NORWICH – It was a night a of quick drives and long scoring plays during Friday’s week eight game between the Norwich Purple Tornado and the Warriors of Chenango Valley. With less than a minute coming off the clock to start the contest, 21 points were scored between the two teams.
The first quarter shootout ended with the Tornado offense complying 267 yard on 14 plays from the line of scrimmage as the home team took a 27-14 lead at the end of the 12 minutes of play.
After a 14-14 score in the early minutes, a turnover by the Norwich defense led to a scoring drive down field and it proved to be the turning point in the game as the Tornado gradually increased the deficit before going on to win 51-35 on senior night.
Prior to the start of the wet, windy, and wild game, Norwich head coach Mike Chrystie and the football booster club honored 20 seniors – 17 football players and three cheerleaders – for their time dedicated to the program.
Once the first whistle blew following the coin toss, which Norwich got the ball to start, senior running back David Berger took the handoff from quarterback Griffin Mills through the large hole – created by the offensive line – 77 yards and into the end zone.
Berger ended the night with 217 on 19 carries, averaging 11. yards a touch, and two rushing touchdowns to have his second consecutive 200-plus yard game.
“[David] Berger has been terrific the last two games,” Chrystie said of his stand-out running back. “He has gained a lot of confidence at the right time for us. He’s running with a purpose and understands he can be a powerful runner as well as a fast runner. He’s worked hard to improve this year.”
On the ensuing kickoff, CV’s Antonio Briggs returned the ball to the house after a 70 yard sprint and with 30 seconds coming off the clock in the first, the score was tied a 7-7.
Needing just one play on their second drive of the game, the Tornado went up 14-7 as Cameron Byrne raced 67 yards for the touchdown after finding nearly the same hole as his teammate did on the earlier scoring play.
The Warriors next drive ended with another seven points, answering the home team’s first two touchdown, as quarterback Rory Thompson tossed a 33 yard scoring pass to running back Anthony Forbidussi to once again tie the score up.
It was, however, the final time the two went back-and-forth on touchdowns as Norwich ended the first quarter with back-to-back scores.
Mills sent an air strike down field 20 yards to Carson Maynard to go on top 20-14. After the forced fumble by the Norwich defense ended what could have been another scoring drive for the Warriors, Mills read what CV gave him and took off. Getting past the secondary, Mills had one runner to beat and turned on his jets on 44 yard dash into the end zone.
The Norwich quarterback reached the century yard mark once again, recording 116 yards on 13 carries. Both Berger and Mills finished with two rushing scores for the game.
However, the senior running back added a third touchdown, returning a kickoff 90 yards after CV scored their third touchdown in the game.
The Warriors’ tailback Forbidussi got through the trenches and broke out down field for a 69 yard score, pulling his team within a touchdown with 7:57 left in the first half. Yet, Berger’s kick return put the home team back by 34-21 just 14 seconds later.
With 1:08 left in the half, Mills called his own number and added another touchdown for the Tornado to go up by 20 as the two teams went into the intermission.
Out of the break, both team’s offense stalled and no points were scored in the third quarter but it didn’t take Norwich long to put points on the board as they finished the stanza with the ball.
Berger punched the ball across the goal line with 1:08 coming off the clock in the fourth, making it three straight touchdowns by the home team.
After being stood up on several drive, CV’s Colsten Volpe answered the third Norwich touchdown to bring his team within 21 points. The Warriors turned to an onside kick try on the kickoff, hoping to the get the ball back but the Tornado hands team held on.
Getting decent field position after the onside’s try, Norwich drove down field but were halted by the Chenango Valley defense in field goal territory. Chrystie elected to send out the field goal unit, setting up a 33-yard attempt for kicker Matt Giglio.
Fighting the rain and wind, Giglio sent the ball sailing through the uprights with hardly any trouble at all to put Norwich up 51-27.
The Warriors Forbidussi added his second touchdown of the game with just over two minutes left, bringing the score to 51-35 but once again the hands team held onto the ball tightly and Norwich kneeled out the clock for the win.
As it was a win-and-in for Class B playoff, the Purple Tornado secured the fourth seed and knocked CV out of the playoffs.
“I was extremely proud of my team,” said Chrystie. “To start the year out 0-3 and lose several close games to some really good teams was tough to swallow early on. I knew our team was good and had potential but we just needed to get a win. Once we got a win, we gained some momentum and never really looked back.
“We finished 4-1 to end the regular season. Our kids believe in one another and we are a confident team. Our goal was to get in the playoffs and make some noise. We have that chance now.”
Byrne finished the game with 93 yards on the ground – 67 of those yards coming on the second Norwich play of the game.
Mills went 3-for-4 in the passing game, totaling 52 yards between Eli Rodriguez – who made his first appearance into the line after sustaining an injury in the Maine-Endwell game two weeks earlier – and Maynard. Rodriguez finished two of the three completions for 32 yards while Maynard caught the one scoring pass for 20.
Defensively, Norwich forced five Chenango Valley fumbles and recovered four of them. The Purple Tornado totaled five tackles in the Warriors backfield as JT Vinal, Shane Lawrence, Zach Lowe and Seth Wessels each had a solo takedown for a loss of yards. Byrne and Noah Buffalini ended up coming together for one tackle in the backfield.
Vinal led the tackles column on the stat sheet, ending the night with 5.5 tackles. Lawrence and Buffalini each had five.
The Tornado will now head to the top-seeded Blue Devils of Chenango Forks on Friday at 7 p.m. Norwich and Forks met back in week three of the season and the Purple Tornado were on the losing end of a 28-21 score.
“I know our kids are looking forward to the challenge,” Chrystie said looking forward to the Tornado’s playoff opponent. “I don’t think many people gave us a chance the first game and some people might think it was a fluke we played them that close.
“This team believes we can win versus anyone. This week just happens to be the No. 2 team in the state.”