S-E still playing with a chip on its shoulder
Sherburne-Earlville has had its share of shutout wins since joining Section III over a decade ago. But 60-0? And on opening day?
With big victories comes big expectations, yet the Marauders retain the chip on their shoulders, said head coach Mike Jasper. Jasper said that Sherburne-Earlville, in his tenure as an assistant coach and now head coach, has not become a “football school” or a “football town.” Surely the Marauders’ faithful appreciate the game, and the mindset of the community’s collective may change with more wins like last week’s over Little Falls.
“We’re located kind of in the middle and not really near any big cities,” Jasper said. “This team has a little bit of an edge. You would have thought we got beat last week if you looked at our last two practices.”
With an attitude in which the players believe they have something to prove every week, it has taken little motivation to prepare for Friday night’s home game against Tully. Tully was a Class C playoff school last season – just like S-E – and actually advanced to the second round of postseason play before losing in the semifinals. It’s a non-division game for the Marauders, but a big step up in competition. “We looked at their offense and realized they have a back who is pretty quick and hard to stop,” Jasper said. “Watching him – and their team on film – has made us realize that each game will get harder for us.”
Tully will look to spread the field with its receivers and attempt to use its athleticism to create mismatches. It’s no secret what the Marauders want to do – smack the opponent in the mouth with dominant play at the line of scrimmage. Be it the offense or the defense, Jasper said he wants to dictate what happens up front. “It’s the physicality between the tackles that we’re hoping for and to put them on their heels,” he said. “We want their offense to adjust to what we’re doing.”
On the other side of the ball, S-E was nearly perfect a week ago, and it kept the playcalling “vanilla” as Jasper said. After scoring on its first play of the second half on a first pass attempt, the Marauders’ offensive calls were limited to simple runs up the middle. “It was nice that we didn’t have to dip into the well too far,” Jasper said. “But have a lot more we’re adding to the offense.”
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Five more games are on tap for the weekend, and below are quick notes on each game:
Oneonta (0-1) at Norwich (0-1), Friday 7 p.m.
These two longtime rivals lost their opening games last week by a combined 105-16. Norwich turned it over nine times against Vestal, yet had plenty of bright spots between those miscues. Oneonta, meanwhile, was overpowered from the start by Elmira in a 58-7 loss.
“Playing a rival, there isn’t a better week to turn things around,” said Norwich coach Mike Chrystie. Chrystie said that Oneonta has some skill position players to watch, particularly third-year speedy back Skylar Thompson. Norwich, for its part, just needs to clean up the mistakes. “Most of our problems against Vestal were with us,” Chrystie said. “I don’t feel we were overmatched, we just didn’t take care of the ball.”
Norwich did run for nearly 300 yards and had over 350 yards of total offense. Those are numbers that bely the blowout nature of last week’s game.
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Oxford (0-1) at Walton (1-0), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
Walton is coming off its first losing season in some 30 years, and narrowly avoided an opening loss to Whitney Point last weekend. Oxford’s self-inflicted mistakes conspired against its victory hopes against Dryden a week ago. The Blackhawks did pile up big rushing and passing yardage in the loss, and they’ll need a repeat performance against Walton. “It’s a typical Walton team, but the things they don’t have that they usually do are that big fullback and linemen,” Dayton said. “They’re still doing the same blocking and trapping that they always do, and only five of their 33 kids are seniors. They should be hard to handle in the years to come.”
Bainbridge-Guilford (0-1) at Groton (1-0), 7 p.m. Friday
Tonight’s contest is a rematch from last year’s Class D playoff game that was won by Groton. The Bobcats led at halftime of that playoff contest, but wilted over the second half. B-G returns just three starters on each side of the ball from last year’s playoff team, while Groton has 13 seniors returning including star running back Zeke Wright. To make matters more difficult, B-G’s starting quarterback, Cole Webb, broke his non-throwing hand last week. Webb is cleared to play defense, but in all likelihood, will not take another snap under center this season. In steps backup Dylan Moffitt at quarterback. Moffitt is smaller than Webb, but has good quickness, said B-G head coach Tim Mattingly. “We’re going to try some different looks to take advantage of Dylan’s strengths,” Mattingly said.
Unadilla Valley (0-1) at Whitney Point (0-1), Saturday 1:30 p.m.
Whitney Point has a nice passing game led by quarterback Mitch Edson, and the Eagles nearly upended Walton last week losing 18-16. The Storm fell by 27 points in their opener, but had two touchdowns wiped away due to penalty. The Storm showed flashes of offensive potential, but failed to sustain a long drive. Defensively, head coach Mark Segina is hoping for more aggressiveness on run defense, particularly from his defensive backs on the edge. “What we’re working on is that speed to the ball – to read your key and get up there as quick as you can,” Segina said.
Offensively, fullback Alex Avolio had a nice debut rushing for 83 yards and nearly five yards a carry. Quarterback Lance Gage was 9-for-15, and should make strides, Segina said, as he becomes more comfortable going through his reads. “We definitely had some good things on offense,” Segina said. “Alex is a darn good fullback, and we need to have some other people step up and take some of the load.”
Delhi (0-1) at Greene (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.
Greene coach Dave Gorton was not fooled by Delhi’s 18-0 loss to Harpursville. The Bulldogs’ offense was kept off the board, but the defense was particularly stingy. Harpursville’s three scores were a kickoff return, a long TD pass, and a touchdown late in the game after Delhi turned the ball over on downs. “That final score is deceptive because Delhi really shut down Harpursville’s ground game,” Gorton said. “They have some big guys up front, and they played disciplined.”
Gorton expects nothing less than a well-coached team, especially knowing that Bulldogs head coach Dave Kelly has been running the same things on offense and defense for over four decades. “He is doing the same things now as when I was playing (against Delhi) in high school,” Gorton said. “They’re a team with strong fundamentals, and you have to play with strong fundamentals to beat them.”
With big victories comes big expectations, yet the Marauders retain the chip on their shoulders, said head coach Mike Jasper. Jasper said that Sherburne-Earlville, in his tenure as an assistant coach and now head coach, has not become a “football school” or a “football town.” Surely the Marauders’ faithful appreciate the game, and the mindset of the community’s collective may change with more wins like last week’s over Little Falls.
“We’re located kind of in the middle and not really near any big cities,” Jasper said. “This team has a little bit of an edge. You would have thought we got beat last week if you looked at our last two practices.”
With an attitude in which the players believe they have something to prove every week, it has taken little motivation to prepare for Friday night’s home game against Tully. Tully was a Class C playoff school last season – just like S-E – and actually advanced to the second round of postseason play before losing in the semifinals. It’s a non-division game for the Marauders, but a big step up in competition. “We looked at their offense and realized they have a back who is pretty quick and hard to stop,” Jasper said. “Watching him – and their team on film – has made us realize that each game will get harder for us.”
Tully will look to spread the field with its receivers and attempt to use its athleticism to create mismatches. It’s no secret what the Marauders want to do – smack the opponent in the mouth with dominant play at the line of scrimmage. Be it the offense or the defense, Jasper said he wants to dictate what happens up front. “It’s the physicality between the tackles that we’re hoping for and to put them on their heels,” he said. “We want their offense to adjust to what we’re doing.”
On the other side of the ball, S-E was nearly perfect a week ago, and it kept the playcalling “vanilla” as Jasper said. After scoring on its first play of the second half on a first pass attempt, the Marauders’ offensive calls were limited to simple runs up the middle. “It was nice that we didn’t have to dip into the well too far,” Jasper said. “But have a lot more we’re adding to the offense.”
––
Five more games are on tap for the weekend, and below are quick notes on each game:
Oneonta (0-1) at Norwich (0-1), Friday 7 p.m.
These two longtime rivals lost their opening games last week by a combined 105-16. Norwich turned it over nine times against Vestal, yet had plenty of bright spots between those miscues. Oneonta, meanwhile, was overpowered from the start by Elmira in a 58-7 loss.
“Playing a rival, there isn’t a better week to turn things around,” said Norwich coach Mike Chrystie. Chrystie said that Oneonta has some skill position players to watch, particularly third-year speedy back Skylar Thompson. Norwich, for its part, just needs to clean up the mistakes. “Most of our problems against Vestal were with us,” Chrystie said. “I don’t feel we were overmatched, we just didn’t take care of the ball.”
Norwich did run for nearly 300 yards and had over 350 yards of total offense. Those are numbers that bely the blowout nature of last week’s game.
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Oxford (0-1) at Walton (1-0), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
Walton is coming off its first losing season in some 30 years, and narrowly avoided an opening loss to Whitney Point last weekend. Oxford’s self-inflicted mistakes conspired against its victory hopes against Dryden a week ago. The Blackhawks did pile up big rushing and passing yardage in the loss, and they’ll need a repeat performance against Walton. “It’s a typical Walton team, but the things they don’t have that they usually do are that big fullback and linemen,” Dayton said. “They’re still doing the same blocking and trapping that they always do, and only five of their 33 kids are seniors. They should be hard to handle in the years to come.”
Bainbridge-Guilford (0-1) at Groton (1-0), 7 p.m. Friday
Tonight’s contest is a rematch from last year’s Class D playoff game that was won by Groton. The Bobcats led at halftime of that playoff contest, but wilted over the second half. B-G returns just three starters on each side of the ball from last year’s playoff team, while Groton has 13 seniors returning including star running back Zeke Wright. To make matters more difficult, B-G’s starting quarterback, Cole Webb, broke his non-throwing hand last week. Webb is cleared to play defense, but in all likelihood, will not take another snap under center this season. In steps backup Dylan Moffitt at quarterback. Moffitt is smaller than Webb, but has good quickness, said B-G head coach Tim Mattingly. “We’re going to try some different looks to take advantage of Dylan’s strengths,” Mattingly said.
Unadilla Valley (0-1) at Whitney Point (0-1), Saturday 1:30 p.m.
Whitney Point has a nice passing game led by quarterback Mitch Edson, and the Eagles nearly upended Walton last week losing 18-16. The Storm fell by 27 points in their opener, but had two touchdowns wiped away due to penalty. The Storm showed flashes of offensive potential, but failed to sustain a long drive. Defensively, head coach Mark Segina is hoping for more aggressiveness on run defense, particularly from his defensive backs on the edge. “What we’re working on is that speed to the ball – to read your key and get up there as quick as you can,” Segina said.
Offensively, fullback Alex Avolio had a nice debut rushing for 83 yards and nearly five yards a carry. Quarterback Lance Gage was 9-for-15, and should make strides, Segina said, as he becomes more comfortable going through his reads. “We definitely had some good things on offense,” Segina said. “Alex is a darn good fullback, and we need to have some other people step up and take some of the load.”
Delhi (0-1) at Greene (1-0), Friday, 7 p.m.
Greene coach Dave Gorton was not fooled by Delhi’s 18-0 loss to Harpursville. The Bulldogs’ offense was kept off the board, but the defense was particularly stingy. Harpursville’s three scores were a kickoff return, a long TD pass, and a touchdown late in the game after Delhi turned the ball over on downs. “That final score is deceptive because Delhi really shut down Harpursville’s ground game,” Gorton said. “They have some big guys up front, and they played disciplined.”
Gorton expects nothing less than a well-coached team, especially knowing that Bulldogs head coach Dave Kelly has been running the same things on offense and defense for over four decades. “He is doing the same things now as when I was playing (against Delhi) in high school,” Gorton said. “They’re a team with strong fundamentals, and you have to play with strong fundamentals to beat them.”
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