Oxford turns it up a notch in second half
OXFORD – It wasn’t until getting hit in the mouth a couple of times by an upstart Unadilla Valley squad that Oxford picked itself up and hit back.
Using running back Paul Wonka like an irrepressible boulder rumbling down a steeply-pitched bank, Oxford closed the game with four unanswered touchdowns to defeat the Storm, 42-21 Friday night.
Wonka carried 30 times for 188 yards and three touchdowns, and wore down the UV defense behind a veteran offensive line. The Storm dressed less that 20 players at the start, and had at least three starters leave due to injury during the physical, hard-hitting contest.
“We just ran out of personnel,” said UV first-year coach Daryl Decker. “That, and fatigue set in on us. With a small team, that really hurts. We were putting some people in positions at the end of the game that they haven’t played, and we just had some mental breakdowns. It was your typical first-game jitters, but we’ll make adjustments and come out and play next week.”
Wonka had 65 yards rushing in the first half, and was slowed by a stomach bug that had him take frequent breaks on the sideline. He shook that bug off – or just ignored it – to key the second-half attack. “Paul is just a workhorse for us,” said Oxford coach Ray Dayton. “I think he got hold of some bad macaroni and cheese, and he was struggling a little bit with that. He came through for us in the second half.”
Unadilla Valley’s varied play calling in the first half, featuring primarily Kody Homann and quarterback Kurt Haycook, had the Storm in front as late as the 9:15 mark of the third quarter. On a fourth-and-long, Haycook scrambled left around the Oxford defense, and hooked up with Homann on a 40-yard TD toss to make it 21-14.
It was nearly all Wonka the rest of the third quarter. The 200-plus pound senior crashed off tackle left, off tackle right, and eventually finished off a 66-yard drive from six yards out. The missed extra point left Oxford a point shy of UV, but that deficit was erased quickly.
Blackhawks newcomer, Michael Gonzalez, was on the spot for the first of his two recoveries as UV was unable to gain control of the short kickoffs executed by Andrew Golden. In just five plays, Wonka plunged in from one yard out for the lead, and quarterback Jody Smith hit a wide-open Chris Graves for the two-point conversion.
“We started to hit Wonka a little high, and with a back like him, he won’t go down,” Decker said.
Wonka, when he wasn’t running to daylight, was consistently running through tacklers. When the UV defense appeared to have a beat on Wonka, the Blackhawks slipped in a key pass. Early in the fourth, Smith went deep to Golden for a 49-yard connection. That led to Smith’s two-yard quarterback sneak with 5:20 left in the game.
Gonzalez’s second recovery set the Blackhawks up at the UV 38. Three plays later, Smith’s tossed a 24-yard TD pass to tight end Joe Jackson.
Unadilla Valley marched 82 yards on is first possession of the game for the touchdown. After moving for three first downs, Haycook connected with Homann on a 32-yard TD pass. UV was poised to raise the lead to two touchdowns reaching the Oxford 15.
The momentum of the game shifted quickly, though, as Haycook’s pass to Justin Hofer was tipped, and sophomore Colton Langille gathered the pigskin racing 88 yards the other way for the tying touchdown. Langille added a second interception in the second half, and teammate Cameron Heggie helped halt a Storm drive with an interception late in the third quarter.
Wonka scored the first of his three TDs with 2:26 left in the first half. Smith found Heggie and Golden for a pair of first down completions, and the senior running back sealed the drive with a 30-yard jaunt.
It appeared Oxford would take the one-touchdown lead into halftime following Heggie’s interception with 46 seconds left before intermission. Dayton, always an aggressive playcaller, had Smith launch a pair of deep passes to Golden in an effort to extend the lead. On the second attempt, Homann picked off the aerial, and wound his way back to endzone for a 49-yard score with no time on the clock. Haycook’s extra point left the two teams in a deadlock at intermission.
“I felt we made some adjustments defensively in the second half, and kind of shut them down after that first score,” Dayton said. “Colton Langille’s interception really turned the tide for us in the game, and we preach to the kids to finish the game strong. We didn’t do that against Walton, but we did a good job with that this week.”
Notes: To highlight the Blackhawks’ 2012 home opener, players and coaches from the 1982 football team were honored at halftime. Prior to the contest, the captains from that squad, Jay Nelson and Nelson Lucier, joined captains from both clubs for the coin flip...The 1982 team finished 10-0 with a big win at Delhi late in the season sealing the Susquenango Association title. Oxford then went on to win a sectional game for the sectional championship. All of the coaches from that team, Tony Abbott, head coach, and assistants John Curtis, Don Cooper, and Joe Brillinger attended the halftime ceremony....Since the start of last season, Wonka has 10 100-yard rushing games in 11 contests and seven straight. Smith, in his second season as starting quarterback, now has TD passes in seven straight games.
Score by quarters
UVall 7 7 7 0–21
Oxf 0 14 14 14–42
Scoring Summary
UV: Kurt Haycook 32 pass to Kody Homann (Haycook kick)
O: Colton Langille 88 interception return (Andrew Golden kick)
O: Paul Wonka 27 run (Golden kick)
UV: Homann 49 interception return (Haycook kick)
UV: Haycook 40 pass to Homann (Haycook kick)
O: Wonka 6 run (kick failed)
O: Wonka 1 run (Jody Smith pass to Chris Graves)
O: Smith 2 run (Golden kick)
O: Smith 24 pass to Joe Jackson (Golden kick)
Football Summary
UV O
First downs 13 18
Rushes-yds 34-173 41-209
Passing yds 86 125
Comp-att-int 6-14-3 5-11-1
Punts-avg 1-35 1-34
Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-1
Penalties-yds 5-43 4-31
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (O) Paul Wonka, 30-188; Shawn McKee, 4-8; Colton Langille, 1-7; Joe Jackson, 3-6; Jody Smith, 3-0. (UV) Kody Homann, 18-90; Kurt Haycook, 8-68; Josh Lanfair, 1-11; Dillon Rifanburg, 3-8; Thomas Meyers, 1-0; Justin Hofer, 3-(-4).
Passing: (O) Jody Smith, 5-11-1, 125 yds TD; (UV) Kurt Haycook, 6-14-3, 86 yds, 2 TDs.
Receiving: (O) Andrew Golden, 3-89; Joe Jackson, 1-24; Cameron Heggie, 1-12. (UV) Homann, 6-86.
Using running back Paul Wonka like an irrepressible boulder rumbling down a steeply-pitched bank, Oxford closed the game with four unanswered touchdowns to defeat the Storm, 42-21 Friday night.
Wonka carried 30 times for 188 yards and three touchdowns, and wore down the UV defense behind a veteran offensive line. The Storm dressed less that 20 players at the start, and had at least three starters leave due to injury during the physical, hard-hitting contest.
“We just ran out of personnel,” said UV first-year coach Daryl Decker. “That, and fatigue set in on us. With a small team, that really hurts. We were putting some people in positions at the end of the game that they haven’t played, and we just had some mental breakdowns. It was your typical first-game jitters, but we’ll make adjustments and come out and play next week.”
Wonka had 65 yards rushing in the first half, and was slowed by a stomach bug that had him take frequent breaks on the sideline. He shook that bug off – or just ignored it – to key the second-half attack. “Paul is just a workhorse for us,” said Oxford coach Ray Dayton. “I think he got hold of some bad macaroni and cheese, and he was struggling a little bit with that. He came through for us in the second half.”
Unadilla Valley’s varied play calling in the first half, featuring primarily Kody Homann and quarterback Kurt Haycook, had the Storm in front as late as the 9:15 mark of the third quarter. On a fourth-and-long, Haycook scrambled left around the Oxford defense, and hooked up with Homann on a 40-yard TD toss to make it 21-14.
It was nearly all Wonka the rest of the third quarter. The 200-plus pound senior crashed off tackle left, off tackle right, and eventually finished off a 66-yard drive from six yards out. The missed extra point left Oxford a point shy of UV, but that deficit was erased quickly.
Blackhawks newcomer, Michael Gonzalez, was on the spot for the first of his two recoveries as UV was unable to gain control of the short kickoffs executed by Andrew Golden. In just five plays, Wonka plunged in from one yard out for the lead, and quarterback Jody Smith hit a wide-open Chris Graves for the two-point conversion.
“We started to hit Wonka a little high, and with a back like him, he won’t go down,” Decker said.
Wonka, when he wasn’t running to daylight, was consistently running through tacklers. When the UV defense appeared to have a beat on Wonka, the Blackhawks slipped in a key pass. Early in the fourth, Smith went deep to Golden for a 49-yard connection. That led to Smith’s two-yard quarterback sneak with 5:20 left in the game.
Gonzalez’s second recovery set the Blackhawks up at the UV 38. Three plays later, Smith’s tossed a 24-yard TD pass to tight end Joe Jackson.
Unadilla Valley marched 82 yards on is first possession of the game for the touchdown. After moving for three first downs, Haycook connected with Homann on a 32-yard TD pass. UV was poised to raise the lead to two touchdowns reaching the Oxford 15.
The momentum of the game shifted quickly, though, as Haycook’s pass to Justin Hofer was tipped, and sophomore Colton Langille gathered the pigskin racing 88 yards the other way for the tying touchdown. Langille added a second interception in the second half, and teammate Cameron Heggie helped halt a Storm drive with an interception late in the third quarter.
Wonka scored the first of his three TDs with 2:26 left in the first half. Smith found Heggie and Golden for a pair of first down completions, and the senior running back sealed the drive with a 30-yard jaunt.
It appeared Oxford would take the one-touchdown lead into halftime following Heggie’s interception with 46 seconds left before intermission. Dayton, always an aggressive playcaller, had Smith launch a pair of deep passes to Golden in an effort to extend the lead. On the second attempt, Homann picked off the aerial, and wound his way back to endzone for a 49-yard score with no time on the clock. Haycook’s extra point left the two teams in a deadlock at intermission.
“I felt we made some adjustments defensively in the second half, and kind of shut them down after that first score,” Dayton said. “Colton Langille’s interception really turned the tide for us in the game, and we preach to the kids to finish the game strong. We didn’t do that against Walton, but we did a good job with that this week.”
Notes: To highlight the Blackhawks’ 2012 home opener, players and coaches from the 1982 football team were honored at halftime. Prior to the contest, the captains from that squad, Jay Nelson and Nelson Lucier, joined captains from both clubs for the coin flip...The 1982 team finished 10-0 with a big win at Delhi late in the season sealing the Susquenango Association title. Oxford then went on to win a sectional game for the sectional championship. All of the coaches from that team, Tony Abbott, head coach, and assistants John Curtis, Don Cooper, and Joe Brillinger attended the halftime ceremony....Since the start of last season, Wonka has 10 100-yard rushing games in 11 contests and seven straight. Smith, in his second season as starting quarterback, now has TD passes in seven straight games.
Score by quarters
UVall 7 7 7 0–21
Oxf 0 14 14 14–42
Scoring Summary
UV: Kurt Haycook 32 pass to Kody Homann (Haycook kick)
O: Colton Langille 88 interception return (Andrew Golden kick)
O: Paul Wonka 27 run (Golden kick)
UV: Homann 49 interception return (Haycook kick)
UV: Haycook 40 pass to Homann (Haycook kick)
O: Wonka 6 run (kick failed)
O: Wonka 1 run (Jody Smith pass to Chris Graves)
O: Smith 2 run (Golden kick)
O: Smith 24 pass to Joe Jackson (Golden kick)
Football Summary
UV O
First downs 13 18
Rushes-yds 34-173 41-209
Passing yds 86 125
Comp-att-int 6-14-3 5-11-1
Punts-avg 1-35 1-34
Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-1
Penalties-yds 5-43 4-31
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (O) Paul Wonka, 30-188; Shawn McKee, 4-8; Colton Langille, 1-7; Joe Jackson, 3-6; Jody Smith, 3-0. (UV) Kody Homann, 18-90; Kurt Haycook, 8-68; Josh Lanfair, 1-11; Dillon Rifanburg, 3-8; Thomas Meyers, 1-0; Justin Hofer, 3-(-4).
Passing: (O) Jody Smith, 5-11-1, 125 yds TD; (UV) Kurt Haycook, 6-14-3, 86 yds, 2 TDs.
Receiving: (O) Andrew Golden, 3-89; Joe Jackson, 1-24; Cameron Heggie, 1-12. (UV) Homann, 6-86.
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