Norwich surges past JC in fourth quarter
NORWICH – After shooting itself in the foot, Norwich got up with guns blazing.
The Purple Tornado surged in the fourth quarter scoring three touchdowns to defeat Johnson City, 27-14, Friday night in the Section IV Class B semifinals.
It was the sixth straight victory for Norwich (6-3), who earned a rematch with three-time defending Section IV – and state – champion Maine-Endwell Saturday at 6 p.m. at Union-Endicott High School.
Tristan Rifanburg ran for a career-high 162 yards and two touchdowns, and Norwich senior Mike Oralls eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the second straight season totaling 134 yards rushing and two more touchdowns.
It was by far the most significant use of Rifanburg this season, who did most of his rushing out the quarterback spot where he continually ran through truck-sized holes on the left side. “Really, everyone is a big part of the game plan, especially our linemen, who were winning in the trenches,” Rifanburg said, who then gave a shout-out to his blockers. “Cole Brightman, Jamison Luke, Dallas Marango, Thomas Reilly, and Jon Manwarren, they were the ones leading the way.”
Norwich sliced through the Wildcats defense on its first possession of the second half. Rifanburg and Oralls alternated carries, and Rifanburg’s 14-yard TD run tied the game at 7-7.
After forcing a three-and-out for JC, Norwich was on the move again when Oralls had the ball jarred loose leading to a JC recovery at the 38. Norwich survived that miscue, but did not overcome the next.
On the ensuing possession, Rifanburg was unable to handle Brandon Holliday’s fourth-down punt, and a JC player pounced on the ball at the Norwich 29. Four plays later – all Dominick Nadz runs – Nadz scored with 10:03 left in the fourth on his second 16-yard TD run of the day.
Down 14-7, Norwich had Johnson City right where it wanted.
“I never been part of a team as a player or coach that handles adversity as well as this group,” said Norwich coach Mike Chrystie. “They just never give up.”
NHS (6-3) needed two plays to counter Johnson City’s go-ahead score. Rifanburg ran for nine yards on first down to the 46, and Oralls did the rest bursting through the left side and into the wide-open for a 54-yard touchdown. Zan Stewart’s extra point tied it with 9:13 to play.
“We made some adjustments and went with what was working in the first half,” Rifanburg said. “We kept going with that, and that’s what got us up the field.”
Johnson City didn’t turn the ball over, but made just as costly a mistake on its next possession. After gaining two first downs, Norwich senior Everett Thompson sacked JC quarterback Jake Thompson for a big loss on second down. An incomplete pass forced another Holliday punt.
Unlike the previous punt when Norwich gave the ball back to JC, Holliday was unable to handle a bad snap, and fell on the ball at the JC 34.
Rifanburg carried the ball three times in succession, the last of that trio of totes a dive over the goal line from four yards out for the go-ahead score. At one point in the fourth quarter, Norwich ran Rifanburg six straight times with nearly the identical play call.
Johnson City simply had no answer for Rifanburg’s runs. “(That formation) with Tristan at quarterback is something we’ve had in our back pocket the past couple of weeks,” Chrystie said. “Our kids understood what we wanted to do out of it, and Johnson City didn’t make the necessary adjustments to stop it. I don’t know how many times we ran it, but we kept running it because it was working.”
Johnson City lineman Nikola Cejic blocked Stewart’s extra point, so Norwich’s tenuous 20-14 lead had to survive the final 4:27 of play.
Taking over at the 20, Nadz and Thompson had solid runs to earn a first down. From there, the Wildcats went backward. After a five-yard penalty, Norwich junior Nick Murphy sacked Thompson for a nine-yard loss. Thompson threw two incomplete passes around a five-yard scramble turning the ball back over to Norwich with 1:57 left.
Chrystie urged his team to gain at least one first down to run out the clock. Norwich did much better than that. Rifanburg ran three straight times earning a first down, then Oralls took over. Oralls gained 11 yards on a third down carry to the JC four giving Norwich a fourth-and-one with 11 seconds left.
Oralls plowed through almost untouched covering the remaining four yards of real estate to salt away the Tornado playoff win. With the win, Norwich avenged a pair of losses to the Wildcats last season including a 35-14 playoff defeat.
“It took us a few weeks to figure things out, but come Friday nights, we’ve played well,” Chrystie said.
Johnson City went to the same play – and the same running back – to break a scoreless tie in the first half. JC drove 61 yards on 10 plays – nine carries by Nadz – to take a 7-0 lead. Nadz broke a tackle midway through his 16-yard TD jaunt scoring with 6:34 to play in the half.
Norwich, stunted on offense most of the half, embarked on a 5 ½ minute drive of its own Covering 76 yards on 11 plays. A fourth-and-goal at the three, though, was stuffed by the Wildcats at the one-yard line with 54 seconds left in the first half.
“We had some looks in the first half, we just didn’t execute and we ran to the wrong hole (near the goal line),” Chrystie said.
Up next for the Tornado is a Maine-Endwell club that is approaching 50 straight victories, and beat Norwich in early September, 42-7.
“Maine-Endwell is the standard for New York State high school football,” Chrystie said. “They are very athletic and believe in what they do. Our kids will be up for the challenge, and we are extremely confident right now. There is no pressure on us this week, but we will prepare like we have all year.”
Score by quarters
JCity 0 7 0 7—14
Nor. 0 0 7 20—27
Scoring Summary
Second quarter
JC: Dominick Nadz 16 run (Kenneth Johns kick)
Third quarter
N: Tristan Rifanburg 14 run (Zan Stewart kick)
Fourth quarter
JC: Nadz 16 run (Johns kick)
N: Mike Oralls 54 run (Zan Stewart kick)
N: Rifanburg 4 run (kick blocked)
N: Oralls 4 run (Stewart kick)
Team Summary
JC N
First downs 14 15
Rushes-yds 55-238 38-318
Passing yds 11 9
Total yds 249 327
Comp-att-int 1-11-0 1-3-0
Punts-avg 3-33.7 3-33.0
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-2
Penalties-yds 9-65 5-50
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (N) Tristan Rifanburg, 15-162, Mike Oralls, 17-134; Cole Rifanburg, 6-22. (JC) Dominick Nadz, 26-133; Shafeeq Hosea, 6-61; Jake Thompson, 21-47; James Corey, 1-2; Team, 1-(-5).
Passing: (N) C. Rifanburg, 1-3-0, 9 yds; (JC) Thompson, 1-11-0, 11 yds.
Receiving: (N) Cameron Edwards, 1-9. (JC) Vincent Fobbs, 1-11.
The Purple Tornado surged in the fourth quarter scoring three touchdowns to defeat Johnson City, 27-14, Friday night in the Section IV Class B semifinals.
It was the sixth straight victory for Norwich (6-3), who earned a rematch with three-time defending Section IV – and state – champion Maine-Endwell Saturday at 6 p.m. at Union-Endicott High School.
Tristan Rifanburg ran for a career-high 162 yards and two touchdowns, and Norwich senior Mike Oralls eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the second straight season totaling 134 yards rushing and two more touchdowns.
It was by far the most significant use of Rifanburg this season, who did most of his rushing out the quarterback spot where he continually ran through truck-sized holes on the left side. “Really, everyone is a big part of the game plan, especially our linemen, who were winning in the trenches,” Rifanburg said, who then gave a shout-out to his blockers. “Cole Brightman, Jamison Luke, Dallas Marango, Thomas Reilly, and Jon Manwarren, they were the ones leading the way.”
Norwich sliced through the Wildcats defense on its first possession of the second half. Rifanburg and Oralls alternated carries, and Rifanburg’s 14-yard TD run tied the game at 7-7.
After forcing a three-and-out for JC, Norwich was on the move again when Oralls had the ball jarred loose leading to a JC recovery at the 38. Norwich survived that miscue, but did not overcome the next.
On the ensuing possession, Rifanburg was unable to handle Brandon Holliday’s fourth-down punt, and a JC player pounced on the ball at the Norwich 29. Four plays later – all Dominick Nadz runs – Nadz scored with 10:03 left in the fourth on his second 16-yard TD run of the day.
Down 14-7, Norwich had Johnson City right where it wanted.
“I never been part of a team as a player or coach that handles adversity as well as this group,” said Norwich coach Mike Chrystie. “They just never give up.”
NHS (6-3) needed two plays to counter Johnson City’s go-ahead score. Rifanburg ran for nine yards on first down to the 46, and Oralls did the rest bursting through the left side and into the wide-open for a 54-yard touchdown. Zan Stewart’s extra point tied it with 9:13 to play.
“We made some adjustments and went with what was working in the first half,” Rifanburg said. “We kept going with that, and that’s what got us up the field.”
Johnson City didn’t turn the ball over, but made just as costly a mistake on its next possession. After gaining two first downs, Norwich senior Everett Thompson sacked JC quarterback Jake Thompson for a big loss on second down. An incomplete pass forced another Holliday punt.
Unlike the previous punt when Norwich gave the ball back to JC, Holliday was unable to handle a bad snap, and fell on the ball at the JC 34.
Rifanburg carried the ball three times in succession, the last of that trio of totes a dive over the goal line from four yards out for the go-ahead score. At one point in the fourth quarter, Norwich ran Rifanburg six straight times with nearly the identical play call.
Johnson City simply had no answer for Rifanburg’s runs. “(That formation) with Tristan at quarterback is something we’ve had in our back pocket the past couple of weeks,” Chrystie said. “Our kids understood what we wanted to do out of it, and Johnson City didn’t make the necessary adjustments to stop it. I don’t know how many times we ran it, but we kept running it because it was working.”
Johnson City lineman Nikola Cejic blocked Stewart’s extra point, so Norwich’s tenuous 20-14 lead had to survive the final 4:27 of play.
Taking over at the 20, Nadz and Thompson had solid runs to earn a first down. From there, the Wildcats went backward. After a five-yard penalty, Norwich junior Nick Murphy sacked Thompson for a nine-yard loss. Thompson threw two incomplete passes around a five-yard scramble turning the ball back over to Norwich with 1:57 left.
Chrystie urged his team to gain at least one first down to run out the clock. Norwich did much better than that. Rifanburg ran three straight times earning a first down, then Oralls took over. Oralls gained 11 yards on a third down carry to the JC four giving Norwich a fourth-and-one with 11 seconds left.
Oralls plowed through almost untouched covering the remaining four yards of real estate to salt away the Tornado playoff win. With the win, Norwich avenged a pair of losses to the Wildcats last season including a 35-14 playoff defeat.
“It took us a few weeks to figure things out, but come Friday nights, we’ve played well,” Chrystie said.
Johnson City went to the same play – and the same running back – to break a scoreless tie in the first half. JC drove 61 yards on 10 plays – nine carries by Nadz – to take a 7-0 lead. Nadz broke a tackle midway through his 16-yard TD jaunt scoring with 6:34 to play in the half.
Norwich, stunted on offense most of the half, embarked on a 5 ½ minute drive of its own Covering 76 yards on 11 plays. A fourth-and-goal at the three, though, was stuffed by the Wildcats at the one-yard line with 54 seconds left in the first half.
“We had some looks in the first half, we just didn’t execute and we ran to the wrong hole (near the goal line),” Chrystie said.
Up next for the Tornado is a Maine-Endwell club that is approaching 50 straight victories, and beat Norwich in early September, 42-7.
“Maine-Endwell is the standard for New York State high school football,” Chrystie said. “They are very athletic and believe in what they do. Our kids will be up for the challenge, and we are extremely confident right now. There is no pressure on us this week, but we will prepare like we have all year.”
Score by quarters
JCity 0 7 0 7—14
Nor. 0 0 7 20—27
Scoring Summary
Second quarter
JC: Dominick Nadz 16 run (Kenneth Johns kick)
Third quarter
N: Tristan Rifanburg 14 run (Zan Stewart kick)
Fourth quarter
JC: Nadz 16 run (Johns kick)
N: Mike Oralls 54 run (Zan Stewart kick)
N: Rifanburg 4 run (kick blocked)
N: Oralls 4 run (Stewart kick)
Team Summary
JC N
First downs 14 15
Rushes-yds 55-238 38-318
Passing yds 11 9
Total yds 249 327
Comp-att-int 1-11-0 1-3-0
Punts-avg 3-33.7 3-33.0
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-2
Penalties-yds 9-65 5-50
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (N) Tristan Rifanburg, 15-162, Mike Oralls, 17-134; Cole Rifanburg, 6-22. (JC) Dominick Nadz, 26-133; Shafeeq Hosea, 6-61; Jake Thompson, 21-47; James Corey, 1-2; Team, 1-(-5).
Passing: (N) C. Rifanburg, 1-3-0, 9 yds; (JC) Thompson, 1-11-0, 11 yds.
Receiving: (N) Cameron Edwards, 1-9. (JC) Vincent Fobbs, 1-11.
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