Norwich eliminated from postseason
OWEGO – Owego Free Academy had its way with Norwich in almost every way possible. With the exception of a special teams touchdown, Norwich had few bright spots in a 32-6 Class B playoff loss to the Indians Friday night.
Owego rushed for 326 yards and finished with 440 yards of total offense against a Norwich team that parlayed a stingy defense into a second straight postseason appearance. “They did a nice job of play calling, and we didn’t expect that type of passing game,” said Norwich second-year coach John Martinson. “They had us going outside and inside as well as the deep ball. They made us defend the whole field, and they are an extremely physical team. They executed tremendously, my hat goes off to them.”
Owego didn’t truly assert full command of the game until the third period when it put three touchdowns on the board to raise its lead to four scores.
After the third-quarter kickoff put Owego at the 41, leading rusher Mark Terenzi dashed around the left end for a 40-yard gain to the Norwich 19. Two plays later, quarterback Scott Larrabee threw one of his three TD passes lofting a 10-yard score to Mark Merritt. Larrabee hit David Bensley on a slant for the two-point conversion and a 20-0 lead.
Norwich’s lone points came next when senior Morgan Crawford broke through his team’s blocking wedge, and raced 84 yards down the left sideline. The blocked extra point had Norwich within 14 points.
Owego needed just seven plays to answer that score marching 74 yards. Sophomore Dylan Angulus had a 24-yard run, Terenzi added a 39-yard scamper to the one, and Terenzi scored from a yard out.
Norwich punted it back to Owego on its next offensive sequence. The Indians, again in short order, put six more points on the board. On the sixth play of a 75-yard drive, the strong-armed Larrabee hit Bensley on a 52-yard bomb. The 32-6 lead proved insurmountable.
“I don’t know if we ever adjusted to their physical play,” Martinson said. “They blocked the edges, got to the corner and had some big runs. When we played that, it gave them holes up the middle. They put a lot of pressure on our defense, and when you only have (five) first downs, you’re giving them opportunities to score. They obviously took advantage of that.”
Norwich had possession of the ball to start the game, moved for a first down into Owego territory, but a SethThomsen pass on third down was intercepted by Bensley at the 25.
Angulus had a 45-yard run to the Norwich 12 to spark the ensuing drive, and on the next play, Larrabee threw a 12-yard scoring pass to Bensley. It was that type of aggressive play calling that keyed the Owego offense.
“Norwich is so good defensively, and they showed that playing hard the whole game,” said Owego coach Steve Virkler. “We knew we could not be as predictable (on offense) as we have been this season.”
Norwich’s defense appeared to make a key stop on Owego’s second possession. Faced with a fourth-and-six from its 48, Indians punter Zach House took the snap, and found receiver Gage Sodan on a 22-yard first-down play. It extended a 70-yard drive that was finished off early in the second quarter on Dylan Knapp’s one-yard run.
“That was a great call on their part,” Martinson said. “I thought we would get to the punter, but it was almost as if the play was in slow motion. That caught us off guard, and even though it was still early in the game, it was a huge momentum swing.”
Norwich’s best drive of the game occurred late in the first half when it moved for three first downs, and reached the Owego 28. A fourth-down run by senior back Josh Favaloro was stopped for a loss to end the excursion.
Norwich totaled a season-low 82 yards of offense, and finishes the season with a 4-5 record.
Score by quarters
Nor. 0 0 6 0–6
Owe. 6 6 20 0–32
Scoring Summary
First quarter
O: Scott Larrabee 12 pass to David Bensley (kick failed)
Second quarter
O: Derek Knapp 1 run (pass failed)
Third quarter
O: Larrabee 10 pass to Mark Merritt (Larrabee pass to Bensley)
N: Morgan Crawford 84 kickoff return (kick failed)
O: Joe Terenzi 1 run (kick failed)
O: Larrabee 52 pass to Bensley (run failed)
Team Summary
N O
First downs 5 19
Rushes-yds 25-62 45-326
Passing yds 20 114
Comp-att-int 3-12-3 7-11-0
Punts-avg 4-34.0 2-34.0
Penalties-yds 1-5 5-40
Fumbles-lost 0-0 4-2
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (N) Mackay Hotaling, 4-8, Josh Favaloro, 3-9; Nick McCullough, 4-16,Tyler Hoffman, 5-19, Seth Thomsen, 5- (-2); Patrick Taylor, 2-6; Morgan Cleveland, 2-6. (25-62) (O) Joe Terenzi, 10-100, Dan Baileys, 8-45; Dylan Angulus, 7-81; Derek Knapp, 8-54; Scott Larrabee, 3-17, Gage Sodan, 2-18; Craig Luffman, 1-3; Matt McDougal, 1-6; Eddie Menendez, 3-8; Zach House, 2-(-6). (45-326)
Passing: (O) Scott Larrabee, 6-10-0, 92 yds 3 TDs, Zach House, 1-1-0, 22 yds. (N) Seth Thomsen, 3-9-2, 20 yds, Nate Ashton, 0-2-1 0 yds, Josh Whaley, 0-1-0, 0 yds.
Receiving: (N) Jon Foulds, 2-15, Tyler Hoffman, 1-5. (O) David Bensley, 3-71, Mike Ross, 1-3; Gage Sodan, 1-22; Mark Merritt, 1-10; Dan Baileys, 1-8.
Owego rushed for 326 yards and finished with 440 yards of total offense against a Norwich team that parlayed a stingy defense into a second straight postseason appearance. “They did a nice job of play calling, and we didn’t expect that type of passing game,” said Norwich second-year coach John Martinson. “They had us going outside and inside as well as the deep ball. They made us defend the whole field, and they are an extremely physical team. They executed tremendously, my hat goes off to them.”
Owego didn’t truly assert full command of the game until the third period when it put three touchdowns on the board to raise its lead to four scores.
After the third-quarter kickoff put Owego at the 41, leading rusher Mark Terenzi dashed around the left end for a 40-yard gain to the Norwich 19. Two plays later, quarterback Scott Larrabee threw one of his three TD passes lofting a 10-yard score to Mark Merritt. Larrabee hit David Bensley on a slant for the two-point conversion and a 20-0 lead.
Norwich’s lone points came next when senior Morgan Crawford broke through his team’s blocking wedge, and raced 84 yards down the left sideline. The blocked extra point had Norwich within 14 points.
Owego needed just seven plays to answer that score marching 74 yards. Sophomore Dylan Angulus had a 24-yard run, Terenzi added a 39-yard scamper to the one, and Terenzi scored from a yard out.
Norwich punted it back to Owego on its next offensive sequence. The Indians, again in short order, put six more points on the board. On the sixth play of a 75-yard drive, the strong-armed Larrabee hit Bensley on a 52-yard bomb. The 32-6 lead proved insurmountable.
“I don’t know if we ever adjusted to their physical play,” Martinson said. “They blocked the edges, got to the corner and had some big runs. When we played that, it gave them holes up the middle. They put a lot of pressure on our defense, and when you only have (five) first downs, you’re giving them opportunities to score. They obviously took advantage of that.”
Norwich had possession of the ball to start the game, moved for a first down into Owego territory, but a SethThomsen pass on third down was intercepted by Bensley at the 25.
Angulus had a 45-yard run to the Norwich 12 to spark the ensuing drive, and on the next play, Larrabee threw a 12-yard scoring pass to Bensley. It was that type of aggressive play calling that keyed the Owego offense.
“Norwich is so good defensively, and they showed that playing hard the whole game,” said Owego coach Steve Virkler. “We knew we could not be as predictable (on offense) as we have been this season.”
Norwich’s defense appeared to make a key stop on Owego’s second possession. Faced with a fourth-and-six from its 48, Indians punter Zach House took the snap, and found receiver Gage Sodan on a 22-yard first-down play. It extended a 70-yard drive that was finished off early in the second quarter on Dylan Knapp’s one-yard run.
“That was a great call on their part,” Martinson said. “I thought we would get to the punter, but it was almost as if the play was in slow motion. That caught us off guard, and even though it was still early in the game, it was a huge momentum swing.”
Norwich’s best drive of the game occurred late in the first half when it moved for three first downs, and reached the Owego 28. A fourth-down run by senior back Josh Favaloro was stopped for a loss to end the excursion.
Norwich totaled a season-low 82 yards of offense, and finishes the season with a 4-5 record.
Score by quarters
Nor. 0 0 6 0–6
Owe. 6 6 20 0–32
Scoring Summary
First quarter
O: Scott Larrabee 12 pass to David Bensley (kick failed)
Second quarter
O: Derek Knapp 1 run (pass failed)
Third quarter
O: Larrabee 10 pass to Mark Merritt (Larrabee pass to Bensley)
N: Morgan Crawford 84 kickoff return (kick failed)
O: Joe Terenzi 1 run (kick failed)
O: Larrabee 52 pass to Bensley (run failed)
Team Summary
N O
First downs 5 19
Rushes-yds 25-62 45-326
Passing yds 20 114
Comp-att-int 3-12-3 7-11-0
Punts-avg 4-34.0 2-34.0
Penalties-yds 1-5 5-40
Fumbles-lost 0-0 4-2
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (N) Mackay Hotaling, 4-8, Josh Favaloro, 3-9; Nick McCullough, 4-16,Tyler Hoffman, 5-19, Seth Thomsen, 5- (-2); Patrick Taylor, 2-6; Morgan Cleveland, 2-6. (25-62) (O) Joe Terenzi, 10-100, Dan Baileys, 8-45; Dylan Angulus, 7-81; Derek Knapp, 8-54; Scott Larrabee, 3-17, Gage Sodan, 2-18; Craig Luffman, 1-3; Matt McDougal, 1-6; Eddie Menendez, 3-8; Zach House, 2-(-6). (45-326)
Passing: (O) Scott Larrabee, 6-10-0, 92 yds 3 TDs, Zach House, 1-1-0, 22 yds. (N) Seth Thomsen, 3-9-2, 20 yds, Nate Ashton, 0-2-1 0 yds, Josh Whaley, 0-1-0, 0 yds.
Receiving: (N) Jon Foulds, 2-15, Tyler Hoffman, 1-5. (O) David Bensley, 3-71, Mike Ross, 1-3; Gage Sodan, 1-22; Mark Merritt, 1-10; Dan Baileys, 1-8.
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