Game 2 - 2011 Chenango Forks Varsity Football

Game 2 vs Greene
Greene spoils the Blue Devils home opener 21-0
Just the second divisional loss since 2000

Articles courtesy of the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

Greene manhandles Chenango Forks
Blanked Blue Devils kept out of red zone until last series

TOWN OF CHENANGO -- Greene defended Chenango Forks into four turnovers and limited the Blue Devils to 120 rushing yards Monday in a 21-0 football victory.

Dan Dickman, Cole Browning and Jeff Carlin scored a touchdown apiece for the Trojans, who limited Forks to 3.3 yards per rushing attempt and did not turn over the ball on their way to the Division V triumph.

The Blue Devils snapped the football three times inside Greene's 20-yard line -- on their final three offensive plays, last of which resulted in an interception.

The lead was Greene's for keeps once Dickman rushed 2 yards for a score with 7:45 elapsed, nine plays after Forks lost a fumble at its 36-yard line.

Seven Greene ball carriers rushed for a collective 180 yards, seven times gaining two-digit yardage. The production was largely attributable to work done by tackles Isaiah Webb and Dan Haskell, guards Garrett Huttleson and Trevor Flohr, and center Chris Kehoe, who average a stout 254 yards per teen-ager.

"Up front, our guys made a commitment to the weight room this past offseason," Trojans coach Tim Paske said. "We have a good crew up there and they believe in each other. We talk about going one play at a time, one first down at a time. We know that up front if we come off the football, we're going to make yardage."

Chenango Forks (1-1) trailed by 7-0 to begin the third quarter, and forced Greene to punt from its 35-yard line after gaining one first down. The punt, however, strayed beyond Forks' deep safety and was downed by the Trojans at the 12-yard line.

On the Devils' third play of possession, a pitch gone awry was recovered by Greene's Keegan Cerwinski at the 16. After three plays netted zero yards -- and the Trojans pounced on a fumble of their own -- Joe Beckwith found Browning with a fourth-and-10 pass just across the goal line on the visitors' side of the field with 4:50 to play in the quarter. Tim Gell's PAT kick made it 14-0.

Forks proceeded to drive 23 yards on seven plays to Greene's 48-yard line, but the Trojans' Ricky Carbone felled Joe Aston after a 1-yard gain on fourth-and-2.

Two plays later, Greene's Mike Beckwith tore off on a 25-yard rush that started inside to advance to Forks' 26-yard line on the final play of the third quarter.

Five consecutive rushes brought the football to Forks' 15, from which point Carlin headed off on a run to his left and crossed the goal line standing for the final TD with 8:39 remaining.

Mike Beckwith's 67 yards came on six carries and topped Greene rushers, three of his second-half runs going for 18 or more yards.

"The nice thing is, our five offensive linemen only play on offense," Paske said. "That really keeps our guys fresh. Through four quarters it's a long game, and (Forks) had a lot of guys going two ways. I think that makes a big difference."

Of the Trojans' effectiveness rushing inside, Blue Devils coach David Hogan said, "I guess you'd have to attribute that to their offensive line. On the trap up the middle, it looked like they were moving us, typically."

Hogan added, "There was no doubt that today they were the better team, in all phases of the game; there's no doubt about that."

Carlin and Dickman intercepted a pass apiece, the latter to squelch a screen pass on Forks' final offensive play.

Forks had beaten Greene by an aggregate 54-14 the previous two seasons, but the Trojans reversed that trend impressively in a game originally scheduled to be played Saturday but postponed as result of flooding.

"We had two practices, Saturday and Sunday, and Saturday I was nervous because it was ugly," Paske said. "Three days off, guys were a little lethargic. Sunday was a lot better when guys were focused, and we came out and did it."