Wolverines too much for Tornado in Section IV Semi-Final
WAVERLY- After overcoming several injury plagued problems in recent weeks, the Purple Tornado prepared for a sectional playoff run. Unfortunately, Norwich ran into a buzz saw in the Section IV Class C football semi-final on Friday November 5th.
Their opponent, the Waverly Wolverines entered the game with a perfect 9-0 record with the opportunity to extend that record to 10-0; something that no Waverly football team had done in nearly 105 years. Led by the brilliance of sophomore quarterback Joey Tomasso, Waverly accomplished that goal with a 35-8 victory over Norwich at Waverly’s Memorial Stadium- while also recording the number 1 play on ESPN’s nightly televised Sportscenter top 10 plays in the process.
Waverly sure put points on the board in a hurry to open up the contest. The Wolverines’ Joey Tomasso was on a different level as he scampered into the end zone on a 28 yard run with 8:08 left to play in the first quarter. Six minutes later, Tomasso found teammate Brady Blauvelt on a 14 yard touchdown pass to put Waverly up 14-0. With 10:55 remaining in the second quarter, Tomasso found the endzone again on a 10 yard run to extend the Wolverine’s led 21-0.
“We knew that their offense was predicated on the success of Tomasso. He is a true dual threat quarterback” said Chrystie adding, “to prepare to stop a quarterback that’s dual threat is challenging. You ask any defensive coordinator what is the hardest thing to stop and it’s a quarterback that can run the ball equally as well as they can throw the ball, and Tomasso is that.”
After already not starting off the game as great as they’d hoped, Norwich was dealt another blow as senior play caller Torin Lawrence was on the receiving end of a violent hit early in the second quarter that left him shaken up and he would have to leave the ballgame temporarily. Fellow senior Trent Wessels took over as backup QB in Lawrence’s absence.
“We had the next man up mentality. But, you can only overcome so much with under 20 guys on your roster for the last game…it was challenging” said Norwich Head Coach Mike Chrystie.
Lawrence returned with two minutes remaining in the opening half and scored a much needed Tornado touchdown, followed by a Evan Sylstra 2-point conversion cut Waverly’s lead to a much more manageable 21-8 lead.
A crucial interception by Waverly’s Isiah Bretz with 39 seconds remaining in the opening half gave the host team another crack at a touchdown. As fate would hate it, Tomasso threw a 33 yard bomb to Bretz for the final score of the half; taking a 28-8 lead into halftime.
“We weren’t able to sustain anything really offensively as far as scoring. I think we were able to move the ball on them (Waverly) in the first half, but we couldn’t punch it in the endzone to kind of keep pace with them” said Chrystie on his team’s first half offensive performance.
Norwich depended on their experienced rushing attack in the second half- as running backs Mallachi Gaters and Evan Sylstra traded off rushing attempts as Tornado quarterback Torin Lawrence did not return after halftime.
Waverly put the final touches on the matchup as running back Gage Tedesco scored on a four yard run with 9:12 left to play in the third quarter, as the Wolverines advanced to the Section IV Class C final.
“I am extremely proud of how we overcame adversity, we never gave up. We continued to work hard, we continued to stay together, we continued to believe in one another and I am extremely proud of this year’s team” said Chrystie on his team’s season and the effort his players put in this fall.
Chrystie had something a little bit more special to add for his graduating senior athletes, “I appreciate everything they have given to me and the Norwich football program. They’ll be missed, this was a special group…we preach how to deal with adversity every year, but you look at this year’s senior class. Their junior and senior years of football were pretty adverse.”
Chrystie added, “They stuck with it and they stuck together and they busted their tails day in and day out to be better on the field and better off the field… this is a group because of how they handled adversity, I know they’ll be successful in life and they’ll always be a part of the Norwich football program.”
Mallachi Gaters led Norwich in rushing yards with 61. Evan Sylstra was second in rushing yard with 59, and Torin Lawrence led Norwich in passing yards with 26 while rushing for 54 yards with a touchdown. Anthony Ragonese led Norwich in receiving yards with 13 yards.
Tornado senior Trent Wessels led the Norwich defense by recording six tackles. Kyle Linger and Dominic Mirabito recorded five and four tackles respectively.
Nowich concludes the season with a record of 5-5.
Score by quarters
NORWICH- 0 8 0 0 – 8
WAVERLY- 14 14 7 0 - 35
Summary:
First downs: N 12 W 19; Rushes-yds: N 47-208; W 25-175 Passing; N 4-8-0, 23 yds; W 14-21-0, 150 yds. Total yards: N 231; W 325. Punts-avg: N 2-16; W 0-0 Penalties-yds. N 8-55; W 4-25. Fumbles-lost: N 1-0; W 0-0. Records: N 5-5; W 10-0
Scoring: W, J. Tomasso runs for 28 yard TD (R. Clark extra point-success); W, J. Tomasso 14 yard TD pass to B. Blauvelt (R. Clark extra point-success); W, J. Tomasso runs for 10 yard TD (R. Clark extra point- success); N, T. Lawrence runs for 1 yard TD (E. Sylstra 2pt conversion success); W, J. Tomasso 33 yard TD pass to I. Bretz (R. Clark extra point- success); W, G. Tedesco runs for 4 yard TD (R. Clarke extra point- success).
Individual Statistics
Rushing: N M.Gaters 13-61, E. Sylstra 15-59, T. Lawrence 9-54, T. Wessels 8-52. W J. Tomasso 6-98, G. Tedesco 5-35, J. Pipher 2-27, B. Hills 7-18, K. Bechy 2-7.
Passing: N: T. Lawrence 3-6-0-1 26 yds; T. Wessels 1-2-0-1 -3yds W J. Tomasso 14-21-2-0 150 yds
Receiving: N: A. Ragonese 3-13, T. Wessels 1-10 W B. Blauvelt 7-70, I. Bretz 2-45, J. Pipher 3-25, T. Talada 1-8, B. Hills 1-2.
Their opponent, the Waverly Wolverines entered the game with a perfect 9-0 record with the opportunity to extend that record to 10-0; something that no Waverly football team had done in nearly 105 years. Led by the brilliance of sophomore quarterback Joey Tomasso, Waverly accomplished that goal with a 35-8 victory over Norwich at Waverly’s Memorial Stadium- while also recording the number 1 play on ESPN’s nightly televised Sportscenter top 10 plays in the process.
Waverly sure put points on the board in a hurry to open up the contest. The Wolverines’ Joey Tomasso was on a different level as he scampered into the end zone on a 28 yard run with 8:08 left to play in the first quarter. Six minutes later, Tomasso found teammate Brady Blauvelt on a 14 yard touchdown pass to put Waverly up 14-0. With 10:55 remaining in the second quarter, Tomasso found the endzone again on a 10 yard run to extend the Wolverine’s led 21-0.
“We knew that their offense was predicated on the success of Tomasso. He is a true dual threat quarterback” said Chrystie adding, “to prepare to stop a quarterback that’s dual threat is challenging. You ask any defensive coordinator what is the hardest thing to stop and it’s a quarterback that can run the ball equally as well as they can throw the ball, and Tomasso is that.”
After already not starting off the game as great as they’d hoped, Norwich was dealt another blow as senior play caller Torin Lawrence was on the receiving end of a violent hit early in the second quarter that left him shaken up and he would have to leave the ballgame temporarily. Fellow senior Trent Wessels took over as backup QB in Lawrence’s absence.
“We had the next man up mentality. But, you can only overcome so much with under 20 guys on your roster for the last game…it was challenging” said Norwich Head Coach Mike Chrystie.
Lawrence returned with two minutes remaining in the opening half and scored a much needed Tornado touchdown, followed by a Evan Sylstra 2-point conversion cut Waverly’s lead to a much more manageable 21-8 lead.
A crucial interception by Waverly’s Isiah Bretz with 39 seconds remaining in the opening half gave the host team another crack at a touchdown. As fate would hate it, Tomasso threw a 33 yard bomb to Bretz for the final score of the half; taking a 28-8 lead into halftime.
“We weren’t able to sustain anything really offensively as far as scoring. I think we were able to move the ball on them (Waverly) in the first half, but we couldn’t punch it in the endzone to kind of keep pace with them” said Chrystie on his team’s first half offensive performance.
Norwich depended on their experienced rushing attack in the second half- as running backs Mallachi Gaters and Evan Sylstra traded off rushing attempts as Tornado quarterback Torin Lawrence did not return after halftime.
Waverly put the final touches on the matchup as running back Gage Tedesco scored on a four yard run with 9:12 left to play in the third quarter, as the Wolverines advanced to the Section IV Class C final.
“I am extremely proud of how we overcame adversity, we never gave up. We continued to work hard, we continued to stay together, we continued to believe in one another and I am extremely proud of this year’s team” said Chrystie on his team’s season and the effort his players put in this fall.
Chrystie had something a little bit more special to add for his graduating senior athletes, “I appreciate everything they have given to me and the Norwich football program. They’ll be missed, this was a special group…we preach how to deal with adversity every year, but you look at this year’s senior class. Their junior and senior years of football were pretty adverse.”
Chrystie added, “They stuck with it and they stuck together and they busted their tails day in and day out to be better on the field and better off the field… this is a group because of how they handled adversity, I know they’ll be successful in life and they’ll always be a part of the Norwich football program.”
Mallachi Gaters led Norwich in rushing yards with 61. Evan Sylstra was second in rushing yard with 59, and Torin Lawrence led Norwich in passing yards with 26 while rushing for 54 yards with a touchdown. Anthony Ragonese led Norwich in receiving yards with 13 yards.
Tornado senior Trent Wessels led the Norwich defense by recording six tackles. Kyle Linger and Dominic Mirabito recorded five and four tackles respectively.
Nowich concludes the season with a record of 5-5.
Score by quarters
NORWICH- 0 8 0 0 – 8
WAVERLY- 14 14 7 0 - 35
Summary:
First downs: N 12 W 19; Rushes-yds: N 47-208; W 25-175 Passing; N 4-8-0, 23 yds; W 14-21-0, 150 yds. Total yards: N 231; W 325. Punts-avg: N 2-16; W 0-0 Penalties-yds. N 8-55; W 4-25. Fumbles-lost: N 1-0; W 0-0. Records: N 5-5; W 10-0
Scoring: W, J. Tomasso runs for 28 yard TD (R. Clark extra point-success); W, J. Tomasso 14 yard TD pass to B. Blauvelt (R. Clark extra point-success); W, J. Tomasso runs for 10 yard TD (R. Clark extra point- success); N, T. Lawrence runs for 1 yard TD (E. Sylstra 2pt conversion success); W, J. Tomasso 33 yard TD pass to I. Bretz (R. Clark extra point- success); W, G. Tedesco runs for 4 yard TD (R. Clarke extra point- success).
Individual Statistics
Rushing: N M.Gaters 13-61, E. Sylstra 15-59, T. Lawrence 9-54, T. Wessels 8-52. W J. Tomasso 6-98, G. Tedesco 5-35, J. Pipher 2-27, B. Hills 7-18, K. Bechy 2-7.
Passing: N: T. Lawrence 3-6-0-1 26 yds; T. Wessels 1-2-0-1 -3yds W J. Tomasso 14-21-2-0 150 yds
Receiving: N: A. Ragonese 3-13, T. Wessels 1-10 W B. Blauvelt 7-70, I. Bretz 2-45, J. Pipher 3-25, T. Talada 1-8, B. Hills 1-2.
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