NORWICH – Special teams play is often an overlooked or under-practiced detail in high school football. But to paraphrase a famous quote, “excellence comes in the details.”
Norwich had difficulty moving the ball on offense, and its defense did a lot of bending against Sidney. Yet, the clearcut dominance in the third phase of the game – special teams – provided the difference in a 20-14 Tornado win over the Warriors Friday night.
In Norwich’s only appearance at home this month, the host club forced three turnovers, stopped three Sidney possessions inside the NHS 15, and the majority of the winning team’s points came through special teams play.
“Our kicking game, what else can you say?” said Norwich coach John Martinson, pointing out the excellent placekicking of sophomore Zan Stewart and punting of senior Kyle Edwards.
The other aspect of note was another clutch return for a touchdown that quickly stifled some Sidney momentum. After the Warriors drew to within 7-6 on the first play from scrimmage in the second quarter, Tornado returner Keagan Franklin accepted the ensuing kickoff and raced 83 yards for the touchdown.
It was the second kickoff return for a touchdown in as many weeks for Norwich, who capitalized on a Sidney offsides penalty that moved the kickoff back five yards.
“Believe it or not, we have been focusing on our return game a little bit more this year,” Martinson said. “We knew the ball was moved back, so we had our upbacks move up so they didn’t have that five- to seven-yard wait before getting to the wedge.
“Keagan Franklin, I’m really proud of him. He’s such an unselfish kid, and he hasn’t been getting many carries this year. We knew he had something like this in him all along.”
Sidney had plenty of opportunities to score, and while controlling the time of possession, it outgained Norwich by over 200 total yards.
Sidney moved for the tying score late in the first half driving 64 yards to the Norwich seven. Adrian Hoffman had a big five-yard tackle for a loss of Sidney’s Billy Kozak, and quarterback Patrick Vibbard was forced into a short gain on third down to the NHS seven. On fourth down, again harassed by Norwich’s pressure up front, Vibbard overthrew Kozak in the endzone.
The Tornado, backed up near their goal line, flipped the field position in a hurry. Edwards ran for 25 yards, and a 15-yard face mask penalty positioned Norwich near midfield. Quarterback Mike Sutton found Mike Oralls on a 25-yard first-down pass that led to Stewart’s 30-yard field goal with 24 seconds left in the half.
On Sidney’s first play from scrimmage on the next possession, Vibbard mishandled a snap, and the ball was recovered at the 25. Norwich attempted a pass before Stewart was brought back on the field for another field goal try. Stewart’s end-over-end 42-yard cleared the bar for the 20-6 halftime lead.
Stewart’s second field was announced by the public address announcer as a new school record. While the kick actually tied Shawn Cavanaugh’s record 42-yarder from the 2003 season, those six points on field goals over the last 24 seconds provided the margin of victory.
“Sometimes when your offense isn’t in a flow, the defense and special teams have to kick it up,” Martinson said. “That is a sign of a good football team, and I think we’re a good football team right now.”
Sidney drove to Norwich’s 12 late in the third quarter, but Kozak’s fourth-down run ended up a yard short of the first-down marker.
Following a Norwich punt, Austin McCarroll and Nate McDonald ripped off 20-yard runs giving Sidney and first-and-goal from the NHS 10. There the drive stalled as Hoffman had another big tackle for a loss, and Grant Brightman intercepted Vibbard’s fourth-down pass near the goal line.
Sidney finished with 366 yards of offense – 291 on the ground – to Norwich’s 164 total yards. Brightman had most of his 61 rushing yards in the fourth quarter, and Edwards added 59 for NHS.
“To only give up 14 points to a team like Sidney says a lot about this team and the integrity of the defense,” Martinson said. “We had some guys like Joe Smith and Adrian Hoffman step in today who weren’t expected to start on defense. We cannot ask more out of this group. We have a lot to be proud of…Sidney is going to win a lot of ballgames this year.”
JV Notes: Tristan Rifanburg, recently moved back to the junior varsity, had 159 yards rushing and a touchdown, while Frank Garcia and Matt Craig scored two TDs apiece in a 37-8 win over Sidney’s junior varsity squad. The Tornado juniors host Windsor on Saturday at 10 a.m.
Score by quarters
Sidn. 0 6 0 8—14
NHS 7 13 0 0—20
Scoring Summary
N: Michael Sutton 14 run (Zan Stewart kick)
S: Austin McCarroll 7 run (kick failed)
N: Keagan Franklin 83 kickoff return (Stewart kick)
N: Stewart 30 field goal
N: Stewart 42 field goal
S: Damian Zimmer 1 run (Nate McDonald run)
Team Summary
N S
First downs 7 19
Rushes-yds 33-139 51-291
Passing yds 25 75
Comp-att-int 1-11-1 7-18-1
Punts-avg5-35.8 4-24.3
Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-2
Penalties-yds 5-26 10-60
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (N) Grant Brightman 17-61; Kyle Edwards, 11-59; Mike Sutton, 4-19; Keagan Franklin, 1-0. (S) Austin McCarroll, 11-102; Nate McDonald, 15-83; Billy Kozak, 6-36; Brandon Walters, 7-33; Damien Zimmer, 8-33; Patrick Vibbard, 4-4.
Passing: (N) Mike Sutton, 1-11-1, 25 yds. (S) Vibbard, 7-18-1, 75 yds.
Receiving: (N) Michael Oralls, 1-25. (S) Billy Kozak, 3-21; Damian Zimmer, 2-33; Brandon Walters, 1-11; Michael Cruz, 1-10.