Frank Speziale Photo

NORWICH — Behind the 292 all-purpose yards from Drew Walsh, Norwich dominated the Chenango Valley Warriors, 48-13, during homecoming on Friday night.
The Purple Tornado opened up by kicking the ball off to the Warriors. Chenango Valley was able to pick up a first down during the series but the stingy defense of Norwich didn’t allow much after that, forcing the Warriors to punt the ball to Michael Carson.
Carson was met as soon as he caught it, giving the Purple a starting field position at their own 27.
Walsh first found a hole to pick up nine yards but three plays later, he bounced out the far sideline and took off for 50 yards and the score for an early Norwich lead. Mike Trevisani came on and stayed perfect on the season with his first attempt of the evening.
The Warrior were unable to get anything going on their second drive of the game, as Norwich’s Eric Conant met Zaphir Hill in the backfield for a loss on third and two, forcing another punt to Carson. Carson returned the ball four yards, setting Norwich up at their 37.
The drive looked like it was going to stall before a third down attempt was completed because of a pass from Thomas Parrella to Ty Rifanburg for Norwich, giving the Purple a first down. Again, Head Coach Mike Chrystie called Walsh’s number and he delivered, carrying the ball 46 yards to the Warriors two yard line. On the next play, Walsh punched it in, giving Norwich the 14-0 after two possession.
The Tornado took that lead into the second quarter.
Chenango Valley started to get a little offensive flow, as they picked up three first downs in the ensuing drive. The Warriors had signs of hope until Norwich’s Grant Wessels pressured CV’s quarterback Anthony Forbidussi, forcing a fumble that Wessels recovered.
Walsh used one play to set up Norwich into great field possession, tacking on 40 more yards to his total. Another Parrella to Rifanburg pass completion put the Tornado inside the red-zone. Two plays later, Conant got to the outside for two yards and the score, putting Norwich up 21-0 midway through the second quarter.
Walsh, Rifanburg and Conant each had a tackle in the next set of downs for the Warriors, allowing nothing but a three-and-out punt to Carson. Carson, due for a big return, did just that as he took it back 42 yards, giving Norwich great field possession for their next drive.
That drive would take three Conant rushes, the last being from 13 yards out, as he punched it into the end-zone for his second of the night and a 27-0 lead. The extra point was missed by Trevisani, giving him his first missed point after attempt on the season.
Chenango Valley was putting together a nice drive to answer Norwich’s fourth touchdown that could have ended with a 65 yard pass completion from Forbidussi to Nathan Klein for a score of their own, but it was called back due to a block in the back penalty. Instead their drive ended on an interception by Rifanburg, giving Norwich another chance to tack on more points before the half.
And the Tornado did just that.
Norwich marched down the field from Norwich 31 yard line. Three Walsh runs and three pass completions from Parrella to Carson helped set up the Purple’s final score of the half by Grant Wessels as he punched in from one yard out. Trevisani’s kick after was good, giving Norwich a 34-0 lead at the half.
Norwich’s Walsh received the kick-off to start the second half and took it to the house from 93 yards away, giving Norwich a 41-0 lead after Trevisani’s point after sailed through the uprights.
“Drew has been bottled up for a couple of weeks and I think he was due for a big game. I think the line did a great job to help. Drew’s a special back. He made some cuts tonight as he was able to get into the open field and the end-zone,” said Norwich head coach Mike Chrystie.
Chenango Valley’s next possession resulted in their first points of the evening as Forbidussi carried the ball initially for 30 yard gain to get the drive going. He ended the drive by punching it from one yard out.
Newly brought up from the Tornado Junior Varsity team, David Berger took over in place of Walsh and wasn’t shy in his first appearance on the big stage. Carrying the ball a few times on the drive, Berger had his number called by Chrystie from six yards out to give him his first career varsity touchdown.
Chenango Valley was able to score one more as Brady Hope ran it in for 12 yards, making the score 48-13; the final of the contest.
“We knew that we wanted to bounce back from last week. We prepared all week knowing that if we could control the line of scrimmage, we would have a good day rushing the ball. We ran the ball pretty well and got back on track offensively,” said coach Chrystie.
Norwich ended the game with 399 total yard offense with 334 of them coming on rushing attempts. Conant finished behind Walsh with 48 yards rushing on the night with Berger’s 34 following him. Jacob Davis carried the ball three times for 23 yards as J.T. Vinal rushed for 16 yards on two attempts.
Parrella threw the ball six times, connecting with his receivers on five. Carson’s three receptions came on one drive for 44 yards and Rifanburg two catches totaled 21 yards on the night.
Defensively, the Purple were led by Walsh with 8 tackles. Carson, Conant and Wessels all tallied 4 tackles. Conan and Wessels led the team with each having three of their four tackles ending in losses for the Warriors. Other defensive stand outs were Vinal, Rifanburg, Robert Shepard, and Zack Mills.
The Warriors were led by their quarterback, Forbidussi with 102 yards on the ground in 15 attempts.
Norwich hosts No. 2 Chenango Forks Friday night at 7 p.m. for the Purple’s senior night. Senior recognition for both players and cheerleaders will begin at 6:30 p.m.
 
N: 14 20 7 7– 48
CV: 0 0 6 7– 13