted to running out of steam around the 10-yard line. “I was struggling to get there, and I was surprised the field was so wide-open,” he said.
Two plays later, Hotaling powered in from one yard out to give Norwich the lead for good. Hotaling finished with 155 yards rushing on 20 carries to lead the 295-yard rushing day for Norwich.
Alex Williams, filling in for Hotaling in the third quarter, burst 39 yards for the capping score, and he finished with 55 yards rushing in the game. “We were taking the two hole like we did against Oneonta, and that’s where Christian and Alex were getting all of their yards today,” Martinson said. “I didn’t appear, and I could be wrong, that Chenango Valley made an adjustment to stop that. Our kids were making great blocks, and Christian was running today like a man possessed.”
Norwich’s defense was equally possessed limiting a potent CV offense to 163 total yards. Paddy Law and Andrew Austin had interceptions, Mike Reilly forced a fumble that was recovered by Tyler Hoffman, and Keegan Levesque, Hoffman, Reilly, and Teddy Jerome had sacks or tackles for a loss.
In winning five straight games, Norwich has found a way to blend its core seniors with four sophomores and one freshman starter.
“A lot of our seniors played as sophomores when they started, and they weren’t leaders then, they were role players,” Martinson said. “Between weeks three and eight, they’ve become better leaders on and off the field. That’s truly made a difference.”
Norwich will play Johnson City on Friday in the first round of the Class B playoffs. The Wildcats beat the Tornado 23-7 in a contest where NHS suffered key injuries, and gave up 13 points on drives of less than 10 yards.
“In order to play well in the playoffs, we needed to play well in this game,” Martinson said. “We’re a different team now. To win five games in a row says a lot about this team.”
Score by quarters
NHS 7 7 7 0–21
CVa. 0 7 0 0–7
Scoring summary
First quarter
N: Christian Hotaling 6 run (Favaloro kick)
Second quarter
CV: Cameron Fedish 15 pass from Ricky Ruffo (C. Mahoney kick)
N: Hotaling 1 run (Favaloro kick)
Third quarter
N: Alex Williams 39 run (Favaloro kick)
Team Summary
N CV
First downs 12 9
Rushes-yds 53-295 23-54
Passing yds 0 110
Comp-att-int 0-3-1 11-20-2
Punts-avg 2-39.0 3-31.0
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties-yds 5-30 3-25
Individual statistics
Rushing: (N) Christian Hotaling, 20-155; Alex Williams, 5-55; Mackay Hotaling, 11-34; Paddy Law, 5-17; Casey Edwards, 2-16; Seth Thomsen, 5-12; Nate Wilbur, 1-5; Damien Marvin, 1-4; Tyler Hoffman, 1-2; Josh Favaloro, 1-2; Morgan Crawford, 1-(-5). (CV) Devin Carroll, 6-47; Cam Moochly, 7-13; Matt Wolford, 2-9; Ricky Ruffo, 8-(-15).
Passing: (N) Seth Thomsen, 0-3-1, 0 yards; (CV) Ricky Ruffo, 11-20-2, 110 yards, TD.
Receiving: (CV) Cam Fedish, 6-57; Rocky Dinga, 3-30; C. Moochly, 1-16; D. Carroll, 1-7.
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