Blue Devils’ running game drives Forks past Norwich
BINGHAMTON – After an unexpected bye week during the third week of Section IV high school football action, the Norwich Purple Tornado hit the gridiron on Friday night- this time taking on the 2019 New York State Class B Champion Chenango Forks Blue Devils.
The Blue Devils utilized their diversified running attack to defeat the Tornado 34-15.
In their week three outing, the Blue Devils defeated the Susquehanna Valley Sabers 40-0; snapping the Sabers 28 game win streak.
Following the win over SV, Chenango Forks took over as the longest active win streak in New York State at 16 straight wins. Despite the tall task to take on a program that has been among the most dominant teams in New York State- let alone Section IV, Norwich was motivated and ready for the challenge.
“We play to win- our kids were confident, and they were excited,” said Norwich Head Coach Mike Chrystie. “We talk about how many teams have two state champions (SV and CF) on their schedule…if you’re able to play well and upset them, no one can ever take that away from you” he added.
For the Blue Devils, it only took a few minutes for their offense to strike first as their rushing game took center stage. Forks found the end zone twice in the opening stanza as Dubbs Haqq rushed for a two yard touchdown and only minutes later Lucas Scott ran for a 28 yarder, extending the Forks’ lead to 14-0 by the quarters end.
Forks tacked on another six points late in the second period with a Ray Austin 31 yard touchdown, pushing the Blue Devils lead to 20-0.
Keeping the score close entering halftime was crucial to the Norwich game plan as the Tornado made several key adjustments during their bye-week.
“With the extra week, we really dissected the Sus Valley film, and we looked at ourselves in the mirror” said Chrystie, “We said ‘hey they didn’t just come in and beat us up we have to execute’, and we knew if we had executed that becomes one of those should’ve, could’ve, would’ve games and we didn’t want that to happen again against Chenango Forks if we had an opportunity.”
In the second half, Norwich put up a fight as the Tornado outscored Forks 15-14 over the final two quarters. In the third quarter Dubbs Haqq scored his second touchdown of the game with a 60 yard run, before Lucas Scott found the end zone for his second of the game in the fourth period TD with a three yard run to extend the Forks lead 34-0.
Norwich’s offense rallied in the final ten minutes of play; scoring all of their points in the contest. It all started with senior quarterback Griffin Mills scoring on a 59 yard run, with Carson Thornton tacking on a successful point-after attempt. The touchdown run from Mills was the first time an opposing team has scored against the Blue Devils this season.
Thornton would later find the end zone as he reeled in a nine-yard TD pass from Mills with just over a minute left to play. On the ensuing successful two-point conversion for Norwich, Mills found an open Cameron Byrne to complete the play, as Forks went onto win 34-15.
“Our kids played really hard…I was very proud that how we didn’t back down and played until the very end” said Chrystie.
Despite the loss, Coach Chrystie has a lot to be happy about as his Norwich squad was the first team to score against the Blue Devils this year, ending a 128-0 scoring streak for Forks. The Purple Tornado was also the first team to hold the high-powered Chenango Forks offense under 40 points this season.
Norwich (1-2) returns to the field on Friday, April 16 when they host the Oneonta Yellowjackets for their Senior Night at Ulrich Field with kick-off slated for 7:00pm.
Score by quarters
Norwich 0 0 0 15- 15
C. Forks 14 6 7 7 - 34
Summary:
First downs: N 6 CF 17 ;Rushes-yds: N 19- 107; CF 43 - 337 Passing; N 13-23-0, 107 yds; CF 5-8-0 37 yds. Total yards: N 214; CF 374 Punts-avg: N 5- 25.6; CF 2- -1.5 Penalties-yds. N 2-10; CF 6-60. Fumbles-lost: N 0-0; CF 2-2. Records: N 1-2; CF 4-0.
Scoring: CF, Dubbs Haqq runs for 2 (PA success); CF, Lucas Scott runs for 28 (PA success); CF, Ray Austin runs for 31 (PA failed); CF, Dubbs Haqq runs for 60 (PA Success); CF, Lucas Scott runs for 3 (PA Success); N, Griffin Mills runs for 59 (PA Success); N, Griffin Mills pass to Carson Thornton for 9 (2pt Success).
Individual Statistics
Rushing: N Griffin Mills 5-80, Evan Sylstra 9- 13, Mallachi Gaters 4-13, Cameron Byrne 1-1. CF Lucas Scott 18-112, Dubbs Haqq 6-99, Ryan Joseph 11-67, Ray Austin 1-31, Zander Arnold 4-4, Dylan Furman 2-2
Passing: N: Mills 13-23-1 107; CF: Austin 5-8-0 37.
Receiving: N: Cameron Byrne 5-48, Trent Wessels 1-33, Carson Thornton 3-15, Torin Lawrence 4-11; CF: Lucas Scott 2-44.
The Blue Devils utilized their diversified running attack to defeat the Tornado 34-15.
In their week three outing, the Blue Devils defeated the Susquehanna Valley Sabers 40-0; snapping the Sabers 28 game win streak.
Following the win over SV, Chenango Forks took over as the longest active win streak in New York State at 16 straight wins. Despite the tall task to take on a program that has been among the most dominant teams in New York State- let alone Section IV, Norwich was motivated and ready for the challenge.
“We play to win- our kids were confident, and they were excited,” said Norwich Head Coach Mike Chrystie. “We talk about how many teams have two state champions (SV and CF) on their schedule…if you’re able to play well and upset them, no one can ever take that away from you” he added.
For the Blue Devils, it only took a few minutes for their offense to strike first as their rushing game took center stage. Forks found the end zone twice in the opening stanza as Dubbs Haqq rushed for a two yard touchdown and only minutes later Lucas Scott ran for a 28 yarder, extending the Forks’ lead to 14-0 by the quarters end.
Forks tacked on another six points late in the second period with a Ray Austin 31 yard touchdown, pushing the Blue Devils lead to 20-0.
Keeping the score close entering halftime was crucial to the Norwich game plan as the Tornado made several key adjustments during their bye-week.
“With the extra week, we really dissected the Sus Valley film, and we looked at ourselves in the mirror” said Chrystie, “We said ‘hey they didn’t just come in and beat us up we have to execute’, and we knew if we had executed that becomes one of those should’ve, could’ve, would’ve games and we didn’t want that to happen again against Chenango Forks if we had an opportunity.”
In the second half, Norwich put up a fight as the Tornado outscored Forks 15-14 over the final two quarters. In the third quarter Dubbs Haqq scored his second touchdown of the game with a 60 yard run, before Lucas Scott found the end zone for his second of the game in the fourth period TD with a three yard run to extend the Forks lead 34-0.
Norwich’s offense rallied in the final ten minutes of play; scoring all of their points in the contest. It all started with senior quarterback Griffin Mills scoring on a 59 yard run, with Carson Thornton tacking on a successful point-after attempt. The touchdown run from Mills was the first time an opposing team has scored against the Blue Devils this season.
Thornton would later find the end zone as he reeled in a nine-yard TD pass from Mills with just over a minute left to play. On the ensuing successful two-point conversion for Norwich, Mills found an open Cameron Byrne to complete the play, as Forks went onto win 34-15.
“Our kids played really hard…I was very proud that how we didn’t back down and played until the very end” said Chrystie.
Despite the loss, Coach Chrystie has a lot to be happy about as his Norwich squad was the first team to score against the Blue Devils this year, ending a 128-0 scoring streak for Forks. The Purple Tornado was also the first team to hold the high-powered Chenango Forks offense under 40 points this season.
Norwich (1-2) returns to the field on Friday, April 16 when they host the Oneonta Yellowjackets for their Senior Night at Ulrich Field with kick-off slated for 7:00pm.
Score by quarters
Norwich 0 0 0 15- 15
C. Forks 14 6 7 7 - 34
Summary:
First downs: N 6 CF 17 ;Rushes-yds: N 19- 107; CF 43 - 337 Passing; N 13-23-0, 107 yds; CF 5-8-0 37 yds. Total yards: N 214; CF 374 Punts-avg: N 5- 25.6; CF 2- -1.5 Penalties-yds. N 2-10; CF 6-60. Fumbles-lost: N 0-0; CF 2-2. Records: N 1-2; CF 4-0.
Scoring: CF, Dubbs Haqq runs for 2 (PA success); CF, Lucas Scott runs for 28 (PA success); CF, Ray Austin runs for 31 (PA failed); CF, Dubbs Haqq runs for 60 (PA Success); CF, Lucas Scott runs for 3 (PA Success); N, Griffin Mills runs for 59 (PA Success); N, Griffin Mills pass to Carson Thornton for 9 (2pt Success).
Individual Statistics
Rushing: N Griffin Mills 5-80, Evan Sylstra 9- 13, Mallachi Gaters 4-13, Cameron Byrne 1-1. CF Lucas Scott 18-112, Dubbs Haqq 6-99, Ryan Joseph 11-67, Ray Austin 1-31, Zander Arnold 4-4, Dylan Furman 2-2
Passing: N: Mills 13-23-1 107; CF: Austin 5-8-0 37.
Receiving: N: Cameron Byrne 5-48, Trent Wessels 1-33, Carson Thornton 3-15, Torin Lawrence 4-11; CF: Lucas Scott 2-44.
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