Quick-strike offense lifts UV to first win
NEW BERLIN – There are no-huddle offenses, and then there is the version that Unadilla Valley runs.
Running plays as if it was competing in a world-class 100-meter dash, the Storm hit Sidney with a barrage of offense in the second half that had the Sidney Warriors reeling Friday night as UV picked up its first victory of the season, 56-28.
The Storm scored 40 points in just over a 15-minute span of the second half that turned a nip-and-tuck contest into a laugher. Mason Fernette threw three TD passes and recovered a blocked punt in the endzone for another score, and Caleb Simons rushed for two fourth-quarter scores to lead the UV attack.
“We really needed this,” said Unadilla Valley second-year head coach Mark Segina.
The Storm had been knocking on the door of victory losing on the final offensive play against state-ranked Moravia, then it lost a late fourth-quarter lead to state-ranked Walton last week.
“Moravia, that’s a tough football team, and Walton is Walton,” Segina said. “I was looking at how those teams are doing and how we played against them, and I thought that we were a much better team than our record showed.”
But as former NFL coach Bill Parcells once said, “you are what your record says you are,” and Unadilla Valley was a winless team that had lost 10 of 11 games since the start of the 2013 season.
And another loss seemed to be in the offing after Sidney expanded its lead in the third quarter. Sidney quarterback Tom Hoskins threw a six-yard TD pass to Ethan Finch on the last play of the first half to give the Warriors a 20-16 lead.
On its second possession of the third – after a UV interception – Hoskins hit Finch on a 31-yard connection, then hooked up with Tanner Schunk on a 17-yard scoring strike. The two-point conversion had Sidney up 28-16 just 1:19 into the second half.
“I was worried there for a while,” Segina said. “But we’ve been a team that has finished strong in every game.”
Boy did the Storm finish, and did so with pizzazz and gusto.
UV recovered a short kickoff from Sidney near midfield, but after Nick Stirone’s 25-yard dash into the redzone, Sidney’s Finch intercepted Fernette inside the five to end another UV possession.
The Storm’s defense stiffened, and Richie Conklin burst up the middle for the Storm to block Alan Secor’s punt. The ball bounced into the endzone, and Fernette recovered for the UV touchdown.
On the first play of Sidney’s next possession, Hoskins scrambled outside to the right, and had the balled jarred loose by pursuing lineman Hank DeGlee. Fernette was on the spot for his second fumble recovery in less than 15 seconds.
Simons ran for 24 yards, Fernette gouged Sidney for 24 more yards, and UV took the lead for good on Fernette’s five-yard TD pass to Stirone.
Sidney’s next two drives stalled on downs, the second of which came near midfield.
The Storm grabbed possession with 1:09 left in the third quarter, and Sidney’s offense would not touch the ball again until the final two minutes – with the game well out of reach.
UV drove 56 yards for the first of three fourth-quarter scores. Simons hit paydirt on a three-yard run with 9:55 remaining. Storm kickoff specialist, Brett Hanslmaier, executed the first of two straight well-placed kickoffs that led to UV recoveries.
UV retook possession at the Sidney 45, and drove the remaining distance – eight plays – in just over three minutes with Stirone scoring on a four-yard run. Stirone recovered the ensuing kickoff at the Sidney 31.
Seven straight running plays led to Simons’ seven-yard TD capper giving his club a four-score lead. The Storm also converted their seventh two-point conversion – and 11th straight in two games – in what summed up a dominant fourth quarter.
Even UV’s botched plays came out smelling like roses. A penalty after its last touchdown moved the Storm back five yards. A poor snap ended in kicker Hanslmaier’s hands at the 15, who dashed to the right, jumped over a would-be Sidney tackler at the five, and tiptoed into the endzone for the final two points.
“I’m excited after tonight, I think that we can be legit,” Segina said. “If we can keep it close, I think tonight will show our boys that we can finish games . I think we’re out of the woods.”
UV had a season-high 218 rushing yards led by Stirone’s 76 yards. Fernette passed for 163 yards and rushed for 74, and Postma had 90 receiving yards.
Score by quarters
Sid 6 14 8 0—28
UV. 0 16 16 24—56
Scoring Summary
First quarter
S: Tom Hoskins 15 pass to Ethan Finch (Run failed)
Second quarter
UV: Mason Fernette 32 pass to Mike Patrick (Fernette run)
S: Hoskins 57 pass to Finch (Hoskins pass to Tanner Schunk)
UV: Fernette 19 pass to Ryan Postma (Fernette pass to Hank deGlee)
S: Hoskins 6 pass to Finch (run failed)
Third quarter
S: Hoskins 17 pass to Schunk (Hoskins pass to Alan Pecor)
UV: Fernette blocked punt recovery in endzone (Postma pass to deGlee)
UV: Fernette 5 pass to Nick Stirone (Fernette run)
Fourth quarter
UV: Caleb Simons 3 run (Fernette run)
UV: Stirone 4 run (Fernette run)
UV: Simons 7 run (Brett Hanslmaier run)
Team Summary
S UV
First downs 12 15
Rushes-yds 31-73 43-218
Passing yds 267 163
Total yds 340 381
Comp-att-int 16-36-0 7-18-3
Punts-avg 3-37.6 3-37.3
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-0
Penalties-yds 4-29 4-26 ½
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (S) Brandon Bessett, 17-38; Shayne Sickler, 6-19; Zak Green, 4-10; Tom Hoskins, 4-6. (UV) Nick Stirone, 13-76; Mason Fernette, 17-74; Caleb Simons, 13-68.
Passing: (S) Tom Hoskins, 16-36-0, 267 yds, 4 TDs. (UV) Mason Fernette, 7-18-3, 163 yds, 3 TDs.
Receiving: (S) Tanner Schunk, 7-79; Ethan Finch, 6-119; Alan Pecor, 2-54; Dawson Backus, 1-15. (UV) Ryan Postma, 3-90; Brett Hanslmaier, 2-36; Mike Patrick, 1-32; Nick Stirone, 1-5.
Running plays as if it was competing in a world-class 100-meter dash, the Storm hit Sidney with a barrage of offense in the second half that had the Sidney Warriors reeling Friday night as UV picked up its first victory of the season, 56-28.
The Storm scored 40 points in just over a 15-minute span of the second half that turned a nip-and-tuck contest into a laugher. Mason Fernette threw three TD passes and recovered a blocked punt in the endzone for another score, and Caleb Simons rushed for two fourth-quarter scores to lead the UV attack.
“We really needed this,” said Unadilla Valley second-year head coach Mark Segina.
The Storm had been knocking on the door of victory losing on the final offensive play against state-ranked Moravia, then it lost a late fourth-quarter lead to state-ranked Walton last week.
“Moravia, that’s a tough football team, and Walton is Walton,” Segina said. “I was looking at how those teams are doing and how we played against them, and I thought that we were a much better team than our record showed.”
But as former NFL coach Bill Parcells once said, “you are what your record says you are,” and Unadilla Valley was a winless team that had lost 10 of 11 games since the start of the 2013 season.
And another loss seemed to be in the offing after Sidney expanded its lead in the third quarter. Sidney quarterback Tom Hoskins threw a six-yard TD pass to Ethan Finch on the last play of the first half to give the Warriors a 20-16 lead.
On its second possession of the third – after a UV interception – Hoskins hit Finch on a 31-yard connection, then hooked up with Tanner Schunk on a 17-yard scoring strike. The two-point conversion had Sidney up 28-16 just 1:19 into the second half.
“I was worried there for a while,” Segina said. “But we’ve been a team that has finished strong in every game.”
Boy did the Storm finish, and did so with pizzazz and gusto.
UV recovered a short kickoff from Sidney near midfield, but after Nick Stirone’s 25-yard dash into the redzone, Sidney’s Finch intercepted Fernette inside the five to end another UV possession.
The Storm’s defense stiffened, and Richie Conklin burst up the middle for the Storm to block Alan Secor’s punt. The ball bounced into the endzone, and Fernette recovered for the UV touchdown.
On the first play of Sidney’s next possession, Hoskins scrambled outside to the right, and had the balled jarred loose by pursuing lineman Hank DeGlee. Fernette was on the spot for his second fumble recovery in less than 15 seconds.
Simons ran for 24 yards, Fernette gouged Sidney for 24 more yards, and UV took the lead for good on Fernette’s five-yard TD pass to Stirone.
Sidney’s next two drives stalled on downs, the second of which came near midfield.
The Storm grabbed possession with 1:09 left in the third quarter, and Sidney’s offense would not touch the ball again until the final two minutes – with the game well out of reach.
UV drove 56 yards for the first of three fourth-quarter scores. Simons hit paydirt on a three-yard run with 9:55 remaining. Storm kickoff specialist, Brett Hanslmaier, executed the first of two straight well-placed kickoffs that led to UV recoveries.
UV retook possession at the Sidney 45, and drove the remaining distance – eight plays – in just over three minutes with Stirone scoring on a four-yard run. Stirone recovered the ensuing kickoff at the Sidney 31.
Seven straight running plays led to Simons’ seven-yard TD capper giving his club a four-score lead. The Storm also converted their seventh two-point conversion – and 11th straight in two games – in what summed up a dominant fourth quarter.
Even UV’s botched plays came out smelling like roses. A penalty after its last touchdown moved the Storm back five yards. A poor snap ended in kicker Hanslmaier’s hands at the 15, who dashed to the right, jumped over a would-be Sidney tackler at the five, and tiptoed into the endzone for the final two points.
“I’m excited after tonight, I think that we can be legit,” Segina said. “If we can keep it close, I think tonight will show our boys that we can finish games . I think we’re out of the woods.”
UV had a season-high 218 rushing yards led by Stirone’s 76 yards. Fernette passed for 163 yards and rushed for 74, and Postma had 90 receiving yards.
Score by quarters
Sid 6 14 8 0—28
UV. 0 16 16 24—56
Scoring Summary
First quarter
S: Tom Hoskins 15 pass to Ethan Finch (Run failed)
Second quarter
UV: Mason Fernette 32 pass to Mike Patrick (Fernette run)
S: Hoskins 57 pass to Finch (Hoskins pass to Tanner Schunk)
UV: Fernette 19 pass to Ryan Postma (Fernette pass to Hank deGlee)
S: Hoskins 6 pass to Finch (run failed)
Third quarter
S: Hoskins 17 pass to Schunk (Hoskins pass to Alan Pecor)
UV: Fernette blocked punt recovery in endzone (Postma pass to deGlee)
UV: Fernette 5 pass to Nick Stirone (Fernette run)
Fourth quarter
UV: Caleb Simons 3 run (Fernette run)
UV: Stirone 4 run (Fernette run)
UV: Simons 7 run (Brett Hanslmaier run)
Team Summary
S UV
First downs 12 15
Rushes-yds 31-73 43-218
Passing yds 267 163
Total yds 340 381
Comp-att-int 16-36-0 7-18-3
Punts-avg 3-37.6 3-37.3
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-0
Penalties-yds 4-29 4-26 ½
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (S) Brandon Bessett, 17-38; Shayne Sickler, 6-19; Zak Green, 4-10; Tom Hoskins, 4-6. (UV) Nick Stirone, 13-76; Mason Fernette, 17-74; Caleb Simons, 13-68.
Passing: (S) Tom Hoskins, 16-36-0, 267 yds, 4 TDs. (UV) Mason Fernette, 7-18-3, 163 yds, 3 TDs.
Receiving: (S) Tanner Schunk, 7-79; Ethan Finch, 6-119; Alan Pecor, 2-54; Dawson Backus, 1-15. (UV) Ryan Postma, 3-90; Brett Hanslmaier, 2-36; Mike Patrick, 1-32; Nick Stirone, 1-5.
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