Norwich blows through Windsor
ORWICH – The Purple Tornado blew through the Windsor defense in the first quarter with little impedance.
Norwich junior Kyle Edwards raced for 67 yards for a touchdown on the game’s first play from scrimmage, and the host team had four touchdowns on the board before the capacity crowd had sipped down its coffee and hot chocolate in a 36-14 victory Friday night on homecoming weekend.
It was an impressive division-opening win for Norwich (1-0, 3-1), who racked up 245 yards of offense in the first quarter on just 15 plays.
Edwards rushed for 108 yards and two scores, and senior quarterback Seth Thomsen had two scoring runs as well. Senior Patrick Taylor made it a 36-6 game early in the second quarter on a 27-yard TD jaunt. At that point, Norwich coach John Martinson began to liberally substitute his reserve players.
“We had a great scouting report on (Windsor) and we knew we could take advantage of the three hole (outside),” Martinson said. “We drew that first play up on the board, and I told the guys if they come out with confidence, we’ll execute. We executed the game plan to perfection, and that’s the key. It’s not about one guy, it’s about all of us.”
Edwards took a pitch from Thomsen, found a seam on the left side, stepped through one tackler’s attempt, and raced home for the opening score with just 14 seconds off the clock.
After holding Windsor on three plays, Thomsen returned the ensuing punt 24 yards just past midfield. A 15-yard Black Knights penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct on the punt return allowed the Tornado to advance to the 34. Again, Norwich lopped off yards in big chunks, and Edwards’ second score – a two-yarder in which he dove over the goal – put the host team up a pair of scores.
The avalanche of Norwich momentum continued on the next possession.
Windsor fumbled on third down at its 35, and Thomsen was on the spot for the recovery. Martinson, who had eschewed the passing game to that point, made the call to go up top on a second-and-one from the Windsor 27. Thomsen rolled out to his right, and seeing his receivers covered, weaved his way around and through the Windsor defense. He picked up several key blocks along the way, and completed a video game-esque touchdown straight out of Madden ‘11. Jaden MacRabie’s extra point upped the lead to 21-0 with 4:37 still left in the opening stanza. “Seth made some great decisions,” Martinson, who smiled at the thought of his senior’s winding route to the endzone. “Seth is a fantastic athlete, and he knows to take care of the ball.”
Thomsen humbly assessed his first scoring run. “It was a pass play, and I picked up a good block from Pat (Taylor),” the senior QB said. “The linemen did a nice job getting downfield and making some blocks.”
Windsor stalled near midfield on its third possession of the game punting to the NHS 30. On the first play, Thomsen pulled away from center and found a wide-open Ian Weaver. Weaver dashed down the left sideline before getting knocked out of bounds at the Windsor five for a 65-yard gain. On the next play, Thomsen kept the ball on a rush around the left side. He made one Windsor tackler miss on his way to his team’s fourth score of the quarter.
It was almost two years ago to the date that Martinson picked up his first varsity coaching win, an overtime victory over Windsor. This time around Martinson had a much easier game against the Black Knights than expected. “I’ve only been coaching two years and this is my third year. We expected a dogfight,” the NHS coach said. “To be honest, I have never felt more comfortable with an offense. It was nice. We played some great defense, and we’ve only given up one defensive touchdown in each game. Our defense is where it’s at.”
Windsor’s only touchdown until a late fourth-quarter drive came on an 83-yard kickoff return late in the first quarter by Isma’il Griffin. NHS quickly responded early in the second quarter when Taylor sprinted around the left end untouched for his team’s fifth TD in less than 14 minutes of action.
Windsor had less than 120 total yards of offense until its final touchdown drive, and 183 for the game. Norwich senior lineman Kegan Levesque had multiple tackles behind the line of scrimmage, Grant Brightman picked off a tipped pass in the second quarter, and Danny Carson had a sack of Windsor’s scrambling quarterback, Josh Cady in the third. Norwich has allowed under 100 yards rushing in three of its four games, and is giving up less than 100 yards rushing per game.
“We took another huge step forward today,” Martinson said. “It was nice that we were able to get every kid into the game on homecoming.”
Norwich hosts Oneonta (1-2) this Friday. The Yellowjackets lost to Greene on Saturday afternoon, 35-14.
JV notes: Norwich’s junior varsity improved to 3-1 on the season winning 35-13 over the Black Knights. Tristan Rifanburg threw a TD pass to Storm Cook and ran for another. Michael Oralls also rushed for a pair of scores, and Keegan Franklin added a TD rush. The NHS defense recorded a safety, and freshman kicker, Zan Stewart, converted three extra points.
Score by quarters
Win. 6 0 0 8–14
Nor. 28 8 0 0–36
Scoring Summary
N: Kyle Edwards 67 run (kick failed)
N: Edwards 2 run (Seth Thomsen pass to Mike Sutton)
N: Thomsen 27 run (Jaden MacRabie kick)
N: Thomsen 5 run (MacRabie kick)
W: Isma’il Griffin 83 kickoff return (pass failed)
N: Patrick Taylor 27 run (Thomsen run)
W: Josh Cady 2 pass to Marino Hogan (Cady pass to Luke Zakrajsek)
Summary
N W
First downs 11 11
Rushes-yds 35-277 31-93
Passing yds 65 90
Comp-att-int 1-5-0 11-24-1
Punts-avg 3-34.0 5-27.8
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1
Penalties-yds 5-40 5-40
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (N) Kyle Edwards, 9-108; Patrick Taylor, 4-62; Seth Thomsen, 7-42; Jaden MacRabie, 4-29; Mike Sutton, 3-17; Grant Brightman, 4-12; Kegan Levesque, 2-3; Danny Carson, 1-3; Jeremy Hamilton, 1-1. (W) Calvin Whalen, 12-31; Josh Cady, 6-18; Greg O’Malley, 4-16; Marino Hogan, 6-13; Isma’il Griffin, 3-5.
Passing: (N) Seth Thomsen, 1-3-0, 65 yds. M. Sutton, 0-2-0, 0 yds. (W) Josh Cady, 10-21-1, 89 yds, TD; Elliott Campbell, 1-3-0, 1 yd.
Receiving: (N) Ian Weaver, 1-65. (W) Jordan Wilder, 4-44; Marino Hogan, 5-27; Stephen Laryea, 1-12; Luke Zakrajsek, 1-7.
Norwich junior Kyle Edwards raced for 67 yards for a touchdown on the game’s first play from scrimmage, and the host team had four touchdowns on the board before the capacity crowd had sipped down its coffee and hot chocolate in a 36-14 victory Friday night on homecoming weekend.
It was an impressive division-opening win for Norwich (1-0, 3-1), who racked up 245 yards of offense in the first quarter on just 15 plays.
Edwards rushed for 108 yards and two scores, and senior quarterback Seth Thomsen had two scoring runs as well. Senior Patrick Taylor made it a 36-6 game early in the second quarter on a 27-yard TD jaunt. At that point, Norwich coach John Martinson began to liberally substitute his reserve players.
“We had a great scouting report on (Windsor) and we knew we could take advantage of the three hole (outside),” Martinson said. “We drew that first play up on the board, and I told the guys if they come out with confidence, we’ll execute. We executed the game plan to perfection, and that’s the key. It’s not about one guy, it’s about all of us.”
Edwards took a pitch from Thomsen, found a seam on the left side, stepped through one tackler’s attempt, and raced home for the opening score with just 14 seconds off the clock.
After holding Windsor on three plays, Thomsen returned the ensuing punt 24 yards just past midfield. A 15-yard Black Knights penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct on the punt return allowed the Tornado to advance to the 34. Again, Norwich lopped off yards in big chunks, and Edwards’ second score – a two-yarder in which he dove over the goal – put the host team up a pair of scores.
The avalanche of Norwich momentum continued on the next possession.
Windsor fumbled on third down at its 35, and Thomsen was on the spot for the recovery. Martinson, who had eschewed the passing game to that point, made the call to go up top on a second-and-one from the Windsor 27. Thomsen rolled out to his right, and seeing his receivers covered, weaved his way around and through the Windsor defense. He picked up several key blocks along the way, and completed a video game-esque touchdown straight out of Madden ‘11. Jaden MacRabie’s extra point upped the lead to 21-0 with 4:37 still left in the opening stanza. “Seth made some great decisions,” Martinson, who smiled at the thought of his senior’s winding route to the endzone. “Seth is a fantastic athlete, and he knows to take care of the ball.”
Thomsen humbly assessed his first scoring run. “It was a pass play, and I picked up a good block from Pat (Taylor),” the senior QB said. “The linemen did a nice job getting downfield and making some blocks.”
Windsor stalled near midfield on its third possession of the game punting to the NHS 30. On the first play, Thomsen pulled away from center and found a wide-open Ian Weaver. Weaver dashed down the left sideline before getting knocked out of bounds at the Windsor five for a 65-yard gain. On the next play, Thomsen kept the ball on a rush around the left side. He made one Windsor tackler miss on his way to his team’s fourth score of the quarter.
It was almost two years ago to the date that Martinson picked up his first varsity coaching win, an overtime victory over Windsor. This time around Martinson had a much easier game against the Black Knights than expected. “I’ve only been coaching two years and this is my third year. We expected a dogfight,” the NHS coach said. “To be honest, I have never felt more comfortable with an offense. It was nice. We played some great defense, and we’ve only given up one defensive touchdown in each game. Our defense is where it’s at.”
Windsor’s only touchdown until a late fourth-quarter drive came on an 83-yard kickoff return late in the first quarter by Isma’il Griffin. NHS quickly responded early in the second quarter when Taylor sprinted around the left end untouched for his team’s fifth TD in less than 14 minutes of action.
Windsor had less than 120 total yards of offense until its final touchdown drive, and 183 for the game. Norwich senior lineman Kegan Levesque had multiple tackles behind the line of scrimmage, Grant Brightman picked off a tipped pass in the second quarter, and Danny Carson had a sack of Windsor’s scrambling quarterback, Josh Cady in the third. Norwich has allowed under 100 yards rushing in three of its four games, and is giving up less than 100 yards rushing per game.
“We took another huge step forward today,” Martinson said. “It was nice that we were able to get every kid into the game on homecoming.”
Norwich hosts Oneonta (1-2) this Friday. The Yellowjackets lost to Greene on Saturday afternoon, 35-14.
JV notes: Norwich’s junior varsity improved to 3-1 on the season winning 35-13 over the Black Knights. Tristan Rifanburg threw a TD pass to Storm Cook and ran for another. Michael Oralls also rushed for a pair of scores, and Keegan Franklin added a TD rush. The NHS defense recorded a safety, and freshman kicker, Zan Stewart, converted three extra points.
Score by quarters
Win. 6 0 0 8–14
Nor. 28 8 0 0–36
Scoring Summary
N: Kyle Edwards 67 run (kick failed)
N: Edwards 2 run (Seth Thomsen pass to Mike Sutton)
N: Thomsen 27 run (Jaden MacRabie kick)
N: Thomsen 5 run (MacRabie kick)
W: Isma’il Griffin 83 kickoff return (pass failed)
N: Patrick Taylor 27 run (Thomsen run)
W: Josh Cady 2 pass to Marino Hogan (Cady pass to Luke Zakrajsek)
Summary
N W
First downs 11 11
Rushes-yds 35-277 31-93
Passing yds 65 90
Comp-att-int 1-5-0 11-24-1
Punts-avg 3-34.0 5-27.8
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1
Penalties-yds 5-40 5-40
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (N) Kyle Edwards, 9-108; Patrick Taylor, 4-62; Seth Thomsen, 7-42; Jaden MacRabie, 4-29; Mike Sutton, 3-17; Grant Brightman, 4-12; Kegan Levesque, 2-3; Danny Carson, 1-3; Jeremy Hamilton, 1-1. (W) Calvin Whalen, 12-31; Josh Cady, 6-18; Greg O’Malley, 4-16; Marino Hogan, 6-13; Isma’il Griffin, 3-5.
Passing: (N) Seth Thomsen, 1-3-0, 65 yds. M. Sutton, 0-2-0, 0 yds. (W) Josh Cady, 10-21-1, 89 yds, TD; Elliott Campbell, 1-3-0, 1 yd.
Receiving: (N) Ian Weaver, 1-65. (W) Jordan Wilder, 4-44; Marino Hogan, 5-27; Stephen Laryea, 1-12; Luke Zakrajsek, 1-7.
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