Grid preview: S-E poised for winning season
Until the final game of last season, Sherburne-Earlville had gone almost four entire seasons without earning a road victory. That streak ended with a season-ending victory over Morrisville-Eaton, and after a 2-2 spell in road games this season capped by a rout of Clinton, the Marauders have now won three of the last five contests on enemy turf. With two home clashes left in division play, the Marauders have an excellent opportunity to post their first winning season in five years.
“Last week was an important win in the league, and we needed to get some confidence going with our offense,” said second-year S-E mentor, Mike Jasper, who also noted the significance of the two road victories. “The biggest thing now is showing we can be consistent week to week.”
Defense has kept the Marauders in nearly every game with the exception an opening-day blowout loss to playoff-bound Canastota. Careless mistakes and bad breaks have played key roles in S-E’s other two losses – defeats that may keep S-E from qualifying for the playoffs.
“Because of the changes in Section III, we would need some help at this point to make the postseason,” Jasper said. “Right now, we are focusing on taking care of things that we control, and that means winning each contest one at a time.”
Tonight, S-E plays just its second home game of the season when it entertains Little Falls, who are 0-5 on the season with nary a close game.
Little Falls has given up 40 or more points four times, and its closest game was a 33-20 loss Herkimer. “One thing you notice about (Little Falls) is that they are big and physical up front,” Jasper said. “They also run a bunch of different offensive formations including several spread sets.”
S-E came into last week’s game with Clinton with just 25 points on the board in four games, while averaging well under 200 yards of offense a game. Versus Clinton, the Marauders more than doubled their average yardage racking up 365 total years, while putting up 35 points. Will Slentz, last year’s leading rusher in Chenango County, had his best game of the season totaling 134 yards. Greg DuVall and Corey Musician also had nice performances behind a reshuffled offensive line combining for 131 yards and two TDs.
“We did a great job in the trenches, and this week will be another challenge,” Jasper said. “It will be important for us to carry over the effort and intensity we had the last few weeks into this game and keep things clicking on both sides of the ball.”
Oxford (3-2) at Greene (3-2), Friday, 7 p.m.
The “Route 12 rivalry” resumes tonight with Greene dominating the recent matchups winning the last three meetings including back-to-back shutouts in 2008 and 2009. Each team has the same record in a rare midseason meeting between the two clubs, who typically face off in week one or two.
Oxford’s success has come when it has run the ball effectively. In its three wins, it has averaged well over 200 yards rushing a game, while in the losses, it failed to gain 100 yards in either contest.
Greene, meanwhile, has succeeded when it has held on to the ball. Running for yards – big yards – has remained a staple this season for the Trojans, who have just one division loss, and still eye a potential playoff spot in Class C. “I definitely think this will be a different game from the past couple of years,” said Greene coach Tim Paske. “They’re aggressive defensively and like to get after it.”
Oxford coach Mike Chrystie knows he is facing a team that has a different offensive makeup. In recent years, the Trojans were more balanced with their rushing and passing. This season, 86 percent of the Trojans’ yards have come out of the running game. “They want to run it with their inside traps, and stopping their run will be a big key,” Chrystie said. “We feel we have a good scouting report, and we have told our team it comes down to us. No matter who we play, it comes down to us executing.”
Johnson City (1-0, 3-2) at Norwich (1-1, 3-2), Friday, 7 p.m.
It’s only week six, but Norwich will put the finishing touches on its regular season home schedule, and will honor its seniors before tonight’s contest against the Wildcats.
In finishing 5-4 a season ago, Norwich dropped a pair of contests to JC including a 20-6 playoff loss to end the season. Johnson City went on to win the Section IV, Class B title a year ago before getting a quick dismissal from the playoffs in the state quarterfinals. “They’re still very physical and they have a powerful fullback, great quickness from their quarterback and tailbacks, and they return all-state receiver Troy Robinson,” said Norwich coach John Martinson. “We’ll need to take care of our responsibilities on their option, take great angles of pursuit, and play disciplined defense.”
Norwich’s offense stalled twice inside the red zone last week in a shutout loss to Chenango Valley. The Tornado offense has struggled to maintain consistency in all but the Susquehanna Valley win, and taking away the 33-6 win over the Sabers, the Norwich offense is averaging six points a game. “We need to finish drives,” Martinson said summing up his offense. “We need to sustain blocks, carry out fakes, and scoring early in the game is important.”
Norwich dropped last year’s two meetings with JC scoring 12 total points. In the most recent meeting before those two defeats, Norwich put up 42 points on the Wildcats in an opening-game win in 2007.
UV-Edmeston (3-2) at Unatego (0-5), Friday, 7 p.m.
UV-Edmeston is coming off a lopsided defeat to Sidney, and head coach Stan Foulds said his team licked its wounds, and has moved on. “We tried everything (against Sidney) and it just didn’t work. They’re just a great team,” Foulds said.
The Storm, despite the loss a week ago, have continued to improve their running attack, and despite the loss to the Warriors, racked up a season-high 214 yards rushing. Brett Gage had a season-high 118 yards, and fullback Will Westbrook grounded out a season-high 74 yards – all between the tackles. In Unatego, UV-E faces a winless team that had the early lead on Greene last week before falling 35-15. “We were in Unatego’s shoes the past couple of years, and no one wants to be that first team to lose to a winless club,” Foulds said. “We’ve spoken about that, and we think they’ll be hungry and play us hard. They can throw it and they can run it.”
Foulds said he will lean heavily on the improving ground game to control the contest. “We’re getting better and better every week running the ball,” Foulds said. “We’re consistent and the kids know the plays well.”
Deposit-Hancock (0-5) at Bainbridge-Guilford (3-2), Friday, 7 p.m.
Bainbridge-Guilford coach Tim Mattingly knows a number of scenarios need to play out in the Bobcats’ favor to qualify for the Class D playoffs. Number one on the to-do list to qualify for the postseason is to take care of the upcoming opposition, and Mattingly is reminding his charges to not look past the winless Eagles.
“We’ve seen them a couple of times. They’re pretty athletic and they have some size,” Mattingly said. “We know they’re winless, but they moved the ball against Oxford. We need to make sure we’re focused coming into the game. I think they’re a good enough team to surprise us.”
Not one team has completely shut down the Bobcats and their running game. In fact, B-G has racked up 357, 283, and 326 yards rushing over the past three games. Senior tailback Dakota Vandermark leads B-G – and Chenango County rushers – with 746 yards to go with seven touchdowns. Junior fullback Billy Holden provides a strong inside running presence, and has 382 yards.
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On The Radio This Weekend
Friday: Johnson City at Norwich, 6:50 p.m., WCHN, 970 AM; Chenango Forks at Sidney, 6:45 p.m., WCDO, 100.9 FM/1490 AM; Owego at Dryden, 6:45 p.m., WEBO, 107.9 FM/1330 AM; Windsor at Oneonta, 6:50 p.m., WZOZ, 103.1 FM.
Saturday: Seton Catholic Central at Harpursville, 1:15 p.m., WCDO, 100.9 FM/1490 AM; Delhi at Walton, 1:20 p.m. WDLA, 92.1 FM/1270 AM.
“Last week was an important win in the league, and we needed to get some confidence going with our offense,” said second-year S-E mentor, Mike Jasper, who also noted the significance of the two road victories. “The biggest thing now is showing we can be consistent week to week.”
Defense has kept the Marauders in nearly every game with the exception an opening-day blowout loss to playoff-bound Canastota. Careless mistakes and bad breaks have played key roles in S-E’s other two losses – defeats that may keep S-E from qualifying for the playoffs.
“Because of the changes in Section III, we would need some help at this point to make the postseason,” Jasper said. “Right now, we are focusing on taking care of things that we control, and that means winning each contest one at a time.”
Tonight, S-E plays just its second home game of the season when it entertains Little Falls, who are 0-5 on the season with nary a close game.
Little Falls has given up 40 or more points four times, and its closest game was a 33-20 loss Herkimer. “One thing you notice about (Little Falls) is that they are big and physical up front,” Jasper said. “They also run a bunch of different offensive formations including several spread sets.”
S-E came into last week’s game with Clinton with just 25 points on the board in four games, while averaging well under 200 yards of offense a game. Versus Clinton, the Marauders more than doubled their average yardage racking up 365 total years, while putting up 35 points. Will Slentz, last year’s leading rusher in Chenango County, had his best game of the season totaling 134 yards. Greg DuVall and Corey Musician also had nice performances behind a reshuffled offensive line combining for 131 yards and two TDs.
“We did a great job in the trenches, and this week will be another challenge,” Jasper said. “It will be important for us to carry over the effort and intensity we had the last few weeks into this game and keep things clicking on both sides of the ball.”
Oxford (3-2) at Greene (3-2), Friday, 7 p.m.
The “Route 12 rivalry” resumes tonight with Greene dominating the recent matchups winning the last three meetings including back-to-back shutouts in 2008 and 2009. Each team has the same record in a rare midseason meeting between the two clubs, who typically face off in week one or two.
Oxford’s success has come when it has run the ball effectively. In its three wins, it has averaged well over 200 yards rushing a game, while in the losses, it failed to gain 100 yards in either contest.
Greene, meanwhile, has succeeded when it has held on to the ball. Running for yards – big yards – has remained a staple this season for the Trojans, who have just one division loss, and still eye a potential playoff spot in Class C. “I definitely think this will be a different game from the past couple of years,” said Greene coach Tim Paske. “They’re aggressive defensively and like to get after it.”
Oxford coach Mike Chrystie knows he is facing a team that has a different offensive makeup. In recent years, the Trojans were more balanced with their rushing and passing. This season, 86 percent of the Trojans’ yards have come out of the running game. “They want to run it with their inside traps, and stopping their run will be a big key,” Chrystie said. “We feel we have a good scouting report, and we have told our team it comes down to us. No matter who we play, it comes down to us executing.”
Johnson City (1-0, 3-2) at Norwich (1-1, 3-2), Friday, 7 p.m.
It’s only week six, but Norwich will put the finishing touches on its regular season home schedule, and will honor its seniors before tonight’s contest against the Wildcats.
In finishing 5-4 a season ago, Norwich dropped a pair of contests to JC including a 20-6 playoff loss to end the season. Johnson City went on to win the Section IV, Class B title a year ago before getting a quick dismissal from the playoffs in the state quarterfinals. “They’re still very physical and they have a powerful fullback, great quickness from their quarterback and tailbacks, and they return all-state receiver Troy Robinson,” said Norwich coach John Martinson. “We’ll need to take care of our responsibilities on their option, take great angles of pursuit, and play disciplined defense.”
Norwich’s offense stalled twice inside the red zone last week in a shutout loss to Chenango Valley. The Tornado offense has struggled to maintain consistency in all but the Susquehanna Valley win, and taking away the 33-6 win over the Sabers, the Norwich offense is averaging six points a game. “We need to finish drives,” Martinson said summing up his offense. “We need to sustain blocks, carry out fakes, and scoring early in the game is important.”
Norwich dropped last year’s two meetings with JC scoring 12 total points. In the most recent meeting before those two defeats, Norwich put up 42 points on the Wildcats in an opening-game win in 2007.
UV-Edmeston (3-2) at Unatego (0-5), Friday, 7 p.m.
UV-Edmeston is coming off a lopsided defeat to Sidney, and head coach Stan Foulds said his team licked its wounds, and has moved on. “We tried everything (against Sidney) and it just didn’t work. They’re just a great team,” Foulds said.
The Storm, despite the loss a week ago, have continued to improve their running attack, and despite the loss to the Warriors, racked up a season-high 214 yards rushing. Brett Gage had a season-high 118 yards, and fullback Will Westbrook grounded out a season-high 74 yards – all between the tackles. In Unatego, UV-E faces a winless team that had the early lead on Greene last week before falling 35-15. “We were in Unatego’s shoes the past couple of years, and no one wants to be that first team to lose to a winless club,” Foulds said. “We’ve spoken about that, and we think they’ll be hungry and play us hard. They can throw it and they can run it.”
Foulds said he will lean heavily on the improving ground game to control the contest. “We’re getting better and better every week running the ball,” Foulds said. “We’re consistent and the kids know the plays well.”
Deposit-Hancock (0-5) at Bainbridge-Guilford (3-2), Friday, 7 p.m.
Bainbridge-Guilford coach Tim Mattingly knows a number of scenarios need to play out in the Bobcats’ favor to qualify for the Class D playoffs. Number one on the to-do list to qualify for the postseason is to take care of the upcoming opposition, and Mattingly is reminding his charges to not look past the winless Eagles.
“We’ve seen them a couple of times. They’re pretty athletic and they have some size,” Mattingly said. “We know they’re winless, but they moved the ball against Oxford. We need to make sure we’re focused coming into the game. I think they’re a good enough team to surprise us.”
Not one team has completely shut down the Bobcats and their running game. In fact, B-G has racked up 357, 283, and 326 yards rushing over the past three games. Senior tailback Dakota Vandermark leads B-G – and Chenango County rushers – with 746 yards to go with seven touchdowns. Junior fullback Billy Holden provides a strong inside running presence, and has 382 yards.
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On The Radio This Weekend
Friday: Johnson City at Norwich, 6:50 p.m., WCHN, 970 AM; Chenango Forks at Sidney, 6:45 p.m., WCDO, 100.9 FM/1490 AM; Owego at Dryden, 6:45 p.m., WEBO, 107.9 FM/1330 AM; Windsor at Oneonta, 6:50 p.m., WZOZ, 103.1 FM.
Saturday: Seton Catholic Central at Harpursville, 1:15 p.m., WCDO, 100.9 FM/1490 AM; Delhi at Walton, 1:20 p.m. WDLA, 92.1 FM/1270 AM.
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