Maine-Endwell good as advertised
NORWICH – When heaping superlatives upon a ballclub, sometimes hyperbole overstates a team’s ability. The assessment on defending New York state champion Maine-Endwell: Good as advertised.
The Spartans stretched their winning streak to 18 games, and gave no indication that the streak will come to a close anytime soon in a 49-7 romp over Norwich Friday night at Norwich High School.
The Spartans were able to turn the potential gaffe into a huge positive, and in spite of three first-half turnovers, led 28-0 at the halftime break. Yes, the lofty praise surrounding this outstanding 42-man collective is warranted. “We said before this game that they were physical and fast, and they really opened it up with the option,” said Norwich coach John Martinson. “At the point of attack, we were just outphysicaled by that team. We knew they were good up front, we just made too many mistakes when we had some opportunities.”
Norwich was forced to punt on its first five possessions, but the first of those boots yielded a slim opportunity to cash in on an M-E mistake. Spartans returner Luis Uceta was unable to hand the kick from Norwich’s Kyle Edwards. The ball hit Uceta on the upper part of his chest, and bounced forward toward the NHS cover team. Uceta dashed forward and gathered a high bounce in stride returning the ball 39 yards to the Norwich 44. On the first play from scrimmage, M-E quarterback Kyle Gallagher kept the ball on the midline option, and dashed 44 yards for the score.
“They were able to get a big run out of a fumble,” Martinson said. “They are just a solid team, and you have to take advantage of those opportunities when they present themselves.”
Gallagher threw a 15-yard TD pass to Adam Wisniewski midway through the first quarter to up the lead to 14-0. Late in the first quarter, Darnell Woolfolk ripped off a 54-yard run to the Norwich nine. Woolfolk fumbled the ball on the tackle, but hustling M-E receiver Adam Gallagher dove on the loose ball despite being outnumbered by the Norwich defense. Woolfolk then scored from five yards out on the first play of the second quarter putting the advantage at three scores.
Maine-Endwell, surprisingly, went to the passing game in the second quarter, and had two passes intercepted by Norwich defensive back Kyle Edwards. The first of those interceptions was aided by a 15-yard M-E penalty putting Norwich on the Spartans’ 22.
Norwich went into its bag of tricks, and nearly executed a gadget play. Edwards took the ball on the sweep right, and tossed a halfback option pass to Matt Burke toward the right corner of the endzone. Burke was partially obstructed by the M-E defensive back, and was unable to pull in the TD reception.
Two plays later, Woolfolk grabbed a Norwich fumble in midair, and scored on a 75-yard return. “It would have been nice to go into halftime at 20-7 or 20-8 and have some momentum against a quality football team,” Martinson said. “They were just very strong up front, and we had a lot of trouble with Jake Haddock and Tyler Shelepak (defensive linemen). We tried to spread them out and get the edge throwing the ball, but they are so athletic on the outside.”
Down six scores in the fourth quarter, NHS quarterback Mike Sutton connected with Danny Carson on a 52-yard TD pass that made it a 42-7. On the ensuing kickoff, Maine-Endwell’s Justin Jacoby raced 83 yards to paydirt to quell the Tornado’s biggest bright spot.
“This loss doesn’t affect our first goal – to win the division – and our focus now is this coming game on Friday (against Chenango Valley),” Martinson said. “They’ve beaten us the last two years, and we’d like to get that division championship back.”
JV notes: M-E was equally impressive in Saturday’s junior varsity tilt winning 60-21. Norwich (3-3) had TDs from Frank Garcia, Nick Murphy, and Randy Stokes in the loss.
Score by Quarters
M-E 14 14 7 14–49
NHS 0 0 0 7–7
Scoring summary
ME: Kyle Gallagher 44 run (Pham kick)
ME: Gallagher 15 pass to Alec Wisniewski (Pham kick)
ME: Darnell Woolfolk 5 run (kick failed)
ME: Woolfolk 75 fumble return (Gallagher pass to Luis Uceta)
ME: Uceta 10 run (Pham kick)
ME: Mike Sutton 52 pass to Danny Carson (Zan Stewart kick)
ME: Justin Jacoby 83 kickoff return (Pham kick)
Football Summary
ME N
First downs 20 9
Rushes-yds 46-402 28-56
Passing yds 15 122
Comp-att-int 1-5-2 10-20-2
Penalties-yds 5-50 5-25
Fumbles-lost 4-2 1-1
Punts-avg 0-0 7-32.6
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (ME) Darnell Woolfolk, 6-104; Kyle Gallagher, 8-102; Justin Jacoby, 11-90; Luis Uceta, 11-61; Nick Sorrenti, 7-32; Colin LaSalle, 1-9; TJ Davis, 1-4; Jake Sinicki, 1-0. (N) Jaden MacRabie, 8-21; Mike Oralls, 8-20; Matt Burke, 1-11; Michael Sutton, 4-5; Danny Carson, 1-2; Kyle Edwards, 5-(-1); Tristan Rifanburg, 1-(-2).
Passing: (ME) Gallagher, 1-5-2, 15 yds, TD; (N) Sutton, 9-16-0, 113 yds, TD; Rifanburg, 1-3-2, 9 yds; Edwards, 0-1-0, 0 yds.
Receiving: (ME) Wisniewski, 1-15; (N) Edwards, 3-40; Carson, 1-52; Matt Burke, 1-12; John Marvin, 1-9; Mike Oralls, 1-5; Keagan Franklin, 1-3; Rifanburg, 2-1.
The Spartans stretched their winning streak to 18 games, and gave no indication that the streak will come to a close anytime soon in a 49-7 romp over Norwich Friday night at Norwich High School.
The Spartans were able to turn the potential gaffe into a huge positive, and in spite of three first-half turnovers, led 28-0 at the halftime break. Yes, the lofty praise surrounding this outstanding 42-man collective is warranted. “We said before this game that they were physical and fast, and they really opened it up with the option,” said Norwich coach John Martinson. “At the point of attack, we were just outphysicaled by that team. We knew they were good up front, we just made too many mistakes when we had some opportunities.”
Norwich was forced to punt on its first five possessions, but the first of those boots yielded a slim opportunity to cash in on an M-E mistake. Spartans returner Luis Uceta was unable to hand the kick from Norwich’s Kyle Edwards. The ball hit Uceta on the upper part of his chest, and bounced forward toward the NHS cover team. Uceta dashed forward and gathered a high bounce in stride returning the ball 39 yards to the Norwich 44. On the first play from scrimmage, M-E quarterback Kyle Gallagher kept the ball on the midline option, and dashed 44 yards for the score.
“They were able to get a big run out of a fumble,” Martinson said. “They are just a solid team, and you have to take advantage of those opportunities when they present themselves.”
Gallagher threw a 15-yard TD pass to Adam Wisniewski midway through the first quarter to up the lead to 14-0. Late in the first quarter, Darnell Woolfolk ripped off a 54-yard run to the Norwich nine. Woolfolk fumbled the ball on the tackle, but hustling M-E receiver Adam Gallagher dove on the loose ball despite being outnumbered by the Norwich defense. Woolfolk then scored from five yards out on the first play of the second quarter putting the advantage at three scores.
Maine-Endwell, surprisingly, went to the passing game in the second quarter, and had two passes intercepted by Norwich defensive back Kyle Edwards. The first of those interceptions was aided by a 15-yard M-E penalty putting Norwich on the Spartans’ 22.
Norwich went into its bag of tricks, and nearly executed a gadget play. Edwards took the ball on the sweep right, and tossed a halfback option pass to Matt Burke toward the right corner of the endzone. Burke was partially obstructed by the M-E defensive back, and was unable to pull in the TD reception.
Two plays later, Woolfolk grabbed a Norwich fumble in midair, and scored on a 75-yard return. “It would have been nice to go into halftime at 20-7 or 20-8 and have some momentum against a quality football team,” Martinson said. “They were just very strong up front, and we had a lot of trouble with Jake Haddock and Tyler Shelepak (defensive linemen). We tried to spread them out and get the edge throwing the ball, but they are so athletic on the outside.”
Down six scores in the fourth quarter, NHS quarterback Mike Sutton connected with Danny Carson on a 52-yard TD pass that made it a 42-7. On the ensuing kickoff, Maine-Endwell’s Justin Jacoby raced 83 yards to paydirt to quell the Tornado’s biggest bright spot.
“This loss doesn’t affect our first goal – to win the division – and our focus now is this coming game on Friday (against Chenango Valley),” Martinson said. “They’ve beaten us the last two years, and we’d like to get that division championship back.”
JV notes: M-E was equally impressive in Saturday’s junior varsity tilt winning 60-21. Norwich (3-3) had TDs from Frank Garcia, Nick Murphy, and Randy Stokes in the loss.
Score by Quarters
M-E 14 14 7 14–49
NHS 0 0 0 7–7
Scoring summary
ME: Kyle Gallagher 44 run (Pham kick)
ME: Gallagher 15 pass to Alec Wisniewski (Pham kick)
ME: Darnell Woolfolk 5 run (kick failed)
ME: Woolfolk 75 fumble return (Gallagher pass to Luis Uceta)
ME: Uceta 10 run (Pham kick)
ME: Mike Sutton 52 pass to Danny Carson (Zan Stewart kick)
ME: Justin Jacoby 83 kickoff return (Pham kick)
Football Summary
ME N
First downs 20 9
Rushes-yds 46-402 28-56
Passing yds 15 122
Comp-att-int 1-5-2 10-20-2
Penalties-yds 5-50 5-25
Fumbles-lost 4-2 1-1
Punts-avg 0-0 7-32.6
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (ME) Darnell Woolfolk, 6-104; Kyle Gallagher, 8-102; Justin Jacoby, 11-90; Luis Uceta, 11-61; Nick Sorrenti, 7-32; Colin LaSalle, 1-9; TJ Davis, 1-4; Jake Sinicki, 1-0. (N) Jaden MacRabie, 8-21; Mike Oralls, 8-20; Matt Burke, 1-11; Michael Sutton, 4-5; Danny Carson, 1-2; Kyle Edwards, 5-(-1); Tristan Rifanburg, 1-(-2).
Passing: (ME) Gallagher, 1-5-2, 15 yds, TD; (N) Sutton, 9-16-0, 113 yds, TD; Rifanburg, 1-3-2, 9 yds; Edwards, 0-1-0, 0 yds.
Receiving: (ME) Wisniewski, 1-15; (N) Edwards, 3-40; Carson, 1-52; Matt Burke, 1-12; John Marvin, 1-9; Mike Oralls, 1-5; Keagan Franklin, 1-3; Rifanburg, 2-1.
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