INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Elmira Notre Dame rushing:  

• Norton 9-24
• Mirando 8-19
• Coseo 10-17
• Manuel 3-3
• Hitchcock 1-1
• Hoppe 1-1

Chenango Forks rushing:  

• Batty 18-69, 1 TD
• Babcock 16-66, 2 TDs
• O'Branski 7-39
• Farnham 2-17
• Chier 3-7

Elmira Notre Dame passing

• Coseo 18-for-24, 192 yards, 3 TD, 1 int
• Burris 3-for-6, 41 yards, 1 int. 

Chenango Forks passing: 

• Batty 1-for-1, 20 yards

Elmira Notre Dame receiving: 

• Manuel 7-80, 2 TDs
• Peworchik 6-70
• Dougherty 5-42, 1 TD
• Coseo 3-41

Chenango Forks receiving:  

• Farnham 1-20

JV Score: CF 43-12

Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin game article-    

Elmira Star-Gazette game article-    

Turnovers cost ND against state power

SOUTHPORT -- Chenango Forks converted three Notre Dame miscues into scores on the way to a 28-21 win in a Section 4 Division 4 showdown Friday night at Brewer Memorial Field.

The Blue Devils struck twice in the first half after Notre Dame throwing errors and scored the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter after recovering a fumble on the Notre Dame 20-yard line.

The loss negated a sterling passing performance by Notre Dame senior Matt Coseo, who hit Zack Manuel for an 18-yard first-quarter pass and run to open the scoring, then hit Manuel on a 13-yard scoring toss in the second to tie the game at 14-14 just before halftime. Manuel caught seven passes for 83 yards. Also for Notre Dame (5-1, 1-1), Tyler Peworchik caught six for 67 yards.

"That's the best team I've played in my career," said Coseo, who completed 18 of 24 passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns. "But it came down to turnovers and we made a lot. We kept fighting, but we gave them the ball in our end too many times."

For division-leading Chenango Forks (6-0, 2-0), the first score came when defensive end Zach Vredenburgh tipped a Coseo pass. Vredenburgh batted the ball into the air, caught it on the run and skipped into the end zone from 11 yards out.

On its next possession, Notre Dame lost the ball on a controversial call that left Notre Dame coaches fuming and led to Forks' second score.

On the play, Coseo turned to pass into the left flat. The ball was batted again, by defensive end Nick Tarnowski, but this time it wasn't caught. Tarnowski covered the ball, but it looked like an incomplete forward pass. The officials ruled the pass a lateral and Forks got the ball on the Crusaders' 9-yard line. Fullback Joe Babcock scored on a 6-yard run three plays later.

"All week we've been practicing that, when they have a guy split out, you come in with your hands up," Tarnowski said. "I put my hand up, it hit me in the elbow, I kept running and got the ball. I couldn't even see (if the ball was ahead of the line of scrimmage). I just stuck my hand up."

Forks, which is ranked second in the state in Class B, started the second half with Tim O'Branski returning the opening kickoff 40 yards to near midfield. From there, junior quarterback Tim Batty ran five straight times, including a 37-yarder, and scored from the 1 to give Forks the lead.

Notre Dame tied the game just before the end of the third quarter on a 6-yard pass from Coseo to tight end Kellen Dougherty. Peworchik's kick made the score 21-21.

On Forks' first possession of the final period, Josh Hammer sacked Batty for a 10-yard loss, and on the next play senior tackle John Lattimer caught Ben Farnham 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage to force a punt.

But on Notre Dame's next series, Coseo rolled right, was sacked by Steve Sampson and the ball squirted out. It was recovered by Babcock on the 20. Four plays later Babcock scored on another 6-yard run. Batty's kick made it 28-21.

One last drive by Notre Dame ended with an intercepted pass at Forks' 26 with less than 2 minutes to play.

"I'm proud of our kids, because they didn't give up after after those two bad plays in the first half," Notre Dame coach Mike D'Aloisio said. "All we had to do was win the second half, but we shot ourselves in the foot on our last two drives. We moved the ball on them, but we didn't do it when we had to do it."

Photo caption/credits - REBECCA TOWNS/Star-Gazette
Notre Dame's Zack Manuel dives for yardage as Forks' Matt Stephens closes in.

Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin pre-game article- 

Football: Tough Forks to face speedy Elmira ND

BY KEVIN STEVENS
Press & Sun-Bulletin

That Chenango Forks and Elmira Notre Dame would bring unblemished records into Week 6 of the high school football season may have seemed unlikely back in the dog days of preseason camp.

Then again ...

"I think, tradition doesn't graduate," said Notre Dame coach Mike D'Aloisio, uttering words that apply to both programs. "The kids have confidence in what they're doing and they don't want to be the ones to let anybody down. They want to work hard to find a way to win and get the 'W'.

" ... Forks and Notre Dame are similar in that, they don't come to play, they come to win -- and expect to win. We've (both) been there quite a few times. These are two programs that have done it over the long haul."

The teams will meet at 7 tonight at Notre Dame for a contest that will give the winner a leg up on the Division IV race. Both are 1-0 in divisional play.

Forks is the bigger and stronger of the two, and would be perfectly content wearing down Crusaders defenders with what has become trademark 12-play scoring drives. Conversely, Notre Dame's aim is to offset Forks' superior muscle by identifying and capitalizing on mismatches that accentuate its speed and quickness.

Notre Dame has lost the services of senior back Ryan Goetz, who'd averaged nearly 200 yards of offense per game. D'Aloisio said Goetz has been dismissed from the team for violating school rules.

"I don't think there's much question that Goetz was the best of the bunch, but from there there's not a big step down," said Forks coach Kelsey Green, who proceeded to identify running back Micah Norton, quarterback Matt Coseo, fullbacks Jesse Hoppe and Jared Mirando as capable and productive offensive forces.

"And some of those same kids play defense with that same speed," Green said.

Forks' offense is led by quarterback Tim Batty and fullback Joe Babcock, the latter having rushed for a 122.4-yard average through five games.

"They have Babcock, who can hurt you inside," D'Aloisio said. "And they've got Batty, who can hurt you outside. And if you concentrate just on the option, they've got (Zach) Vredenburgh, who can blow by you.

"They've got all the pieces to the puzzle, and it all starts with a good line surge."

Elmira Star-Gazette pre-game article-    

Notre Dame hosts Forks in clash of unbeatens

Chenango Forks, the New York state Class B runner-up the last two seasons, hasn't lost a football game to a Section 4 opponent in three years.

Notre Dame has a chance to end that streak tonight, but more importantly the Crusaders can put themselves in the driver's seat for the Section 4 Division 4 championship. The winner of tonight's battle of 5-0 teams will gain sole possession of first place in the division.

With all of Forks' credentials, including a No. 2 state Class B ranking this year, Notre Dame is sure to have its hands full.

"They're a big, physical team that's very disciplined, especially on the defensive side of the ball," Notre Dame coach Mike D'Aloisio said.

"We're more of a finesse team. We're not as big. We're not going to be bigger than anybody we play. We'll have to try to outexecute them and outfinesse them."

Notre Dame will be without leading rusher Ryan Goetz, a senior speedster who was suspended for the rest of the season last week for violating school and team rules. Goetz, a third-team Class B all-state pick last year, was second in Section 4 this season with 162 rushing yards per game.

His loss puts the rushing burden on Micah Norton and Jared Mirando, who have responded when called on this season.

Whether it's on the ground or through the air, the key for the Crusaders tonight will be finding a way to score on a Chenango Forks defense that has surrendered just 21 points and has three shutouts.

"Defensively, they've put up a lot of goose eggs," D'Aloisio said. "We hope to move the ball against them and do things to cause confusion in their defensive assignments and try to slow them down offensively."

Chenango Forks finds new offensive threats in beating Elmira Notre Dame

Chenango Forks became a better football team Friday night, and not simply by virtue of its 28-21 road victory over previously unbeaten Elmira Notre Dame.

The Blue Devils, 6-0 and ranked second in Class B by the New York State Sports Writers Association, had captured their first five wins by playing stout defense and basing their offense squarely on the shoulders of quarterback Tim Batty and fullback Joe Babcock.

Against the Crusaders, Forks diversified its offense -- with Grade-A results.

"I wanted to balance us up a little more than we had been," coach Kelsey Green said. "We ran the ball 50 times (the previous week against Dryden) and 40-some were Tim and Joe. Which is OK, but you're really putting some wear and tear on a kid, and we've got some other good kids, too.

"So, we did some things during the week and I said, 'Heck, we're going to do these things.'"

On Friday, running backs Tim O'Branski, Ben Farnham and Jason Chier made their way into the offensive mix, taking some of the carries that previously may have gone to Babcock. That trio accounted for a 5 1/4-yards-per-carry average. O'Branski was particularly effective, with a personal string a three consecutive first-half rushes going for 10 or more yards.

Babcock appeared especially fresh in the fourth quarter, when he rushed eight times for 40 yards and a touchdown.

Of course, Batty remains threat No. 1, as he demonstrated by monopolizing the football during a five-play, 53-yard scoring drive to open the second half.

"It was Tim running the option," Green said. "He could have given, he could have pitched or he could have kept -- I like him keeping," Green said.

The Blue Devils' defense, though fairly well lit up by Notre Dame's passing game, came through with several timely big plays -- one for a touchdown (Zach Vredenburgh's interception return) and two others to set up scores.

"Three turnovers for three scores, and they got one score off a turnover. That probably sort of sums up why we won and they lost. That was probably the biggest thing."

Notre Dame quarterback Matt Coseo said: "That's the best team I've played in my career. It came down to turnovers and we made a lot. We kept fighting, but we gave them the ball in our end too many times."

For those who may have lost track, Forks has compiled a 30-2 record beginning with Game 1 of the 2001 season, and is perfect against Section 4 competition over that stretch.