Norwich Football defeats Oneonta in final home stand of the season
ES file photo
NORWICH – Norwich didn’t look too shabby on Tuesday night, especially for not being on a field in 10 days. Yes, you read that right. It had been 10 days between practices for the Norwich Purple Tornado, as Norwich was sidelined due to the unforeseen circumstances, which has become standard turbulence during this year’s ‘Fall 2’ sports season. Nonetheless, the Tornado overcame the adversity that came before them and promptly defeated the rival Oneonta Yellowjackets on senior night 35-13, capping off NHS’ final home game of the season.
“Considering everything we’ve been through to have one practice yesterday (Monday), we did zoom meetings all week…but to have one in-person day of practice and come out the way we did, I was extremely proud of our kids” said Norwich Head Coach Mike Chrystie on the preparation leading up to the game versus Oneonta.
“I’m still trying to wrap my mind around playing a game with one day of in-person practice.”
Any concerns that Norwich would not be able to perform up to par with their opponent were quickly swept away as the Purple Tornado offense got cooking in a hurry.
Norwich quickly found the end zone as Evan Sylstra finished off a two-yard touchdown run at 7:08 in the first quarter to put Norwich up to a 7-0 lead. Senior quarterback Griffin Mills scored a 40 yard touchdown at the 10:39 mark in the second quarter to extend Norwich’s lead to 14-0, nearly two-minutes later in the period, Mills connected with Cameron Byrne on a 40 yard TD pass to make it a 21-0 score in favor of the Tornado.
Evan Sylstra once again was the go to guy for the NHS running game, scoring his second TD on the night, as he barreled through Yellowjacket defenders for another one-yard touchdown to give Norwich a massive 28-0 halftime lead over Oneonta.
“We were really efficient [on offense], just really efficient” said Norwich Head Coach Mike Chrystie.
The emotions of senior night soaked through as NHS jumped out to such a staggering lead so quickly. As it turns out all of the pregame excitement and celebration really played into Norwich’s first half offensive performance.
“To have [Oneonta] on senior night, the kids were amped up. I think they were excited. They had 10 days off from football so I think the excitement was there, the energy was there, and the enthusiasm was there” added Chrystie on the magnitude of the game for his seniors.
In the second half, nothing changed and Norwich stayed focused on its goal; win. Evan Sylstra continued his dominant offensive game in the third stanza of play as he scored his third touchdown of the game off of another one-yard run to give Norwich their largest lead of the contest 35-0. Norwich’s Carson Thornton played a key role in the Norwich offense as he went a perfect 5 for 5 on his extra-point attempts; perfectly splitting the uprights on each of his kicks.
Oneonta roared back in the fourth quarter with Kaden Halstead’s eight-yard run with just under seven minutes to play and Halstead later found Mateo Goodhue on a 12 yard TD pass with less than 30 seconds in the ballgame.
“I was extremely proud of our entire team, it was a great thing to send our seniors out with a win on senior night and it makes it extra special that it was against Oneonta” said Chrystie on his team’s Tuesday night performance.
As Norwich advances to a (2-2) record on the year, Norwich Head Coach Mike Chrystie can sleep a bit easier as the Tornado have three days of in-person practice before their next challenge; a showdown with Binghamton to conclude the ‘Fall 2’ football season at Binghamton’s Alumni Stadium on Saturday April 24th for an afternoon matinee at 1:30pm.
“It’ll be another different week, a very, very short week, but I like the fact that we’ll be able to practice in person to prepare” said Chrystie.
Score by quarters
ONEONTA 0 0 0 13- 13
NORWICH 7 21 7 0 - 35
Summary:
First downs: O 20 N 13; Rushes-yds: O 41-214; N 24-146 Passing; O 10-25-0, 93 yds; N 7-8-0, 156 yds. Total yards: O 307; N 302. Punts-avg: O 1-38; N 1- 22. Penalties-yds. O 6-65; N 4-45. Fumbles-lost: O 1-1; N 1-1. Records: O 2-3 ;N 2-2.
Scoring: N, Evan Sylstra runs for 2 yard TD (PA Success); N, Griffin Mills runs for 40 yard TD (PA Success); N, Griffin Mills pass to Cameron Byrne for 40 yard TD (PA Success); N, Evan Sylstra runs for 1 yard TD (PA Success); N, Evan Sylstra runs for 1 yard TD (PA Success); O, Kaden Halstead runs for 8 yard TD (PA Failed); O, Kaden Halstead pass to Mateo Goodhue for 12 yard TD (PA Success).
Individual Statistics
Rushing: N Griffin Mills 5-72, Evan Sylstra 15- 55, Cameron Byrne 2-16, Trent Wessels 2-3.
Passing: N: Mills 7-8-1 156; O: Halstead 10-25-1 93.
Receiving: N: Cameron Byrne 2-59, Carson Thornton 2-59, Trent Wessels 1-26, Torin Lawrence 2-12
“Considering everything we’ve been through to have one practice yesterday (Monday), we did zoom meetings all week…but to have one in-person day of practice and come out the way we did, I was extremely proud of our kids” said Norwich Head Coach Mike Chrystie on the preparation leading up to the game versus Oneonta.
“I’m still trying to wrap my mind around playing a game with one day of in-person practice.”
Any concerns that Norwich would not be able to perform up to par with their opponent were quickly swept away as the Purple Tornado offense got cooking in a hurry.
Norwich quickly found the end zone as Evan Sylstra finished off a two-yard touchdown run at 7:08 in the first quarter to put Norwich up to a 7-0 lead. Senior quarterback Griffin Mills scored a 40 yard touchdown at the 10:39 mark in the second quarter to extend Norwich’s lead to 14-0, nearly two-minutes later in the period, Mills connected with Cameron Byrne on a 40 yard TD pass to make it a 21-0 score in favor of the Tornado.
Evan Sylstra once again was the go to guy for the NHS running game, scoring his second TD on the night, as he barreled through Yellowjacket defenders for another one-yard touchdown to give Norwich a massive 28-0 halftime lead over Oneonta.
“We were really efficient [on offense], just really efficient” said Norwich Head Coach Mike Chrystie.
The emotions of senior night soaked through as NHS jumped out to such a staggering lead so quickly. As it turns out all of the pregame excitement and celebration really played into Norwich’s first half offensive performance.
“To have [Oneonta] on senior night, the kids were amped up. I think they were excited. They had 10 days off from football so I think the excitement was there, the energy was there, and the enthusiasm was there” added Chrystie on the magnitude of the game for his seniors.
In the second half, nothing changed and Norwich stayed focused on its goal; win. Evan Sylstra continued his dominant offensive game in the third stanza of play as he scored his third touchdown of the game off of another one-yard run to give Norwich their largest lead of the contest 35-0. Norwich’s Carson Thornton played a key role in the Norwich offense as he went a perfect 5 for 5 on his extra-point attempts; perfectly splitting the uprights on each of his kicks.
Oneonta roared back in the fourth quarter with Kaden Halstead’s eight-yard run with just under seven minutes to play and Halstead later found Mateo Goodhue on a 12 yard TD pass with less than 30 seconds in the ballgame.
“I was extremely proud of our entire team, it was a great thing to send our seniors out with a win on senior night and it makes it extra special that it was against Oneonta” said Chrystie on his team’s Tuesday night performance.
As Norwich advances to a (2-2) record on the year, Norwich Head Coach Mike Chrystie can sleep a bit easier as the Tornado have three days of in-person practice before their next challenge; a showdown with Binghamton to conclude the ‘Fall 2’ football season at Binghamton’s Alumni Stadium on Saturday April 24th for an afternoon matinee at 1:30pm.
“It’ll be another different week, a very, very short week, but I like the fact that we’ll be able to practice in person to prepare” said Chrystie.
Score by quarters
ONEONTA 0 0 0 13- 13
NORWICH 7 21 7 0 - 35
Summary:
First downs: O 20 N 13; Rushes-yds: O 41-214; N 24-146 Passing; O 10-25-0, 93 yds; N 7-8-0, 156 yds. Total yards: O 307; N 302. Punts-avg: O 1-38; N 1- 22. Penalties-yds. O 6-65; N 4-45. Fumbles-lost: O 1-1; N 1-1. Records: O 2-3 ;N 2-2.
Scoring: N, Evan Sylstra runs for 2 yard TD (PA Success); N, Griffin Mills runs for 40 yard TD (PA Success); N, Griffin Mills pass to Cameron Byrne for 40 yard TD (PA Success); N, Evan Sylstra runs for 1 yard TD (PA Success); N, Evan Sylstra runs for 1 yard TD (PA Success); O, Kaden Halstead runs for 8 yard TD (PA Failed); O, Kaden Halstead pass to Mateo Goodhue for 12 yard TD (PA Success).
Individual Statistics
Rushing: N Griffin Mills 5-72, Evan Sylstra 15- 55, Cameron Byrne 2-16, Trent Wessels 2-3.
Passing: N: Mills 7-8-1 156; O: Halstead 10-25-1 93.
Receiving: N: Cameron Byrne 2-59, Carson Thornton 2-59, Trent Wessels 1-26, Torin Lawrence 2-12
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