Norwich halts Forks' dominance
NORWICH – Chenango Forks’ long reign of dominance over the Norwich football program ended Friday night on rain-soaked Ulrichs Field.
The Purple Tornado forced four turnovers and held Forks’ vaunted running game to just 118 yards in a 20-7 victory.
It was Norwich’s first win over Chenango Forks since the 1999 season (a 40-14 win), the last time Norwich captured a Section IV football championship. “We told our entire team that nobody is giving you a chance (to win) except the guys in here wearing purple,” said Norwich third-year head coach John Martinson. “When you read in the papers that we haven’t beaten them in 12 years and the previous win to that was 1993, that’s a long time. Forks has a tremendous program, and we have the utmost respect for their players and coaching staff.”
All week, the mantra for Norwich was play physical. Martinson said his team underwent intense practices in preparation for the Blue Devils, and the game plan was simple: Stop Blue Devils fullback, Lukas Aston. Aston finished with 43 yards on 16 carries, while also fumbling twice.
“All week, we worked on stopping number 43 (Aston),” Martinson said. “We felt if we could stop 43, we had a chance to beat them.”
Aston never really got on track, and his longest gain was just six yards. Forks had an opportunity to cash in on one of Norwich’s few mistakes, and it came in the opening sequence of play.
Forks’ Richard Faith kicked off short, and Norwich was unable to gain possession as the Blue Devils’ Joe Fassett jumped on the loose ball at the Norwich 25. After a first-down run by Aston to the Norwich 14, Forks coughed up the ball when Aston mishandled the handoff from Zach Jeske, and Norwich junior Grant Brightman made the recovery.
Each team exchanged punts, but Norwich gained the upperhand in the field position battle thanks to a 41-yard run by running back Kyle Edwards. Edwards was also responsible for a pinpoint 41-yard punt to the Chenango Forks six that ultimately led to Norwich’s first score.
After stopping the Blue Devils, Norwich set up shop on the Chenango Forks 32 following a Seth Thomsen 12-yard punt return. When three running plays gained just six yards, Norwich went to the air for a key first-down pass play as Thomsen connected with Pat Taylor on a 13-yard play. Brightman added a 13-yard rumble to the Forks 2, breaking multiple tackles, and Brightman polished off the drive on the next play.
Starting at its own 20 after Norwich kicker Cody Bradbury booted the ball into the endzone, Norwich stifled Chenango Forks on three plays. For the quarter, the Blue Devils did not gain a first down, and a 25-yard punt gave Norwich the ball 55 yards from the endzone.
Brightman and company began to find bigger holes in the Chenango Forks defense. rushing for 12 yards, and combined with a Blue Devils 15-yard face-mask penalty, Norwich was threatening again. Thomsen, operating out of the shotgun formation, again singled out Taylor for a 13-yard gain, a play that preceded Brightman’s powerful nine-yard TD run. Thomsen found Bradbury on the two-point conversion, and Norwich was in the unfamiliar – and welcomed position – of leading Chenango Forks by two touchdowns at halftime. “We struggled in all phases of the game,” said Chenango Forks head coach Dave Hogan. “It was one of those nights.”
Norwich had big plays out of its offense, defense, and special teams to build the 14-0 lead. It was a huge turnaround for NHS, especially after losing to Sidney 12-6 a week ago. “We knew we would not see the same team we saw on film last week against Sidney,” Hogan said. “Norwich is always tough up here, and we knew they would be ready to play. They were (tonight), clearly ready to play.”
Chenango Forks’ only sustained drive of the game occurred on the opening drive of the second half. Quarterback Zach Jeske directed his club on a 52-yard TD jaunt, the last play an eight-yard run to the left corner by Alec Fleicher. Jeske hurt Norwich with the option on the drive, but failed to make any more inroads the rest of the way.
“Their quarterback does a real nice job pulling the ball back on the option, and we were worried he would get a big play on us,” Martinson said. “But our kids were sound. We would bend and bend, and we had some big turnovers.”
Early in the fourth quarter, another Edwards punt pinned Chenango Forks at its 11-yard line. After going two-plus quarters without a mishandled exchange, the Blue Devils fumbled the ball away on their first play of the drive as NHS’s Alex Lippa recovered.
At that point, the Blue Devils made a costly mistake that ultimately put the game out of reach. Norwich was faced with a third-and-goal from the six-yard line. Martinson inserted Michael Sutton into the game as the quarterback, and Thomsen shifted to running back. Sutton threw a fade pass in the left corner to Taylor, who was interfered with on the play. The penalty gave Norwich a first down at the three, and another Forks penalty inched Norwich closer to the goal. Thomsen sneaked the ball over the goal from one yard out for Norwich’s final points.
“I’m just so proud of all of the guys, and they believed in themselves,” Martinson said. “I told the geam that we would get a win out of that Sidney loss somewhere down the road. We got that win tonight.”
Norwich finished with 191 yards rushing on the night. Brightman ran for 69 yards, and Edwards had 65.
Score by quarters
CForks 0 0 7 0–7
NHS 0 14 0 6–20
Scoring Summary
N: Grant Brightman 2 run (run failed)
N: Brightman 9 run (Seth Thomsen pass to Cody Bradbury)
CF: Alec Fleicher 8 run (Isaiah Zimmer kick)
N: Seth Thomsen 1 run (pass failed)
Team Summary
N CF
First downs 11 8
Rushes-yds 43-191 37-118
Passing yds 26 34
Comp-att-int 2-3-0 2-5-2
Punts-avg 4-35.3 4-29.3
Fumbles-lost 2-0 4-2
Penalties-yds 9-55 5-30
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (N) Grant Brightman, 16-69; Kyle Edwards, 13-65; Seth Thomsen, 9-38; Pat Taylor, 2-10; Kegan Levesque, 3-9. (CF) Lukas Aston, 16-43; Zach Jeske, 8-31; John Sweeney, 3-19; Jacob Green, 5-13; Alec Fleicher, 4-13; Ethan Cook, 1-(-1).
Passing: (N) Seth Thomsen, 2-3-0, 26 yds. (CF) Zach Jeske, 2-5-2, 34 yards.
Receiving: (N) Pat Taylor, 2-26, (CF) Jacob Green, 1-25; Kevin Pattwell, 1-9.
The Purple Tornado forced four turnovers and held Forks’ vaunted running game to just 118 yards in a 20-7 victory.
It was Norwich’s first win over Chenango Forks since the 1999 season (a 40-14 win), the last time Norwich captured a Section IV football championship. “We told our entire team that nobody is giving you a chance (to win) except the guys in here wearing purple,” said Norwich third-year head coach John Martinson. “When you read in the papers that we haven’t beaten them in 12 years and the previous win to that was 1993, that’s a long time. Forks has a tremendous program, and we have the utmost respect for their players and coaching staff.”
All week, the mantra for Norwich was play physical. Martinson said his team underwent intense practices in preparation for the Blue Devils, and the game plan was simple: Stop Blue Devils fullback, Lukas Aston. Aston finished with 43 yards on 16 carries, while also fumbling twice.
“All week, we worked on stopping number 43 (Aston),” Martinson said. “We felt if we could stop 43, we had a chance to beat them.”
Aston never really got on track, and his longest gain was just six yards. Forks had an opportunity to cash in on one of Norwich’s few mistakes, and it came in the opening sequence of play.
Forks’ Richard Faith kicked off short, and Norwich was unable to gain possession as the Blue Devils’ Joe Fassett jumped on the loose ball at the Norwich 25. After a first-down run by Aston to the Norwich 14, Forks coughed up the ball when Aston mishandled the handoff from Zach Jeske, and Norwich junior Grant Brightman made the recovery.
Each team exchanged punts, but Norwich gained the upperhand in the field position battle thanks to a 41-yard run by running back Kyle Edwards. Edwards was also responsible for a pinpoint 41-yard punt to the Chenango Forks six that ultimately led to Norwich’s first score.
After stopping the Blue Devils, Norwich set up shop on the Chenango Forks 32 following a Seth Thomsen 12-yard punt return. When three running plays gained just six yards, Norwich went to the air for a key first-down pass play as Thomsen connected with Pat Taylor on a 13-yard play. Brightman added a 13-yard rumble to the Forks 2, breaking multiple tackles, and Brightman polished off the drive on the next play.
Starting at its own 20 after Norwich kicker Cody Bradbury booted the ball into the endzone, Norwich stifled Chenango Forks on three plays. For the quarter, the Blue Devils did not gain a first down, and a 25-yard punt gave Norwich the ball 55 yards from the endzone.
Brightman and company began to find bigger holes in the Chenango Forks defense. rushing for 12 yards, and combined with a Blue Devils 15-yard face-mask penalty, Norwich was threatening again. Thomsen, operating out of the shotgun formation, again singled out Taylor for a 13-yard gain, a play that preceded Brightman’s powerful nine-yard TD run. Thomsen found Bradbury on the two-point conversion, and Norwich was in the unfamiliar – and welcomed position – of leading Chenango Forks by two touchdowns at halftime. “We struggled in all phases of the game,” said Chenango Forks head coach Dave Hogan. “It was one of those nights.”
Norwich had big plays out of its offense, defense, and special teams to build the 14-0 lead. It was a huge turnaround for NHS, especially after losing to Sidney 12-6 a week ago. “We knew we would not see the same team we saw on film last week against Sidney,” Hogan said. “Norwich is always tough up here, and we knew they would be ready to play. They were (tonight), clearly ready to play.”
Chenango Forks’ only sustained drive of the game occurred on the opening drive of the second half. Quarterback Zach Jeske directed his club on a 52-yard TD jaunt, the last play an eight-yard run to the left corner by Alec Fleicher. Jeske hurt Norwich with the option on the drive, but failed to make any more inroads the rest of the way.
“Their quarterback does a real nice job pulling the ball back on the option, and we were worried he would get a big play on us,” Martinson said. “But our kids were sound. We would bend and bend, and we had some big turnovers.”
Early in the fourth quarter, another Edwards punt pinned Chenango Forks at its 11-yard line. After going two-plus quarters without a mishandled exchange, the Blue Devils fumbled the ball away on their first play of the drive as NHS’s Alex Lippa recovered.
At that point, the Blue Devils made a costly mistake that ultimately put the game out of reach. Norwich was faced with a third-and-goal from the six-yard line. Martinson inserted Michael Sutton into the game as the quarterback, and Thomsen shifted to running back. Sutton threw a fade pass in the left corner to Taylor, who was interfered with on the play. The penalty gave Norwich a first down at the three, and another Forks penalty inched Norwich closer to the goal. Thomsen sneaked the ball over the goal from one yard out for Norwich’s final points.
“I’m just so proud of all of the guys, and they believed in themselves,” Martinson said. “I told the geam that we would get a win out of that Sidney loss somewhere down the road. We got that win tonight.”
Norwich finished with 191 yards rushing on the night. Brightman ran for 69 yards, and Edwards had 65.
Score by quarters
CForks 0 0 7 0–7
NHS 0 14 0 6–20
Scoring Summary
N: Grant Brightman 2 run (run failed)
N: Brightman 9 run (Seth Thomsen pass to Cody Bradbury)
CF: Alec Fleicher 8 run (Isaiah Zimmer kick)
N: Seth Thomsen 1 run (pass failed)
Team Summary
N CF
First downs 11 8
Rushes-yds 43-191 37-118
Passing yds 26 34
Comp-att-int 2-3-0 2-5-2
Punts-avg 4-35.3 4-29.3
Fumbles-lost 2-0 4-2
Penalties-yds 9-55 5-30
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (N) Grant Brightman, 16-69; Kyle Edwards, 13-65; Seth Thomsen, 9-38; Pat Taylor, 2-10; Kegan Levesque, 3-9. (CF) Lukas Aston, 16-43; Zach Jeske, 8-31; John Sweeney, 3-19; Jacob Green, 5-13; Alec Fleicher, 4-13; Ethan Cook, 1-(-1).
Passing: (N) Seth Thomsen, 2-3-0, 26 yds. (CF) Zach Jeske, 2-5-2, 34 yards.
Receiving: (N) Pat Taylor, 2-26, (CF) Jacob Green, 1-25; Kevin Pattwell, 1-9.
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