2007 Chenango Forks Varsity Football
Game
2 vs Corning West
Blue Devils heat up
Corning West 28-6!
Now four-for-four vs the
Vikings!
Articles courtesy of the
Binghamton Press &
Sun-Bulletin, Corning's The Leader and the Elmira Star-gazette
Place mouse over photos to
read captions
Photo credits - none
| to Game 1 - Maine-Endwell |
to Game 3 - Corning East |
|
Forks grinds out victory over
Corning West
TOWN OF CHENANGO --
An afterthought in the running
attack last week, Joe Aston was front and center
Saturday for Chenango Forks for the Blue Devils
on Saturday.
Aston rushed for 159 yards and a
touchdown, and Nick Stephens added two touchdown
runs as Forks rolled to a 28-6 victory over
Corning West in a non-league football game.
Tim Zdimal also had a touchdown run for Forks (2-0), which is now 2-for-2 in its season-opening three-game trek through Section 4 Class A competition. The Blue Devils visit Corning East on Friday. Aston, who had a mere six carries for 18 yards last week in Forks' 21-0 victory over Maine-Endwell, established himself early and often in Saturday's victory over West. His 60-yard run on Forks' opening drive -- the last 50 yards coming after a great block by Stephens -- put the Blue Devils deep in West territory, and three plays later Aston scored from 3 yards out to put Forks up 7-0 with 8:04 left in the first quarter. In the third quarter, Aston's 24-yard run highlighted a seven-play drive that ended with the first of Stephens' two touchdown runs, a 3-yarder that put Forks up 21-6 with 5:17 left. Aston then had runs of 14, 11, 15, and 7 yards on Forks' final scoring drive, one capped by a 4-yard run by Stephens with 7:29 left in the fourth quarter that made it 28-6. "Very rarely was (Joe) brought down on the first contact," Forks coach Kelsey Green said. "He ran hard, broke a lot of tackles, and we got some good blocks downfield. "You put those things together, you'll get some yardage." Aston's performance highlighted a Forks' offensive rushing attack that racked up 286 yards, a far better showing than the 189 rushing yards by the Blue Devils in their victory over Maine-Endwell. Stephens chipped in with 57 rushing yards for the second straight week. "Our offensive line, in a week has taken a step forward," Green said. "It was nice, our backs got a little running, we didn't have that room last week." West was limited to 136 yards of offense by the Blue Devils defense. A big reason for that was the absence of CW starting quarterback Austin Rose, who was knocked out of the game with a jammed thumb shortly after his 12-yard touchdown pass to Steven Hanshaw with 1:28 left in the first quarter brought the Vikings within 7-6. Still, West was in position to tie when Stephens fumbled on Forks' opening drive of the second half, giving the Vikings the ball on the Forks' 32-yard line, trailing 14-6. The Vikings drove to the Forks' 18, but on third-and-8 backup quarterback Aaric Ross was called for intentional grounding, resulting in a 17-yard loss. On fourth-and-25 at the Forks' 35, Ross was sacked by Judson DuBois. Forks then scored on its ensuing possession to take a 21-6 lead. "We talked all halftime about our first drive (of the second half), well, our first drive was one play," Green said. "It's about having poise and experienced kids, and we played great defense in the second half." Without its coach and QB, West falls to Forks
By Stephen P. Jensen
Special to the
Star-Gazette
CHENANGO -- By
midway through the second
quarter of Corning West's battle
with perennial state-title
contender Chenango Forks on
Saturday, the Vikings had lost
starting quarterback Austin
Rose, as well as head coach Mike
Johnston.
Rose was
sidelined with what he believed
to be a dislocated right thumb
on his throwing hand. Meanwhile,
Johnston had bigger concerns --
he received a cell phone message
from a guy along the West
sideline who said, as he bolted
toward the coach, "Just got a
call ... her water broke," as
Johnston's wife, Sara, went into
labor with the couple's second
child.
Physical
conditioning may have been the
story on a hot and humid
afternoon as Johnston raced to
his wife's side. His team was
left without a head coach and
with an empty tank, perhaps as
early as halftime, as his
Corning West squad (1-1) lost
28-6 to the Blue Devils (2-0).
After West gained
284 rushing yards against Dryden
in its season opener, the
Vikings managed just 122 yards
on the ground Saturday, and a
scant 42 total yards of offense
after intermission. The loss of
the red-headed Rose appeared to
be a major factor.
Forks took just
six plays to strike first when
Joe Aston went up the gut for a
3-yard score and an eventual
Devils 7-0 lead. But West used
an impressive 13-play, 71-yard
drive over 6:29 of the first
quarter to get nearly even. Rose
ran for two first downs on runs
of 14 and 11 yards, then
connected with Steven Hanshaw on
a 12-yard scoring strike.
Gregory Riff's point-after kick
clanked off the right upright,
and West trailed just 7-6.
Then Rose wilted.
On the second
play of Forks' second
possession, Rose, who doubles as
West's free safety, was involved
on a short Forks gain, and his
day was finished.
"I was involved
in the tackle and I think I
dislocated my wrist," said Rose,
who added that he was headed to
the hospital after the game. He
was ever optimistic. "Dr. Mauer
(teammate Ben Mauer's dad, Dr.
Mark Mauer of Guthrie Clinic)
tried putting my thumb back in
place. It hurt ... I think it'll
be OK. Maybe a couple days out
of practice."
Meanwhile, Forks
pounded away on the ground,
spending 46 of its 53 plays on
the grass, where the Devils
racked up 274 yards. Nick
Stephens gained 107 of them,
including two touchdowns, Joe
Aston added 98 yards and a
score.
"We knew, coming
into the season, that we'd have
to be in top condition,
especially for days like this,"
said Aston, acknowledging the
oppressive humidity. "That's why
we put in those early
two-a-days."
Jeff Edwards,
West's defensive coordinator,
took over when Johnston left.
"Those two losses
(Rose and Johnston) on offense
are huge, especially when you're
playing a state
championship-caliber team like
Forks that's well-coached and
well-conditioned," Edwards said.
"Aston had a day on us, both
inside and out, but they have so
many weapons, and they're so
well-coached."
Place mouse over photos to
read captions |
| 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | Tot | ||
| Chenango Forks | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | - | 28 |
| Corning West | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 6 |
- CF - Joe Aston 3 run (Rob Lumsden kick)
- CW - Steven Hanshaw 12 pass from Austin Rose (kick failed)
- CF - Tim Zdimal 4 run (Lumsden kick)
- CF - Nick Stephens 3 run (Lumsden kick)
- CF - Stephens 6 run (Lumsden kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
| Corning West | CF | |
| First Downs | 10 | 19 |
| Rushes-Yards | 40-122 | 46-286 |
| Passing Yards | 14 | 60 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 2-8-1 | 4-7-0 |
| Total Offense | 48-136 | 53-346 |
| Punts-Ave yards | 3-34.3 | 2-24.0 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 2-1 | 1-1 |
| Penalties-Yards | 6-52 | 3-25 |
| . |
|
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Corning West rushing
Chenango Forks rushing
Corning West passing
Chenango Forks passing
Corning West receiving
Chenango Forks receiving:
JV Score: Corning West 40, Chenango Forks 6 Preview
Tidbit from Binghamton paper:
Chenango Forks will be home at 1:30 Saturday to face Corning West. Both won openers by three-TD margins, Forks over Maine-Endwell and West over Dryden.
Corning West gained 216 of its 284 rushing yards after halftime against Dryden, with Austin Norvel's eight carries for 116 yards leading the way. The last time the Blue Devils hosted one of Section 4's western-most members, Corning East halted Forks win streaks of 55 games against Section 4 opposition and 27 games on its home field. Preview Article from Corning paper: West football has tough test vs. Forks
By Bob Benz - The Leader
Although the season openers for both Corning East and Corning West got off to shaky starts last week, the Trojans and Vikings are each 1-0 after amending early-game woes to pull away and win comfortably.
Both teams were held scoreless and trailed after the first quarter by scores of 7-0 and 6-0, respectively. However, the Trojans and Vikings each followed their slow starts with four unanswered touchdowns to win going away, 29-7 and 28-6, respectively.
This week, each will try to ride that momentum to 2-0 starts as both Crystal City schools remain on the road in Week 2.
The defending Class A state champion Trojans will visit Elmira Southside - a team East has owned in recent years - at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
West's task figures to be significantly more difficult as the Vikings will travel to play perennial state power Chenango Forks at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Blue Devils, whose current run of six straight sectional titles includes a pair of state titles in 2004 and 2003, opened the season with a 21-0 shutout of Maine-Endwell.
Quarterback Jake Reynolds rushed for a game-high 78 yards and one touchdown on 11 carries, while also connecting with 6-foot-4 split end Garrett Cade for a 36-yard touchdown pass. Cade caught two passes for 65 yards in the win.
"They're big and physical, they've got great speed in the backfield, they've got the Cade kid," West head coach Mike Johnston said.
Although Maine-Endwell managed 200 yards of total offense against Chenango Forks, the Blue Devils kept the Spartans out of the end zone.
"Their defense is stellar," Johnston said. "They play a 5-2 old school and they're very disciplined and they're very physical."
Against Dryden last week, West amassed 317 yards of total offense, 299 of which came on the ground. Travis McGown rushed for 117 yards and scored on a 61-yard TD run that gave the Vikings an eight-point lead early in the third quarter. West also got 83 yards from Austin Norvel, who gave the Vikings an insurance score after finding pay dirt from 44 yards away later in the third.
Defensively, West pitched a shutout after the second quarter against Dryden. Johnston knows he'll need an even better effort against Forks.
"We've got to slow them down defensively," Johnston said. "I don't know that you can ever stop a good offensive team like they are. You've got to slow them down and make them work for every drive. I think offensively, we've got to mix what we do, run and pass. We've got to give people some opportunities with our blocking up front. I think the line of scrimmage is definitely going to be a key as far as who controls the line of scrimmage will have the upper hand as far as winning the ball game."
It will be just the fourth meeting between West and Chenango Forks, as the teams last met in 2000, when the Blue Devils came away with a 7-0 victory. The Vikings are still looking for their first-ever win in the all-time series.
Post-game
Article:
|
