Norwich rolls past Oneonta
NORWICH – The juniors took center stage early, but it was the Norwich seniors – appropriately on senior recognition night – who stood in the limelight for the final act in what was an encore-worthy performance Friday evening against Oneonta.
Junior Grant Brightman rushed for a career-high 152 yards and Norwich’s opening touchdown, senior Seth Thomsen contributed two TD runs and a fourth-quarter TD pass to fellow senior Patrick Taylor, and the Tornado defense picked off four passes in a 34-16 win over the Yellowjackets.
The win moves Norwich to within another victory of a Section IV Division III title, and it was the ninth triumph in 10 division games under third-year head coach John Martinson.
“After (losing) the Sidney game, we made some changes, and they were great changes,” Martinson said. “This is what you want; you want your team peaking.”
Norwich’s offense failed to put any points on the board in the opening quarter, while Oneonta’s no-huddle attack used the passing game to drive for the opening points, a 20-yard Matt Robinson field goal.
Norwich gained the upper hand in the field position battle thanks to another pinpoint punt by junior Kyle Edwards. Edwards’ 43-yard kick pinned OHS inside its own one. Oneonta quarterback Brendan Lord completed a first-down pass to Jacob Mykytyn, but the drive appeared to stall at the 20 as the ‘Jackets faced a fourth-and-one. After calling a timeout, Oneonta surprisingly went for the first down, but stout running back Bryce Wooden was stuffed at the line of scrimmage by Brightman forcing a change of possession.
“I was shocked, to be honest, that they were going for it being up three-nothing,” Martinson said of the defensive stop. “I thought they would have gone for it earlier instead of kicking a field goal. That was a huge turning point to me, and our defense gets those six points.”
That defensive stop for the Norwich defense was just the momentum boost Norwich would need. Brightman capped the 20-yard drive bulling five yards for the first of three NHS TDs in the quarter. It began an onslaught in which the Norwich offense was explosive and unstoppable, in part due to a recommendation by Taylor to Martinson.
“Give Patrick Taylor credit for all of that (running success),” Martinson said. “Being the the unselfish kid that he is, Patrick recognized what Oneonta was doing with their linebackers, and he told me to make an adjustment. It took their linebacker right out of the play. We executed our fullback keep, and the rest is history. The line did a tremendous job, and that (adjustment) opened some stuff with Seth.”
Oneonta continued to pass the ball after Norwich gained the lead, and two first-down passes from Lord to Anthony Delgado moved the visitors to the Norwich 35. Oneonta tried for another big gainer on the next play when Lord lofted a high fading pass to the right sideline. Edwards, covering Delgado, turned just as the ball arrived and picked off the pass at the 18. It was the first of three Norwich interceptions in as many Oneonta drives.
Thanks to the adjustment suggested by Taylor, Brightman ripped off a 40-yard run, his longest scoot of the season. Two plays later, Brightman blew through the OHS defense for a 34-yard gainer. In just three plays, Norwich moved from its own 18 to the Oneonta seven. Thomsen, using a quick count, scored on a seven-yard QB sneak up the middle raising the lead to 13-3.
At this point, Lord began to find himself under relentless pressure for the NHS defensive front. He hit a pair of passes on the next possession, and scrambled away from pressure for a first-down run to the Oneonta 48. On the next play, he looked toward the right sideline, but was pressured by senior defensive lineman, Kegan Levesque into an ill-advised throw. It was an easy read for Edwards, who stepped in front of the pass and raced 53 yards untouched for Norwich’s third score of the period.
As time ticked away in the first half, Oneonta gained a first down on a Bryce Wooden run, and then a Lord to Delgado 16-yard pass play placed the ball on the Norwich 43 with 15 seconds left on the half. On the next drop back, Lord was hit by blitzing Norwich linebacker Jaden MacRabie as he released the throw. Brightman made a diving interception of the wobbling pass to end the Oneonta drive.
“We were kind of conservative with the pass rush because we were worried about Wooden running the ball,” Thomsen said after the game. “We knew they were slinging it around, so we kind of let (our linemen) go.”
Norwich padded the lead to 27-3 on its first drive of the third, again after an interception of Lord. Oneonta moved for two first downs using the running game exclusively, and Lord passed to Delgado for another 12-yard first down. On the next play, Oneonta went for six points, but Edwards and Taylor read the play perfectly in pass coverage, and Taylor pulled down the pick to halt another Oneonta drive.
Deep in its own end, a 64-yard scrambling run by Thomsen on a designed pass play flipped the field position. Thomsen, Brightman and Taylor moved the chains forward for another first down, and Thomsen’s one-yard sneak capped the 80-yard drive. Thomsen finished with 128 yards on the ground, his best effort this season.
Oneonta drove for its first touchdown late in the third and early in the fourth with a ground-based attack, but the contest was well at hand for Norwich at that point.
Taylor hauled in a seven-yard scoring pass from Thomsen with 5:39 left to end a 68-yard scoring drive, while Oneonta mixed the run and pass to account for its final points.
Oneonta threw the ball 29 times and ran it 31. Surprisingly, Wooden, the leading ball carrier for Oneonta, had just nine carries.
“We weren’t surprised Oneonta threw the ball so much because there hasn’t been consistency in their play-calling the first three games,”Martinson said. “We knew they had speed and we were prepared for their speed. We were hoping we wouldn’t get a heavy dose of Bryce, and we didn’t. He’s a heck of a back.”
Norwich (4-1) travels to Johnson City next Saturday for a non-division game, and plays at Chenango Valley in two weeks for the division title. “Things are looking pretty good,” Martinson said. “Our goal now is to get a division championship.”
JV notes: The Tornado junior varsity also improved to 4-1 winning at Oneonta Saturday, 35-6. NHS rushed for four touchdowns and passed for another. Tristan Rifanburg ran for two scores, while Frankie Garcia added TD jaunts. Rifanburg also threw a TD pass to Storm Cook. The Tornado juniors host Johnson City Friday at 7 p.m.
Score by quarters
OHS 3 0 0 13–16
NHS 0 19 8 7–34
Scoring Summary
First quarter
O: Matt Robinson 20 FG
Second quarter
N: Grant Brightman 5 run (Jaden MacRabie kick)
N: Seth Thomsen 7 run (kick failed)
N: Kyle Edwards 53 interception return (pass failed)
Third quarter
N: Thomsen 1 run (Thomsen pass to Pat Taylor)
Fourth quarter
O: Bryce Wooden 15 run (run failed)
N: Thomsen 7 pass to Pat Taylor (MacRabie kick)
O: Brendan Lord 1 run (Robinson kick)
Football Summary
N O
First downs 12 17
Rushes-yds 49-305 31-145
Pass yds 38 214
Comp-att-int 3-5-0 18-29-4
Punts-avg 1-43 0-0
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-1
Pen.-yds 6-35 3-39
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (N) Grant Brightman, 19-152; Seth Thomsen, 16-128; Pat Taylor, 5-17; Kyle Edwards, 7-11, Kegan Levesque, 1-1; Justin Galipeau, 1-(-4). (O) Bryce Wooden, 9-79, Zach Pidgeon, 3-21; Skylar Thompson, 3-19; Nick Giovagnioli, 5-12; Jacob Mykytyn, 2-7; Brendan Lord, 8-5, Scott Conrade, 1-(-1).
Passing: (N) Thomsen, 3-5-0, 38 yards, TD. (O) B. Lord, 18-29-4, 214 yards.
Receiving: (N) Kyle Edwards, 1-16, Ian Weaver, 1-15, Pat Taylor, 1-7. (O) Marcus Delgado, 9-125 Jacob Mykytyn, 3-42, Taharen Williams, 3-35; Jon Vega, 1-7, Scott Conrade, 1-6, S. Thompson, 1-(-1).
Junior Grant Brightman rushed for a career-high 152 yards and Norwich’s opening touchdown, senior Seth Thomsen contributed two TD runs and a fourth-quarter TD pass to fellow senior Patrick Taylor, and the Tornado defense picked off four passes in a 34-16 win over the Yellowjackets.
The win moves Norwich to within another victory of a Section IV Division III title, and it was the ninth triumph in 10 division games under third-year head coach John Martinson.
“After (losing) the Sidney game, we made some changes, and they were great changes,” Martinson said. “This is what you want; you want your team peaking.”
Norwich’s offense failed to put any points on the board in the opening quarter, while Oneonta’s no-huddle attack used the passing game to drive for the opening points, a 20-yard Matt Robinson field goal.
Norwich gained the upper hand in the field position battle thanks to another pinpoint punt by junior Kyle Edwards. Edwards’ 43-yard kick pinned OHS inside its own one. Oneonta quarterback Brendan Lord completed a first-down pass to Jacob Mykytyn, but the drive appeared to stall at the 20 as the ‘Jackets faced a fourth-and-one. After calling a timeout, Oneonta surprisingly went for the first down, but stout running back Bryce Wooden was stuffed at the line of scrimmage by Brightman forcing a change of possession.
“I was shocked, to be honest, that they were going for it being up three-nothing,” Martinson said of the defensive stop. “I thought they would have gone for it earlier instead of kicking a field goal. That was a huge turning point to me, and our defense gets those six points.”
That defensive stop for the Norwich defense was just the momentum boost Norwich would need. Brightman capped the 20-yard drive bulling five yards for the first of three NHS TDs in the quarter. It began an onslaught in which the Norwich offense was explosive and unstoppable, in part due to a recommendation by Taylor to Martinson.
“Give Patrick Taylor credit for all of that (running success),” Martinson said. “Being the the unselfish kid that he is, Patrick recognized what Oneonta was doing with their linebackers, and he told me to make an adjustment. It took their linebacker right out of the play. We executed our fullback keep, and the rest is history. The line did a tremendous job, and that (adjustment) opened some stuff with Seth.”
Oneonta continued to pass the ball after Norwich gained the lead, and two first-down passes from Lord to Anthony Delgado moved the visitors to the Norwich 35. Oneonta tried for another big gainer on the next play when Lord lofted a high fading pass to the right sideline. Edwards, covering Delgado, turned just as the ball arrived and picked off the pass at the 18. It was the first of three Norwich interceptions in as many Oneonta drives.
Thanks to the adjustment suggested by Taylor, Brightman ripped off a 40-yard run, his longest scoot of the season. Two plays later, Brightman blew through the OHS defense for a 34-yard gainer. In just three plays, Norwich moved from its own 18 to the Oneonta seven. Thomsen, using a quick count, scored on a seven-yard QB sneak up the middle raising the lead to 13-3.
At this point, Lord began to find himself under relentless pressure for the NHS defensive front. He hit a pair of passes on the next possession, and scrambled away from pressure for a first-down run to the Oneonta 48. On the next play, he looked toward the right sideline, but was pressured by senior defensive lineman, Kegan Levesque into an ill-advised throw. It was an easy read for Edwards, who stepped in front of the pass and raced 53 yards untouched for Norwich’s third score of the period.
As time ticked away in the first half, Oneonta gained a first down on a Bryce Wooden run, and then a Lord to Delgado 16-yard pass play placed the ball on the Norwich 43 with 15 seconds left on the half. On the next drop back, Lord was hit by blitzing Norwich linebacker Jaden MacRabie as he released the throw. Brightman made a diving interception of the wobbling pass to end the Oneonta drive.
“We were kind of conservative with the pass rush because we were worried about Wooden running the ball,” Thomsen said after the game. “We knew they were slinging it around, so we kind of let (our linemen) go.”
Norwich padded the lead to 27-3 on its first drive of the third, again after an interception of Lord. Oneonta moved for two first downs using the running game exclusively, and Lord passed to Delgado for another 12-yard first down. On the next play, Oneonta went for six points, but Edwards and Taylor read the play perfectly in pass coverage, and Taylor pulled down the pick to halt another Oneonta drive.
Deep in its own end, a 64-yard scrambling run by Thomsen on a designed pass play flipped the field position. Thomsen, Brightman and Taylor moved the chains forward for another first down, and Thomsen’s one-yard sneak capped the 80-yard drive. Thomsen finished with 128 yards on the ground, his best effort this season.
Oneonta drove for its first touchdown late in the third and early in the fourth with a ground-based attack, but the contest was well at hand for Norwich at that point.
Taylor hauled in a seven-yard scoring pass from Thomsen with 5:39 left to end a 68-yard scoring drive, while Oneonta mixed the run and pass to account for its final points.
Oneonta threw the ball 29 times and ran it 31. Surprisingly, Wooden, the leading ball carrier for Oneonta, had just nine carries.
“We weren’t surprised Oneonta threw the ball so much because there hasn’t been consistency in their play-calling the first three games,”Martinson said. “We knew they had speed and we were prepared for their speed. We were hoping we wouldn’t get a heavy dose of Bryce, and we didn’t. He’s a heck of a back.”
Norwich (4-1) travels to Johnson City next Saturday for a non-division game, and plays at Chenango Valley in two weeks for the division title. “Things are looking pretty good,” Martinson said. “Our goal now is to get a division championship.”
JV notes: The Tornado junior varsity also improved to 4-1 winning at Oneonta Saturday, 35-6. NHS rushed for four touchdowns and passed for another. Tristan Rifanburg ran for two scores, while Frankie Garcia added TD jaunts. Rifanburg also threw a TD pass to Storm Cook. The Tornado juniors host Johnson City Friday at 7 p.m.
Score by quarters
OHS 3 0 0 13–16
NHS 0 19 8 7–34
Scoring Summary
First quarter
O: Matt Robinson 20 FG
Second quarter
N: Grant Brightman 5 run (Jaden MacRabie kick)
N: Seth Thomsen 7 run (kick failed)
N: Kyle Edwards 53 interception return (pass failed)
Third quarter
N: Thomsen 1 run (Thomsen pass to Pat Taylor)
Fourth quarter
O: Bryce Wooden 15 run (run failed)
N: Thomsen 7 pass to Pat Taylor (MacRabie kick)
O: Brendan Lord 1 run (Robinson kick)
Football Summary
N O
First downs 12 17
Rushes-yds 49-305 31-145
Pass yds 38 214
Comp-att-int 3-5-0 18-29-4
Punts-avg 1-43 0-0
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-1
Pen.-yds 6-35 3-39
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (N) Grant Brightman, 19-152; Seth Thomsen, 16-128; Pat Taylor, 5-17; Kyle Edwards, 7-11, Kegan Levesque, 1-1; Justin Galipeau, 1-(-4). (O) Bryce Wooden, 9-79, Zach Pidgeon, 3-21; Skylar Thompson, 3-19; Nick Giovagnioli, 5-12; Jacob Mykytyn, 2-7; Brendan Lord, 8-5, Scott Conrade, 1-(-1).
Passing: (N) Thomsen, 3-5-0, 38 yards, TD. (O) B. Lord, 18-29-4, 214 yards.
Receiving: (N) Kyle Edwards, 1-16, Ian Weaver, 1-15, Pat Taylor, 1-7. (O) Marcus Delgado, 9-125 Jacob Mykytyn, 3-42, Taharen Williams, 3-35; Jon Vega, 1-7, Scott Conrade, 1-6, S. Thompson, 1-(-1).
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