NORWICH

NORWICH – The names and the faces change, but the goals never do for the Norwich football team.
In his two years at the helm as head coach, John Martinson has guided the Purple Tornado to a pair of playoff appearances. In 2009 he won a division title, and last year, a runner-up divisional finish was good enough to earn a wild-card bid. Through two campaigns, Martinson sports an even .500 record (9-9), but he is less concerned with overall wins and losses versus the wins and losses against divisional opponents. In Martinson’s tenure, Norwich is an impressive 7-1 against division rivals, and that kind of success will always help a team reach its goals.
“We’d love to win every game we play, but our goal is one step at a time, and our focus is always on winning the division,” Martinson said.
Martinson cringes at the term “rebuilding,” but when you lose 20 seniors to graduation and return just two offensive starters, there is indeed a lot of new faces taking on key roles in an offensive system that relies heavily on intelligent linemen making the right line calls, excellent timing, and well-executed faking from all of the skill position players.
Fortunately, Martinson has added a wealth of experience to his coaching corps. Former varsity head coaches, Art Rigas and Mike Chrystie, have joined the Tornado staff. Too, former Norwich player Zach Stratton is assisting veteran line coach Tom Stoddard.
Rigas has served as a head coach at Oneonta and Unatego, winning a sectional championship for the latter team. He also coached and played for Walton, so he is well acquainted with the Norwich system. In Chrystie, Martinson has a four-year varsity head coach who, as an athlete, is Chenango County’s all-time leading rusher, passer, and scorer.
Rigas will run the Norwich defense and assist with coaching the linemen, while Chrystie will focus on special teams and backs. “It’s been difficult for me to give up the defense,” Martinson said, who was the defensive coordinator for Norwich for two decades under longtime head coach John Pluta. “I’m very pleased with the job Art is doing, and I tried to balance coaching the offense and defense the past two years. This (change) will give me more time to focus on the offense and do more of the other coaching responsibilities. I’m comfortable with the job Art is doing, and having two former head coaches on staff is really nice.”
We alluded to Norwich’s two returning starters. One is third-year starting quarterback Seth Thomsen, and the other is all-county lineman, Levi Lorimer. Lorimer is easily the largest lineman on the Norwich team, and probably the largest in all of the area. Martinson will lean heavily on Thomsen’s experience and play-making ability in integrating so many new faces to the starting lineup.
Thomsen’s potential running mates this season, Mackay Hotaling and Nate Ashton, are not with the team this year. Hotaling and his family moved to Florida, while Ashton opted to participate in cross country. “You can’t coach the guys that are not here, and you can’t worry about what you don’t have,” Martinson said. “This is a chance for other guys to step up.”
With no returning starters and just Patrick Taylor – a part-time offensive player last year – having any experience carrying the ball, the first scrimmage and first game will be the first opportunities for incoming backs Kyle Edwards, Jaden MacRabie, and Danny Carson to carry the ball. Grant Brightman, a starter last year on defense and an all-county and all-division player, will likely start at fullback, the key running back position for Norwich.
As it looks right now, Edwards or MacRabie will start at one running back position along side Brightman, and Taylor will move into the slotback position. Depth will be provided by Kegan Levesque at fullback, Michael Sutton at quarterback, and perhaps Jeremy Hamilton at one of the running back spots.
Joining Lorimer on the line are Ryan Hayes, a sophomore center, Cody Barnes, a sophmore guard; Darrel Humphrey or Levi Levesque at guard, with Tyler Tehan, Matt Wolpa, and Chandler Rivenburgh competiting for a tackle spot. At right end as the primary receiver is senior Ian Weaver. Martinson added that Hamilton may work into the offensive line mix as well as the skill positions.
Norwich starts its season on the road at Susquehanna Valley Saturday, then returns for its home opener the ensuing weekend against Owego in a rematch of last year’s first-round playoff game. Two tough non-league games against Sidney and Chenango Forks ensue before Norwich heads full throttle into the rest of its division schedule.
Well over half of the starting spots will be filled by players new to the varsity level, and Martinson is keeping six sophomores on his roster. Norwich is indeed short on varsity experience, but it is, as always, long on tradition.
“I’m a big believer in coaching the kids that you have in any given year,” Martinson said. “We will be young in positions, and we’ll have to see how those kids react to the speed and intensity of the game at this level. We had a great turnout in the weight room during the offseason, and I think we will be strong up front. The kids need to gain confidence, and the more confidence we have, we’ll be able run different plays and give other teams different looks. It will take some time to see how things play out.”

BAINBRIDGE-GUILFORD

BAINBRIDGE – The Class D teams in Section IV will have a better chance at making the playoffs this year. Actually winning enough games to qualify for the playoffs is not an easy task at all.
The number of Class D teams grew to 16 in the offseason, and a third division was added along with four more playoff teams than past years. In all, the three division champions will earn automatic playoff bids, and five other clubs will qualify based on their regular season victories and points accumulated for those wins. The points system is somewhat confusing, but Bainbridge-Guilford coach, Tim Mattingly, knows that if his team wins the games on its schedule, the “points” will take care of themselves.
“I don know that if you have two losses, it’s not the end of the world and you can still make the playoffs,” Mattingly said “I’m not sure what I think about (the new playoff system). We’ll see how it goes.”
If any team suffered more hard-luck losses that Mattingly’s Bobcats last season, please let the B-G mentor know. Realistically, the Bobcats were a play or two away from a 7-1 or 8-0 record.
* Walton beat B-G in week two with the winning score coming in the final 15 seconds.
* Two weeks later, Seton Catholic Central drove and scored the winning touchdown with 36 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
* Lastly, in week seven, a missed field goal in the final seconds went wide as Delhi preserved a two-point win over B-G.
“Those losses were all tough for us, and they were great games,” Mattingly said. “We felt we were right there all year, and right in the thick of things.”
The key to B-G’s attack all season was a formidable one-two punch at running back. As a senior last year, Dakota Vandermark set a new single-season school record for yards in a season finishing with 1,339. Vandermark’s running mate, Billy Holden, softened up defenses on the inside with his power running. Holden had 599 yards and 10 rushing scores for the season. Holden, a 6-foot-2, 225-pounder with excellent speed, figures to get the lion’s share of the carries in his senior season. “I think he will be the guy for us, and he came into the season in really good shape,” Mattingly said. “We’re counting on him, and he needs to be the workhorse on offense and defense. He led our team in tackles last year, so we expect a lot out of Billy.”
Holden is just one piece in the puzzle for Mattingly’s troops, and he isn’t the only returning player with substantial starting experience. Ryan Porter stared the first seven games last year at quarterback, but he is moving back to his more natural position, split end. Porter was the team’s leading receiver two years ago, and became the starting quarterback almost out of necessity.
Stepping into the starting QB role is junior Corbin Palmer. Palmer showed excellent poise last year as he saw significant playing time the final two weeks, and threw one TD pass in each of those games.
The rest of the returning experience comes primarily on the offensive line. Junior tight end Austin Bauerle is back. He had a half-dozen receptions last year, and will probably be more of a featured target this season. Also back are third-year lineman Austin Wheeler and right tackle Chris Parelli. Tyler Johnson, Tim Walts, Shane Curtin, and Dalton Johnson will occupy three of the remaining starting spots on the offensive line, and they present the opposition with good size averaging around 220 pounds across the board.
Along with Holden in the backfield are Tyler Ouimet at running back and Lucas Butcher at wingback. Those two offer a nice change of pace in contrast to Holden’s bulldozing, straight-ahead running style.
“We’re getting kids such as Porter, Holden and Wheeler to step up as leaders,” Mattingly said. “We feel we have good outside threats to throw the ball to, and we have Holden at fullback. I expect a lot of these guys, and these kids are more focused and into it.”
What lies ahead on the schedule are divisional dates against longtime rivals Walton, Delhi, Oxford, and Deposit-Hancock. Walton may be the front-runner, Delhi is always well coached, Deposit-Hancock should be much improved, and Oxford is somewhat of an unknown commodity with first-year head coach Ray Dayton implementing a new philosophy.
“I honestly believe that we have the toughest Class D division in the state,” Mattingly said. “We want to bring a physical brand of football to each and every game, and we hope to be in the playoff mix at the end.”

GREENE

GREENE – The days of Greene’s football program merely seeking respectability are a thing of the past. The Trojans have flown under the banner of success for six straight years under ninth-year head coach Tim Paske. So much so, a 5-4 record from a year ago was perceived by some as a bit of a setback.
“We talk about being a contender every year,” Paske said. “We’ve said it before: We want to put the most competitive team on the field that we can.”
The five wins a year ago could have easily been six or seven, and this year’s team is dotted by top returning players and a host of newcomers off an 8-1 junior varsity team that should put Greene in the playoff mix.
“The kids are really getting after it during the offseason, and that makes it easier in the fall,” Paske said.
Paske said the summer weightlifting program produced the largest numbers in his nine seasons at the helm. An average of 25 to 26 players hit the weight room, and with that, the Trojans have perhaps its biggest and strongest team ever. “In high school, from year to year, you get what you get,” Paske said. “This year, be could average 260 to 270 pounds across our offensive line.”
Behind that offensive line, Paske is blessed to have tremendous depth at all of the skill positions. The focus of that offense may likely be returning senior Keegan Cerwinski. As the starting quarterback last year, Cerwinski was the team’s second leading rusher finishing with over 600 yards. This season, Cerwinski was moved to starting running back giving way to sophomore signal-caller, Joe Beckwith. Joining those two in the backfield are returning starter Jeff Carlin, 2010 reserve back, Dan Treadwell, and incoming running backs Dan Dickman, Trevor Parrish, and Mike Beckwith.
At receiver are Lane Whittaker and combination receiver/back Brett Ramsey. In the receiver mix as well are Jeremy Flohr, Cole Browning, and Mike Washburn. “If we want to go into a spread look, we have a lot of skill guys that can make plays for us,” Paske said.
Perhaps the biggest change for Greene is a formation shift on offense. Former offensive coordinator, Jeff Paske, accepted an administrative position at Johnson City. Now running the offense is Oxford graduate Mike Curtis, who previously served as Harpursville’s head football coach. Curtis runs what is called the “Pistol,” a formation in which the quarterback accepts the hike from center three to four yards off the line of scrimmage. It’s a shortened shotgun formation with many options to run or throw the ball. “You have to adapt your offense to your personnel,” Paske said. “Mike likes it, and I like it, too. For our skill position players and our linemen, it’s a good fit. We plan to go with it at all levels of football. A lot of the things in the system are easy to teach.”
The success of the Pistol – and for any offense – will weigh heavily on the shoulders of the offensive linemen. Heading up that group is third-year starter, Chris Kehoe. Kehoe is moving from an outside blocking position to starting center. Junior Trevor Flohr returns at guard, and last year’s starting tight end, Isaiah Webb, moves inside to offensive tackle. From there, Garrett Huttleston, Ricky Carbone, Dan Haskell, an Justin Beers fit into the other positions at guard and tackle. Adding depth is monstrous lineman, Max Flanagan, who is 6-foot-6, 300 pounds. Along with Flanagan is quick and tenacious Kale Webb, who is just over 150 pounds. Those linemen who do not start on offense may see more time starting on the defensive side of the ball, Paske said. “Once we get our starting five on the offensive line, we want the backups on defense,” Paske said. “That way we can get some good looks with our scout team.”
The whispers from other coaches, is that this year’s Greene team may be one of its best ever. Paske is reticent to buy into those whispers because any preseason projections might overload his team with undeserved confidence. That said, the Greene mentor is excited as he has ever been.
“I’m really excited every season, but with 16-, 17-, and 18-year-olds, you never really know what you’ll get until the games start,” he said. “I like this group of kids, and they’ve really put all the time in during the offseason. It’s a fun group to coach, and what will really tell us about them is how they deal from adversity. We hope to learn from last year. It was a good lesson for our kids.”

OXFORD

OXFORD – Oxford was steeped in success from 1997 to 2005 appearing in six Section IV, Class D title games in nine years. Since 2005, the Blackhawks have had just one winning season (2006), and are mired in a four-year string of losing campaigns.
Four-year head coach, Mike Chrystie, elected to not return in 2011, and is now an assistant coach on Norwich’s varsity football team. Ray Dayton, who ran the Oxford defense the past two years, steps in as head coach for the 23-player-strong Blackhawks.
Dayton played on the offensive line for Harpursville, and marveled at the success of Oxford’s football team during the late ‘90s. Dayton also played collegiately at Alfred State and later for Division II Mansfield State in Pennsylvania.
After playing football for so long, admittedly he missed the game. Coaching was a natural step to stay involved in football, he said. His intention is to bring back the success that Oxford enjoyed for decades. “Tony Abbott created the monster, and John Curtis fed that monster,” Dayton said of Oxford’s football program between 1971 and 2006 and its respective coaches. “I have always thought Oxford was a great program.”
The past two seasons, Oxford seemed to make strides, and were in the playoff hunt as late as the final two games of the season in 2009 and 2010. Unfortunately, the Blackhawks were unable to pull off the big wins, and finished each season with 4-5 records. “We just had a lack of discipline at key times in games,” Dayton said. “This season, athletically, I think we should be as good as anyone we play. “The kids have to understand that there is more that just being a great athlete. (Discipline) will pull us through tough situations.”
Dayton is wielding a firm hand with his charges to set the tone in practice. “I don’t think you can be a ‘Mr. Rogers’ to start off, and then expect down the road, if things don’t go well, to be hard on the kids. You have to establish what you will and won’t expect, and there will be consequences for your actions. The kids can have freedom of choice, but not freedom of consequences. Sometimes young men don’t understand that, we’re trying to teach that point.”
Coming in as a head coach, Dayton will not have to change much, if anything, on the defensive side of the ball. It was his defensive system the past two years, and he’s teaching the same principles to this year’s group. On offense, the changes made were done to simplify things for all of his players from the terminology to each of the players’ keys.
The passing game willl emphasize more short, high percentage passes, and his running plays will bear a stark resemblance to the Washington Redskins’ offense of the early 1980s when John Riggins was the lone back behind the “Hogs” on the offensive line.
Occupying the John Riggins role will be third-year player Paul Wonka, who led the Blackhawks in rushing after his freshman and sophomore seasons. Wonka has packed on a lot of weight and muscle over last year, and the success he enjoys this year will go a long way in determining the effectiveness of Oxford’s offense. He’ll be joined by first-year starter Jody Smith at quarterback, who has shown good touch in the passing game.
Vying for spots at fullback are Shawn McKee and Joe Jackson. On the outside is third-year player Andrew Golden. Golden had a county-best 21 catches last year, and that number may increase with Oxford’s possession passing game. Providing speed at receiver is Ian Pierson, who may also get a few touches at running back. Steve Simpson is another possible target on the outside, and cut in the same mold as Pierson.
Dayton likes his tight ends to also be great blockers, so he moved Paul Martin from an offensive line position to tight end. Martin has good hands, but his primary job will be aiding the running game, particularly the off-tackle plays.
On the line is returning player Nick Wakefield, who will play center and make most of the line calls. At guard is Brett Hufnagle, while Spyros Spyratos is slated at another guard spot. Justin Harding, “a big, physical kid” according to Dayton is tabbed at left tackle, while the right tackle spot is up for grabs. Corey Olsen, Zach Angelina, and Corey Hadlock are all vying for a starting spot.
“We have some new guys on the line, but I don’t think that will be a problem,” Dayton said. “The things we do up front are so simple. We may not win the 1-on-1s, but we sure can win those 2-on-1s. We’ll try to get double-teams at the point of attack with a zone scheme. We feel that will give us a mechanical advantage.”
What isn’t lost on Dayton is that Oxford, no matter what its record, has always came to the field and played a physical brand of football. “One of Oxford’s strengths is that is is always physical,” Dayton said. “I like to describe football as a legal fist fight, and a lot of our guys will win that fight. We’ll have a lot of guys flying around the field and hit you in the mouth.”
That type of aggressive play may serve Oxford well with the newly-instituted Class D playoff arrangement. Due to the reclassification of many teams into Class D, the number of playoff teams has expanded from four to eight. Dayton definitely believes his team should be among the top eight. “I’d like to think we’ll be among the top eight teams,” Dayton said. “Our biggest goal is to get better every day. We’re looking for the relentless pursuit of continued improvement. If we do that, the wins will take care of themself.”

SHERBURNE-EARLVILLE

SHERBURNE – It’s hard to believe that the mystery of consistently winning games at Sherburne-Earlville has been such a difficult riddle to solve.
Through the first month of last season, it looked like the Marauders were headed toward another losing season. Then the light bulb clicked on – collectively – to signal a startling turaround.
“We found out that we had a good downhill runner (Greg DuVall),” said third-year head coach Mike Jasper. “We couldn’t get the offense clicking, and we were turning it over too much. It also didn’t help that we played our most difficult division games early in the season. Once we got Greg in there and moved the rest of the backfield around, things clicked, we scored more points, and we all gained confidence.”
The Marauders had not won more than five games in 11-man football since the late 1980s. After suffering through a 1-3 start, S-E closed the season on a five-win rampage in which it outscored the opposition by a combined 140-25, and didn’t give up more than one touchdown in any of those games. The 6-3 record was by far its best since joining Section III several years ago, yet those early-season division losses kept the Marauders out of the playoff mix.
“Last year was great, and we had a great group of guys that set the bar,” Jasper said. “We don’t want to fall backward, we want to raise the bar again. As good as we were last year, we still haven’t accomplished what we want to, and that’s make the playoffs. We want to make the Section III playoffs this year and compete for our division title. We haven’t done that here, and we still have a lot to prove.”
The Marauders established their identity as a power running team at exactly the time DuVall became the full-time starting tailback. After averaging just around 170 yards of offense per game the first four weeks, S-E piled up an average of 309 yards per game in the final five weeks – the majority of those coming on the ground.
Three of last year’s top four rushers went the way of graduation leaving senior Cory Musician (287 yards, 1 TD) as the top returning rusher. There isn’t a quarterback on the varsity roster who has taken a varsity snap under center, but last year’s top receivers, Cole Hodges and Austin Jasper (six catches apiece) are back in the fold. Jasper, a solid 202-pound freshman, was moved to running back leaving Hodges as the top returning wideout.
“Cory should give us some stability at fullback, and we have some other kids who we’ll work in,” Jasper said.
In addition to Austin Jasper, burly freshman Garrett DuVall is expected to see a lot of time in the backfield. DuVall already displayed his varsity capability in the opening scrimmage last weekend. Chris Marshall and Devven Ferris add a speedy element to the backfield, and each could catch his share of passes out of the backfield.
At quarterback, senior Randy Briggs and junior Matt Smith are competing for time. Briggs was a defensive starter a year ago, and may have the early upper hand. Smith, though, had a fine season quarterbacking the JV, and may see plenty of time in the huddle, too.
Leading a strong corps of linemen is 2010 all-league and all-county guard, senior Cody Santiago. John Kelly a returning tackle, is the other incumbent player on the O-line. Vying for starting spots are junior Tom Cleveland at tackle, Jesse Quinn at guard, and Adam Alishhauskas at center. Battling for the other starting tackle spot are Brennan Bennett and Zach Cook.
Hodges, a proven commodity at receiver, will have complementary support from junior Justin Holmquist and sophomore Julienne Alshheimer. Alshheimer showed his receiving prowess catching a TD pass in the scrimmage.
While the offense came on last season in the second half, the defense was consistently good save the opening-game loss to Canastota. Jasper did not implement fancy schemes, instead sticking to the fundamentals and drilling consistently in practice. “The kids played their positions the way they were supposed to, and our biggest demand is for kids to do their job,” Jasper said. “We don’t want kids to try and do too much. Just trust the guy next to you. They started to do that last year, the confidence grew, and we had fewer problems and breakdowns.”
Defenses are usually a little ahead of the offenses, and it is Jasper’s hope that his team will progress quickly. “We’ll be tested right out of the gate against Franfort-Schuyler,” Jasper said. “From that first game, we’ll see who will make the leap to varsity the quickest. We have the athleticism to be successful and good numbers. What we don’t have is varsity game experience in some key positions, that will be our true test. We need to transfer the way we practice to the games, and sometimes that has been a problem in the past. Physically, we can be a pretty good team.”

UV-EDMESTON

NEW BERLIN – Less than two months ago, Unadilla Valley-Edmeston didn’t know if it would have Edmeston’s students participating on the team. The Storm was also without a head football coach.
A local fundraising effort allowed the Edmeston kids to join Unadilla Valley for this season, and UV-E found its head coach in Brian Banks, who served as an assistant under Stan Foulds a season ago.
Banks is the third head coach in as many years for the team, and he while he is short on coaching experience, he is long on playing experience. Banks was part of the Walton powerhouse teams of the late 1990s, and then he continued to play on the college level and also semi-pro football. “I played for three awesome coaches, and and through everything, I’ve taking little bits and pieces from every one of them,” Banks said.
In Foulds’ one-year tenure, he brought back respectability to a program that had failed to win a game over the previous two seasons. UV-E was in playoff contention in Section IV’s Class C divisional play until the final two weeks of the season. It sprung a huge upset midway through the campaign beating Greene for the first time in program history, and improved offensively and defensively across the board.
Still, the Storm dropped their last three games, and extended the string of losing seasons to six in a row. It won’t be easy to stop that trend with teams such as Chenango Forks, Sidney, Greene, and Unatego on the league docket. All four teams have either won Section IV titles or reached the Section IV Class C finals over the past four years. “It’s a brutal division,” Banks said. “But we know that at any time, no matter how good you are, you can have a bad day. If we can find the weakness, any team can fold.”
Banks wasn’t officially appointed to the head coaching post at UV-E until the middle of the July. The consequence is that he was unable to insert any offseason conditioning and weight training programs of his choosing. Yet, Banks was able to oversee UV-E’s participation in the 7-on-7 summer leagues that focus mostly on the passing game. “We held our own there (in 7-on-7) against some very good teams,” Banks said. “I think we can be competitive.”
The uncertainty of Edmeston’s participation in football led to a key loss, Zak Ruffles. Ruffles was the team’s kicker and all-around running back/receiver a season ago. He decided to move to Edmeston’s typically successful soccer program.
That loss, though, does not put UV-E’s team any more behind the eight ball than it already was, Banks said. “I had some kids come to me who wanted to train in the offseason, but a lot of these kids are farming and are already strong. I also had some kids on the track team, and they’ve carried their workouts through the summer.”
With so little time to prepare for the season, Banks, for now, plans on keeping most of Foulds’ offensive and defensive systems in place. Leading the way for the second straight year is returning quarterback Brandon Miles. MIles threw for six TDs a season ago, and rushed for three more. Kody Homann and Jutin Hofer, who were receivers a year ago, move into the running back spots. Homann caught a team-high 13 balls, and possesses a ton of football savvy, Banks said. Hofer saw few touches last year on offense, but is an explosive runner with big-play capability.
At receiver and tight end are Kurt Haycook and Travis Conklin. Banks compares Conklin to the NFL’s Jeremy Shockey – a tall and fast tight end with plenty of enthusiasm.
Across the offensive line, Banks benefits from plenty of veteran experience combined with able newcomers. Teedy Rous is back at guard as is Alex Avolio and Eric Voorhis. Also in the mix for starting spots are Thomas Myers, Dylan Aikins, and David Anderson. The majority of this year’s offensive line will have time to jell as most will return next year as well.
In fact, most of this year’s team will return next year, Banks said. Only four players on the 2011 UV-Edmeston roster are seniors. And many of this year’s players have had the taste of winning on the lower levels. Having a coach stay in the long term will go a long way in producing a consistent winning program.
“Unfortunately, the kids on this team are used to switching coaches,” Banks said. “I think, being a younger guy, when I say something, the kids eat it up. I don’t plan on going anywhere, and I’m planning to stay with this team as long as a I can.”