NHS riddled with miscues in loss to Vestal
By Patrick Newell
Sun Sports Editor
pnewell@evesun.com
VESTAL – When envisioning all the possibilities on how its opening game against Vestal would play out, the one that developed for Norwich would have to full under the category of “worst-case scenario.”
The Golden Bears showed they were a formidable opponent, but the Purple Tornado made it a lot easier on the host club Saturday night at Dick Hoover Stadium committing nine turnovers in a 47-9 blowout loss.
Norwich had four miscues in the opening quarter, six by halftime, and the Vestal offense rode a prolific passing attack to a 40-0 halftime advantage.
Vestal senior quarterback Nick Wegmann, a lefty slinger who had several near-misses early, threw for four scores and 154 yards by halftime, linebacker Mike Osinski returned an interception for a score, and speedy tailback Zach Cook ran for a touchdown. About the only thing out of sync for Vestal was its extra-point attempts as they missed more than they made.
“You’re not going to win many games turning it over nine times, that’s plain and simple,” said NHS first-year coach Mike Chrystie. “We have to do a better job preparing the kids, and we need to do a better job of taking care of the ball. We got exposed tonight, and we know what we have to work on. I hope this helps us in the long run, and we are able to make the improvements we need to make.”
One could tell it was only a matter of time before the Vestal offense began to click. Wegmann had two missed connections in the Bears’ opening drive that were overthrown to a wide-open receiver or dropped. Following Norwich’s first fumble of the game – the result of a bad snap – Wegmann amended his early misthrows. He made a simple throw to the right sideline near the Norwich bench to Justin Dennis.
Dennis spun to make a Norwich tackler miss, and raced 40 yards for his team’s opening score.
After an exchange of possessions, Norwich proceeded to turn it over three times in a two-minute span late in the first quarter, and all three led to Vestal touchdowns. The first turnover preceded Wegmann’s 34-yard TD pass to Jake Spellane, the second was Osinski’s 18-yard interception return TD, and the last ended in an early second-quarter score, one in which Wegmann threw his third TD of the game – a five-yarder to Pat Carlin.
Vestal poured it on, again thanks to two more NHS turnovers. Cook scored on a two-yard run, and with 27 seconds left in the first half, Wegmann completed his passing TD barrage with a 54-yard TD strike to a wide-open Cook. The 40-0 deficit was a combination of Norwich’s self-inflicted wounds and Vestal’s talented offense.
“Vestal is a really good team and a Class A playoff team last year,” Chrystie said. “They were a tough matchup for us, and we knew we had to contain their athletes. Their athletes did a better job on the outside than our guys on the outside. They made plays, and we didn’t make plays.”
Three more turnovers were added to the log in the second half, but the Tornado did establish its powerful ground attack. Norwich had 206 of its 277 rushing yards after halftime, and mounted two sustained drives. One ended in a fumble in the endzone that resulted in safety for NHS, and the latter excursion was capped on quarterback Mike Sutton’s one-yard TD plunge. Mike Oralls led Norwich and all rushers with 111 yards on 19 carries, and Sutton – who took a bevy of big hits throughout the game – added 62 yards.
“When we took care of the ball and had the right splits, we proved we’re going to be dangerous on offense,” Chrystie said. “The problem was that we spotted Vestal 40 points. It’s tough to make that up, but we played well in the second half. We didn’t give up, and I was proud that the guys continued to play hard.”
Norwich hosts Oneonta on Friday.
JV notes: Norwich dropped an 18-7 final to the Golden Bears Saturday at Norwich. The Tornado led early in the third quarter when Cole Rifanburg scored on a 15-yard run, and Jamison Luke added the point-after kick. NHS QB Jordan Vinal had 70 yards passing and 50 rushing; Nick Murphy rushed for a team-high 70 yards, and Paden Burlison picked up 45 yards receiving.
Summary
Score by quarters
NHS 0 0 2 7–9
Ves. 19 21 0 7–47
Scoring Summary
V: Nick Wegmann 40 pass to Justin Dennis (Pat Carlin kick)
V: Wegmann 34 pass to Jake Spellane (run failed)
V: Mike Osinski 18 interception return (pass failed)
V: Wegmann 5 pass to Carlin (Jack Maczko run)
V: Zach Cook 2 run (Carlin kick)
V: Wegmann 54 pass to Cook (kick failed)
N: Safety. Spellane fumbled ball out of endzone after a Norwich turnover.
N: Mike Sutton 1 run (Zan Stewart kick)
V: Nick Davis 14 pass to Mike Egotanda (Carlin kick)
Team Summary
N V
First downs 18 12
Rushes-yds 52-277 27-167
Passing yds 60 187
Comp-att-int 4-11-3 10-19-1
Punts-avg 3-17 1-43
Fumbles-lost 9-6 1-1
Penalties-yds 4-26.5 5-45
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (N) Mike Oralls, 19-11; Mike Sutton, 17-62; Tristan Rifanburg, 5-41; Keagan Franklin, 4-33; Jacob Perrone, 3-18; Jaden MacRabie, 4-12. (V) Zach Cook, 14-85; Pat Carlin, 2-54; N. Wegmann, 7-16; Alex Crotsley, 2-7; Corey Chorberka, 2-5.
Passing: (N) Mike Sutton, 4-10-3, 60 yds; Tristan Rifanburg, 0-1-0, 0 yds. (V) Nick Wegmann, 7-14-0, 144 yds, 4 TDs. Nick Davis, 3-5-1, 43 yds, TD.
Receiving: (N) Matt Burke, 2-35; Keagan Franklin, 1-13; Tristan Rifanburg, 1-12. (V) Justin Dennis, 4-61; Jake Spellane, 2-48; Pat Carlin, 2-10; Zach Cook, 1-54; Mike Egotanda, 1-14.
Sun Sports Editor
pnewell@evesun.com
VESTAL – When envisioning all the possibilities on how its opening game against Vestal would play out, the one that developed for Norwich would have to full under the category of “worst-case scenario.”
The Golden Bears showed they were a formidable opponent, but the Purple Tornado made it a lot easier on the host club Saturday night at Dick Hoover Stadium committing nine turnovers in a 47-9 blowout loss.
Norwich had four miscues in the opening quarter, six by halftime, and the Vestal offense rode a prolific passing attack to a 40-0 halftime advantage.
Vestal senior quarterback Nick Wegmann, a lefty slinger who had several near-misses early, threw for four scores and 154 yards by halftime, linebacker Mike Osinski returned an interception for a score, and speedy tailback Zach Cook ran for a touchdown. About the only thing out of sync for Vestal was its extra-point attempts as they missed more than they made.
“You’re not going to win many games turning it over nine times, that’s plain and simple,” said NHS first-year coach Mike Chrystie. “We have to do a better job preparing the kids, and we need to do a better job of taking care of the ball. We got exposed tonight, and we know what we have to work on. I hope this helps us in the long run, and we are able to make the improvements we need to make.”
One could tell it was only a matter of time before the Vestal offense began to click. Wegmann had two missed connections in the Bears’ opening drive that were overthrown to a wide-open receiver or dropped. Following Norwich’s first fumble of the game – the result of a bad snap – Wegmann amended his early misthrows. He made a simple throw to the right sideline near the Norwich bench to Justin Dennis.
Dennis spun to make a Norwich tackler miss, and raced 40 yards for his team’s opening score.
After an exchange of possessions, Norwich proceeded to turn it over three times in a two-minute span late in the first quarter, and all three led to Vestal touchdowns. The first turnover preceded Wegmann’s 34-yard TD pass to Jake Spellane, the second was Osinski’s 18-yard interception return TD, and the last ended in an early second-quarter score, one in which Wegmann threw his third TD of the game – a five-yarder to Pat Carlin.
Vestal poured it on, again thanks to two more NHS turnovers. Cook scored on a two-yard run, and with 27 seconds left in the first half, Wegmann completed his passing TD barrage with a 54-yard TD strike to a wide-open Cook. The 40-0 deficit was a combination of Norwich’s self-inflicted wounds and Vestal’s talented offense.
“Vestal is a really good team and a Class A playoff team last year,” Chrystie said. “They were a tough matchup for us, and we knew we had to contain their athletes. Their athletes did a better job on the outside than our guys on the outside. They made plays, and we didn’t make plays.”
Three more turnovers were added to the log in the second half, but the Tornado did establish its powerful ground attack. Norwich had 206 of its 277 rushing yards after halftime, and mounted two sustained drives. One ended in a fumble in the endzone that resulted in safety for NHS, and the latter excursion was capped on quarterback Mike Sutton’s one-yard TD plunge. Mike Oralls led Norwich and all rushers with 111 yards on 19 carries, and Sutton – who took a bevy of big hits throughout the game – added 62 yards.
“When we took care of the ball and had the right splits, we proved we’re going to be dangerous on offense,” Chrystie said. “The problem was that we spotted Vestal 40 points. It’s tough to make that up, but we played well in the second half. We didn’t give up, and I was proud that the guys continued to play hard.”
Norwich hosts Oneonta on Friday.
JV notes: Norwich dropped an 18-7 final to the Golden Bears Saturday at Norwich. The Tornado led early in the third quarter when Cole Rifanburg scored on a 15-yard run, and Jamison Luke added the point-after kick. NHS QB Jordan Vinal had 70 yards passing and 50 rushing; Nick Murphy rushed for a team-high 70 yards, and Paden Burlison picked up 45 yards receiving.
Summary
Score by quarters
NHS 0 0 2 7–9
Ves. 19 21 0 7–47
Scoring Summary
V: Nick Wegmann 40 pass to Justin Dennis (Pat Carlin kick)
V: Wegmann 34 pass to Jake Spellane (run failed)
V: Mike Osinski 18 interception return (pass failed)
V: Wegmann 5 pass to Carlin (Jack Maczko run)
V: Zach Cook 2 run (Carlin kick)
V: Wegmann 54 pass to Cook (kick failed)
N: Safety. Spellane fumbled ball out of endzone after a Norwich turnover.
N: Mike Sutton 1 run (Zan Stewart kick)
V: Nick Davis 14 pass to Mike Egotanda (Carlin kick)
Team Summary
N V
First downs 18 12
Rushes-yds 52-277 27-167
Passing yds 60 187
Comp-att-int 4-11-3 10-19-1
Punts-avg 3-17 1-43
Fumbles-lost 9-6 1-1
Penalties-yds 4-26.5 5-45
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (N) Mike Oralls, 19-11; Mike Sutton, 17-62; Tristan Rifanburg, 5-41; Keagan Franklin, 4-33; Jacob Perrone, 3-18; Jaden MacRabie, 4-12. (V) Zach Cook, 14-85; Pat Carlin, 2-54; N. Wegmann, 7-16; Alex Crotsley, 2-7; Corey Chorberka, 2-5.
Passing: (N) Mike Sutton, 4-10-3, 60 yds; Tristan Rifanburg, 0-1-0, 0 yds. (V) Nick Wegmann, 7-14-0, 144 yds, 4 TDs. Nick Davis, 3-5-1, 43 yds, TD.
Receiving: (N) Matt Burke, 2-35; Keagan Franklin, 1-13; Tristan Rifanburg, 1-12. (V) Justin Dennis, 4-61; Jake Spellane, 2-48; Pat Carlin, 2-10; Zach Cook, 1-54; Mike Egotanda, 1-14.
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