Mixed bag of results from opening week of football
Tim Paske of Greene reiterated the long-standing belief of all football coaches earlier this week: “From week one to week two is where you see the most improvement in your team.”
It was a mixed bag of success and failure for Chenango County’s six football teams last weekend. Three teams opened the season with wins, the other three with losses. Grading them out, not one of the coaches on any squad was completely satisfied with his team’s performance.
“We’re really trying to improve the execution of our basic offensive plays,” said Norwich coach John Martinson, whose club amassed 221 yards of offense in a 6-0 win over Whitney Point
Martinson said he has a number of wrinkles in his offense that he has yet to throw in, but those plays would be pointless without perfecting the staples of the Tornado’s offense.
Mike Chrystie’s team led 34-0 at the half against Newfield en route to a sound 41-16 whipping. The victory halted a two-year slide of back-to-back shutout losses to Greene. One of the scores came on the defensive side, and the final score could have been even more lopsided.
“We were able to move the ball pretty well, and I was pleased with the way we played – other than the penalties,” Chrystie said.
Oxford racked up a whopping 160 penalty yards on 16 infractions. Four of those penalties were personal fouls. “I don’t mind the physical penalties where we’re getting after it,” Chrystie said. “The nonsense personal fouls, those are things we can control.”
Sherburne-Earlville’s recent history of road woes continued at Canastota last Friday. The Marauders’ offense stalled time and again in the first half, then after getting the offense moving, the turnover bug kicked in. “I think we had maybe one first down in the first half,” said S-E second-year coach Mike Jasper. “We had too many three-and-outs. When you’re defense is on the field that much, it’s bound to eventually make a mistake.”
Jasper’s team accumulated much of its 144 rushing yards in the second half, half of those coming on a three-play scoring drive in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 13. After stopping Canastota, S-E was poised to make a further dent in that margin until a tipped ball and interception ended the momentum. “We did some good things in the second half, but we had too many miscues,” Jasper said. “You can’t have that many mistakes (four turnovers), and expect to be successful.”
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High school football on the radio this weekend: Friday – Walton at B-G, 6:45 p.m., WDLA, 92.1 FM; Oneonta at Sidney, 6:45 p.m., WCDO, 100.9 FM/1490 a.m. and WZOZ, 103.1. Saturday – Norwich at Chenango Forks, 1:20 p.m., WCHN, 970 AM; Harpursville at Delhi, 1:15 p.m., WCDO.
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Six games fill our football docket this weekend, many of which have division implications. Please read on for a look at each contest:
Norwich (1-0) at Chenango Forks (1-0), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
The last game Chenango Forks played in 2009, it didn’t score a point in a 21-0 Class C state semifinals loss to eventual state champion Southwestern. Many of the key offensive players from the Blue Devils return, among those are running backs Ryan and Tyler Lusht, Jimmy Miller, and Lukas Aston, and Forks erupted for 53 points in a 37-point romp over Windsor. Thirty-five of those points came in the first half as the typically stingy and opportunistic Forks defense helped set up short scoring drives. “To be honest, I was most impressed with their defense,” said Norwich coach John Martinson, who scouted the game. “They keep you out of the red zone, they win with special teams, and when they get up two touchdowns, it feels like 49 to nothing. They try to break your back on defense, and no matter what the situation is, we have to play to the whistle every down.”
While Forks was scoring five touchdowns in the first half, Norwich had none against Whitney Point, and its lone score in the third quarter was enough for a shutout victory. “Looking at the film with the kids, out of 53 plays, 16 of those we hurt ourselves,” Martinson said. “Most of those occurred near the red zone. Finishing drives will be the key to our success.”
Norwich has not beaten Chenango Forks since the 1999 season when the Tornado captured the Section IV, Class B title. Martinson is well aware of the drought, but has not made it a focus of his team’s game preparation. “Right now, it’s all about self-improvement and preparing for the division games,” Martinson said. “If we can’t take of the mistakes we made in our own house, we’re going to have trouble going to other people’s house and beating them.”
Oxford (1-0) at Seton Catholic Central (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m. at Binghamton Alumni Stadium
Seton Catholic Central favored a running attack when it played Oxford late last season, a game that the Blackhawks ground out a 13-7 win in the muck and mud of Blackhawks Stadium.
This year’s Saints present a whole new look in this Class D divisional game, said Oxford coach Mike Chrystie. “They’re in a spread offense most of the time, and they like to sling it all over,” the Oxford coach said.
The Saints threw the ball over 30 times in a 26-22 victory over Elmira Notre Dame. Quarterback Jake Daly runs an offense that will operate out of three- and four-receiver sets. Oxford has shifted its defensive scheme this week to account for all of the receivers, and the key, Chrystie said, will be containing the dangerous Daly. “He will scramble and he’s able to make plays on broken plays,” Chrystie said of Daly. “That’s probably the scariest thing.”
Oxford’s best asset may be a ball-control offense as it hopes to start league play with a victory. “We had a good preseason last year, then after losing to Greene, it took two weeks to recover,” Chrystie said. “Beating Newfield I think helped us mentally, and now the younger kids understand they can play at the varsity level.”
Walton (0-1) at Bainbridge-Guilford (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.
As Bainbridge-Guilford coach Tim Mattingly said summing up his team’s first division game: “We’re going right into the fire,” he said.
Mattingly knows the Warriors will be hyped to avenge an opening-game loss to Sidney, who rallied in the fourth quarter to pull out a 28-24 win. The winning play was a swing pass that covered 28 yards. “Walton made (Sidney) earn it, and they had the game until that last drive. Walton is that same, tough team. They run the same stuff out of different formations, and on defense, they just bring it.”
B-G needed a last-minute defensive touchdown to finally put the wraps on a 22-13 win over a much-improved UV-Edmeston team. The Bobcats were plagued by quarterback-center exchanges and fumbles. Those same issues cannot crop up this week against Walton. “We have to get better, and we’re seeing improvement in practice this week,” Mattingly. “You can’t give up downs like that, especially against a team like Walton.”
UV-Edmeston (0-1) at Deposit-Hancock (0-1), Friday, 7 p.m.
As individual schools, Deposit and Hancock won seven Section IV, Class D titles since 1994. Together, the Lumberjacks/Wildcats should pose a lot of trouble for opponents once the two units jell. “They’re a good club and they’re big,” said UV-E coach Stan Foulds, who watched D-H lose to Eldred, 20-18 last week. “They throw the ball and they run it. I think they run a similar offense to us.”
Foulds thought this was a good matchup for his improving Storm, who took Class D playoff team Bainbridge-Guilford deep into the game before losing by nine points. UV-E has a 19-game losing streak, but that streak could fall at any time. “UV-E will win some games this season,” said B-G coach Tim Mattingly earlier this week.
The Storm scored two offensive touchdowns in their opening game last week – one more than all of last season. Foulds mixed and matched his running backs getting production out of several players. He said his team will need to control the line of scrimmage and control the clock in this non-division road game.
“We have a confident group of kids, but not overconfident,” Foulds said. “They understand the game and they’re having fun.”
Sherburne-Earlville (0-1) at Sauquoit Valley (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.
Sherburne-Earlville enters week two of its three-week road trip to start the season at Sauquoit Valley tonight. SV defeated Adirondack 34-8 in its opening game, and it took advantage of Adirondack’s miscues to build the lead.
“They have a new coach this season, and you can sense their players have different attitudes,” said S-E coach Mike Jasper of SV. “They come out in a lot of formations, and they like to spread the ball around.”
Although Sauquoit runs a spread type of offense, it still favors the running game, and Jasper identified quarterback Mark Martin (no relation to the NASCAR driver) and running back Steve Szatko as Sauquoit’s primary offensive weapons. Martin had three TDs last week including a 92-yard run.
Sherburne-Earlville’s offense remains a work in progress. The second half of last week’s loss to Canastota showed the Marauders’ potential, although turnovers conspired against them. “We just need to gain some confidence on offense and get into a rhythm,” Jasper said. “We can’t feel our way into it. We have to control the clock and get some first downs early in the game.”
Greene (1-0) at Lansing (0-1), Friday, 7 p.m.
Greene lost its first opening-day game under head coach Tim Paske in five seasons when it lost to Oneonta, 40-27. The Trojans had a good day offensively compiling nearly 300 yards, but on defense, it allowed over 400 yards
“We feel that if we score 27 points, we’re going to win the majority of our games,” Paske said. “We were a little disappointed with the defense, but we played a real solid team.”
Lansing, meanwhile, dropped a 26-8 final to defending Section IV, Class D champion Groton, who appear nearly as good as last year. “I think (Lansing) should be in the hunt in the other Class C division,” Paske said. “They have a big fullback, and a quarterback who throws it well.”
Paske said this week, while still a non-league game, is important in the building process as his team gears up for its divisional schedule. “It’s a business trip, and the goal is to win,” Paske said. “We’ve worked really hard on our defensive fundamentals, especially tackling. We feel we’re improving, and we’ll find out on Friday how it works.”
It was a mixed bag of success and failure for Chenango County’s six football teams last weekend. Three teams opened the season with wins, the other three with losses. Grading them out, not one of the coaches on any squad was completely satisfied with his team’s performance.
“We’re really trying to improve the execution of our basic offensive plays,” said Norwich coach John Martinson, whose club amassed 221 yards of offense in a 6-0 win over Whitney Point
Martinson said he has a number of wrinkles in his offense that he has yet to throw in, but those plays would be pointless without perfecting the staples of the Tornado’s offense.
Mike Chrystie’s team led 34-0 at the half against Newfield en route to a sound 41-16 whipping. The victory halted a two-year slide of back-to-back shutout losses to Greene. One of the scores came on the defensive side, and the final score could have been even more lopsided.
“We were able to move the ball pretty well, and I was pleased with the way we played – other than the penalties,” Chrystie said.
Oxford racked up a whopping 160 penalty yards on 16 infractions. Four of those penalties were personal fouls. “I don’t mind the physical penalties where we’re getting after it,” Chrystie said. “The nonsense personal fouls, those are things we can control.”
Sherburne-Earlville’s recent history of road woes continued at Canastota last Friday. The Marauders’ offense stalled time and again in the first half, then after getting the offense moving, the turnover bug kicked in. “I think we had maybe one first down in the first half,” said S-E second-year coach Mike Jasper. “We had too many three-and-outs. When you’re defense is on the field that much, it’s bound to eventually make a mistake.”
Jasper’s team accumulated much of its 144 rushing yards in the second half, half of those coming on a three-play scoring drive in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 13. After stopping Canastota, S-E was poised to make a further dent in that margin until a tipped ball and interception ended the momentum. “We did some good things in the second half, but we had too many miscues,” Jasper said. “You can’t have that many mistakes (four turnovers), and expect to be successful.”
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High school football on the radio this weekend: Friday – Walton at B-G, 6:45 p.m., WDLA, 92.1 FM; Oneonta at Sidney, 6:45 p.m., WCDO, 100.9 FM/1490 a.m. and WZOZ, 103.1. Saturday – Norwich at Chenango Forks, 1:20 p.m., WCHN, 970 AM; Harpursville at Delhi, 1:15 p.m., WCDO.
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Six games fill our football docket this weekend, many of which have division implications. Please read on for a look at each contest:
Norwich (1-0) at Chenango Forks (1-0), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
The last game Chenango Forks played in 2009, it didn’t score a point in a 21-0 Class C state semifinals loss to eventual state champion Southwestern. Many of the key offensive players from the Blue Devils return, among those are running backs Ryan and Tyler Lusht, Jimmy Miller, and Lukas Aston, and Forks erupted for 53 points in a 37-point romp over Windsor. Thirty-five of those points came in the first half as the typically stingy and opportunistic Forks defense helped set up short scoring drives. “To be honest, I was most impressed with their defense,” said Norwich coach John Martinson, who scouted the game. “They keep you out of the red zone, they win with special teams, and when they get up two touchdowns, it feels like 49 to nothing. They try to break your back on defense, and no matter what the situation is, we have to play to the whistle every down.”
While Forks was scoring five touchdowns in the first half, Norwich had none against Whitney Point, and its lone score in the third quarter was enough for a shutout victory. “Looking at the film with the kids, out of 53 plays, 16 of those we hurt ourselves,” Martinson said. “Most of those occurred near the red zone. Finishing drives will be the key to our success.”
Norwich has not beaten Chenango Forks since the 1999 season when the Tornado captured the Section IV, Class B title. Martinson is well aware of the drought, but has not made it a focus of his team’s game preparation. “Right now, it’s all about self-improvement and preparing for the division games,” Martinson said. “If we can’t take of the mistakes we made in our own house, we’re going to have trouble going to other people’s house and beating them.”
Oxford (1-0) at Seton Catholic Central (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m. at Binghamton Alumni Stadium
Seton Catholic Central favored a running attack when it played Oxford late last season, a game that the Blackhawks ground out a 13-7 win in the muck and mud of Blackhawks Stadium.
This year’s Saints present a whole new look in this Class D divisional game, said Oxford coach Mike Chrystie. “They’re in a spread offense most of the time, and they like to sling it all over,” the Oxford coach said.
The Saints threw the ball over 30 times in a 26-22 victory over Elmira Notre Dame. Quarterback Jake Daly runs an offense that will operate out of three- and four-receiver sets. Oxford has shifted its defensive scheme this week to account for all of the receivers, and the key, Chrystie said, will be containing the dangerous Daly. “He will scramble and he’s able to make plays on broken plays,” Chrystie said of Daly. “That’s probably the scariest thing.”
Oxford’s best asset may be a ball-control offense as it hopes to start league play with a victory. “We had a good preseason last year, then after losing to Greene, it took two weeks to recover,” Chrystie said. “Beating Newfield I think helped us mentally, and now the younger kids understand they can play at the varsity level.”
Walton (0-1) at Bainbridge-Guilford (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.
As Bainbridge-Guilford coach Tim Mattingly said summing up his team’s first division game: “We’re going right into the fire,” he said.
Mattingly knows the Warriors will be hyped to avenge an opening-game loss to Sidney, who rallied in the fourth quarter to pull out a 28-24 win. The winning play was a swing pass that covered 28 yards. “Walton made (Sidney) earn it, and they had the game until that last drive. Walton is that same, tough team. They run the same stuff out of different formations, and on defense, they just bring it.”
B-G needed a last-minute defensive touchdown to finally put the wraps on a 22-13 win over a much-improved UV-Edmeston team. The Bobcats were plagued by quarterback-center exchanges and fumbles. Those same issues cannot crop up this week against Walton. “We have to get better, and we’re seeing improvement in practice this week,” Mattingly. “You can’t give up downs like that, especially against a team like Walton.”
UV-Edmeston (0-1) at Deposit-Hancock (0-1), Friday, 7 p.m.
As individual schools, Deposit and Hancock won seven Section IV, Class D titles since 1994. Together, the Lumberjacks/Wildcats should pose a lot of trouble for opponents once the two units jell. “They’re a good club and they’re big,” said UV-E coach Stan Foulds, who watched D-H lose to Eldred, 20-18 last week. “They throw the ball and they run it. I think they run a similar offense to us.”
Foulds thought this was a good matchup for his improving Storm, who took Class D playoff team Bainbridge-Guilford deep into the game before losing by nine points. UV-E has a 19-game losing streak, but that streak could fall at any time. “UV-E will win some games this season,” said B-G coach Tim Mattingly earlier this week.
The Storm scored two offensive touchdowns in their opening game last week – one more than all of last season. Foulds mixed and matched his running backs getting production out of several players. He said his team will need to control the line of scrimmage and control the clock in this non-division road game.
“We have a confident group of kids, but not overconfident,” Foulds said. “They understand the game and they’re having fun.”
Sherburne-Earlville (0-1) at Sauquoit Valley (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.
Sherburne-Earlville enters week two of its three-week road trip to start the season at Sauquoit Valley tonight. SV defeated Adirondack 34-8 in its opening game, and it took advantage of Adirondack’s miscues to build the lead.
“They have a new coach this season, and you can sense their players have different attitudes,” said S-E coach Mike Jasper of SV. “They come out in a lot of formations, and they like to spread the ball around.”
Although Sauquoit runs a spread type of offense, it still favors the running game, and Jasper identified quarterback Mark Martin (no relation to the NASCAR driver) and running back Steve Szatko as Sauquoit’s primary offensive weapons. Martin had three TDs last week including a 92-yard run.
Sherburne-Earlville’s offense remains a work in progress. The second half of last week’s loss to Canastota showed the Marauders’ potential, although turnovers conspired against them. “We just need to gain some confidence on offense and get into a rhythm,” Jasper said. “We can’t feel our way into it. We have to control the clock and get some first downs early in the game.”
Greene (1-0) at Lansing (0-1), Friday, 7 p.m.
Greene lost its first opening-day game under head coach Tim Paske in five seasons when it lost to Oneonta, 40-27. The Trojans had a good day offensively compiling nearly 300 yards, but on defense, it allowed over 400 yards
“We feel that if we score 27 points, we’re going to win the majority of our games,” Paske said. “We were a little disappointed with the defense, but we played a real solid team.”
Lansing, meanwhile, dropped a 26-8 final to defending Section IV, Class D champion Groton, who appear nearly as good as last year. “I think (Lansing) should be in the hunt in the other Class C division,” Paske said. “They have a big fullback, and a quarterback who throws it well.”
Paske said this week, while still a non-league game, is important in the building process as his team gears up for its divisional schedule. “It’s a business trip, and the goal is to win,” Paske said. “We’ve worked really hard on our defensive fundamentals, especially tackling. We feel we’re improving, and we’ll find out on Friday how it works.”
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