Football: Norwich overpowered by M-E in semi-finals
The Norwich Purple Tornado football team team faced off against Maine-Endwell for the second time in two weeks. Norwich suffered the 38-7 loss in the semi-finals game. (Submitted Photo)
MAINE-ENDWELL - On Saturday, the Norwich Purple Tornado made the trip to Maine-Endwell to face off against the Spartans for the second time in two weeks. Norwich lost 56-20 in the final regular season game last Friday. This time in the Section IV, Class B semi-finals, the two-time defending state champions won on their home turf 38-7.
"We play to play these teams, especially in big games,” Norwich’s head coach Mike Chrystie said. “We played hard and never gave up. We had a lot of guys step up and we hung together and won the second half.”
Chrystie’s team, who were familiar with the Spartans’ game plan from the past week, didn’t have a lot of time to prepare, but made a few adjustments to give themselves a better feel this time around. Maine-Endwell had scored all but three points in the first half before kicking a field goal in the third quarter. Norwich added their seven points on the board late in the fourth quarter off a hand-off to Braden Hagenbuch, who carried the ball 10 yards for the score. Norwich’s second half of play excelled with outscoring the Spartans 7-3, but Maine-Endwell had hyped up the pressure and made due with the work already done in the first half.
The Spartans continued to be dominant with their run game, stacking up 418 rushing yards with their overall total of 515 offensive yards, compared to Norwich’s 153.
Norwich’s Steven Dowdall led the team with 41 rushing yards and threw six completions for a 86 yards. Hagenbuch finished with nine carries for 19 yards while Richard Fuller caught three passes for 58 yards. Tiernan Lindsay led the defense with seven tackles on the day.
While it wasn’t the outcome Norwich wanted, the Purple Tornado proved that they continue to be contenders and a perennial playoff team year in and year out. Norwich’s losses on the season came from teams that are playing for a sectional title, so that only shows how tough of a schedule Norwich has and the competition that they fought through this season.
“At the end of the day, I am proud of this group, who overcame a lot of adversity with injuries and still achieved so much, even beating Windsor, the 11th ranked team in the State,” Chrystie said. “This team stayed together and continued to bring a positive culture to this football program.”
Chrystie will miss the seniors (Sandler Montgomery, Spencer Root, Richard Fuller, Holden Ryan, Colin Olds, Gabe Blenis, Zavier Bucksbee, Patrick White, and Dakota Andrial) and their leadership to this team. They leave behind a standard for the underclassmen to follow.
The underclassmen, which included 10 sophomores stepping up in key positions when needed, gave Chrystie optimism for the future of the Norwich football program as they gained valuable varsity experience. Chrystie is looking forward to a great offseason ahead.
Great season, Norwich and best of luck to the Seniors.
Score by Quarters: NO 0 0 0 7–7
ME 21 14 3 0–38
Scoring Plays: M-E (1st Qtr): Austyn Nyschot one-yard run. Touchdown. Jack Hennessey’s kick is good.
M-E (1st Qtr): Nyschot hand-off to Landon Rollo- four yard gain- Touchdown. Hennessey’s kick is good.
M-E (1st Qtr): Nyschot hand-off to Vincent Mancini-one-yard gain-Touchdown. Hennessey’s kick is good.
M-E (2nd Qtr) : Nyschot hand-off to Jaden Branch-54 yard gain-Touchdown. Hennessey’s kick is good.
M-E (2nd Qtr): Nyschot hand-off to Tyler Matthews- 80 yard gain-Touchdown. Hennessey’s kick is good.
M-E (3rd Qtr): Jack Hennessey’s 23 yard field goal is good.
Norwich (4th Qtr): Steven Dowdall hand-off to Braden Hagenbuch-10 yard gain. Spencer Root’s kick is good.
Maine-Endwell 38 - Norwich 7
Norwich-Total Yards - 153 (67 rushing and 86 passing)
Maine-Endwell- Total Yards - 515 (418 rushing and 97 passing).
"We play to play these teams, especially in big games,” Norwich’s head coach Mike Chrystie said. “We played hard and never gave up. We had a lot of guys step up and we hung together and won the second half.”
Chrystie’s team, who were familiar with the Spartans’ game plan from the past week, didn’t have a lot of time to prepare, but made a few adjustments to give themselves a better feel this time around. Maine-Endwell had scored all but three points in the first half before kicking a field goal in the third quarter. Norwich added their seven points on the board late in the fourth quarter off a hand-off to Braden Hagenbuch, who carried the ball 10 yards for the score. Norwich’s second half of play excelled with outscoring the Spartans 7-3, but Maine-Endwell had hyped up the pressure and made due with the work already done in the first half.
The Spartans continued to be dominant with their run game, stacking up 418 rushing yards with their overall total of 515 offensive yards, compared to Norwich’s 153.
Norwich’s Steven Dowdall led the team with 41 rushing yards and threw six completions for a 86 yards. Hagenbuch finished with nine carries for 19 yards while Richard Fuller caught three passes for 58 yards. Tiernan Lindsay led the defense with seven tackles on the day.
While it wasn’t the outcome Norwich wanted, the Purple Tornado proved that they continue to be contenders and a perennial playoff team year in and year out. Norwich’s losses on the season came from teams that are playing for a sectional title, so that only shows how tough of a schedule Norwich has and the competition that they fought through this season.
“At the end of the day, I am proud of this group, who overcame a lot of adversity with injuries and still achieved so much, even beating Windsor, the 11th ranked team in the State,” Chrystie said. “This team stayed together and continued to bring a positive culture to this football program.”
Chrystie will miss the seniors (Sandler Montgomery, Spencer Root, Richard Fuller, Holden Ryan, Colin Olds, Gabe Blenis, Zavier Bucksbee, Patrick White, and Dakota Andrial) and their leadership to this team. They leave behind a standard for the underclassmen to follow.
The underclassmen, which included 10 sophomores stepping up in key positions when needed, gave Chrystie optimism for the future of the Norwich football program as they gained valuable varsity experience. Chrystie is looking forward to a great offseason ahead.
Great season, Norwich and best of luck to the Seniors.
Score by Quarters: NO 0 0 0 7–7
ME 21 14 3 0–38
Scoring Plays: M-E (1st Qtr): Austyn Nyschot one-yard run. Touchdown. Jack Hennessey’s kick is good.
M-E (1st Qtr): Nyschot hand-off to Landon Rollo- four yard gain- Touchdown. Hennessey’s kick is good.
M-E (1st Qtr): Nyschot hand-off to Vincent Mancini-one-yard gain-Touchdown. Hennessey’s kick is good.
M-E (2nd Qtr) : Nyschot hand-off to Jaden Branch-54 yard gain-Touchdown. Hennessey’s kick is good.
M-E (2nd Qtr): Nyschot hand-off to Tyler Matthews- 80 yard gain-Touchdown. Hennessey’s kick is good.
M-E (3rd Qtr): Jack Hennessey’s 23 yard field goal is good.
Norwich (4th Qtr): Steven Dowdall hand-off to Braden Hagenbuch-10 yard gain. Spencer Root’s kick is good.
Maine-Endwell 38 - Norwich 7
Norwich-Total Yards - 153 (67 rushing and 86 passing)
Maine-Endwell- Total Yards - 515 (418 rushing and 97 passing).
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