| ... |
2014
Chenango Forks Varsity Football
Game
11 vs Utica Notre Dame
Blue Devils 57,
Jugglers 14
CF Wins Its'
11th NYSPHSAA Central Region Football Championship
Articles courtesy of the
Binghamton Press &
Sun-Bulletin, Utica Observer-Dispatch
and the Syracuse Post-Standard
Blue Devils dominant in quarters triumph
Kevin Stevens, kstevens@pressconnects.com
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
CICERO — Chenango Forks thumped Utica
Notre Dame early and didn’t ease up Saturday in a
57-14 romp past the Jugglers in a Class C state
football quarterfinal at Cicero-North Syracuse High
School.
Most Valuable Player Jack Sherwood
rushed for 139 yards and three touchdowns, and
passed for another score as the Blue Devils improved
to a 10-1 record. Sophomore L.J. Watson rushed for
91 yards and scored on a pair of dazzling efforts.
Notre Dame (9-2), a state playoff
participant for the first time in 15 years, looked
every bit the postseason greenhorn in the face of
Forks’ reigning state champions.
The Blue Devils turned their first
four possessions into touchdowns, and
along the way gobbled up a
Jugglers turnover and struck for a defensive score.
“You can get anything when you
play in the state playoffs,” Sherwood said. “They
haven’t been here in a while so that definitely
could have accounted for it, but we had a really
good game on top of that, too.”
Pretty good?
Forks rushed for 399 yards, did
not punt and led by 44 points five minutes into the
third quarter — against a fifth-ranked squad that
came in on a five-game win streak. The reward is a
semifinal berth opposite unbeaten Section 6 champion
Maple Grove/Chautauqua Lake in what will be a
contest pitting New York’s firstand second-ranked
Class C teams.
It was a score by Sherwood late in
the first half that erased any doubt as to which
team would advance.
Notre Dame’s Jerome Brabham was
the fortunate recipient of a deflected football in
the middle of the field and his heads-up work made
for a 69-yard touchdown reception 3:25 before
halftime. That made it a 29-6 difference and put a
bit of bounce back in the Jugglers’ step. Ever so
briefly, that is.
On the next play from scrimmage,
from the 31yard line, Sherwood kept the ball on an
option and started between the tackles. With more
than adequate blocking helping the cause, he worked
his way into freedom and drifted toward the left
sideline to win a race across the goal line.
Notre Dame goes 69 yards for a
quick lift, only to be answered by Sherwood’s
69-yarder 19 seconds later.
From there, it was a mere
formality through intermittent snow showers.
“They were biting on the mid-line
the whole day, that’s probably what they wanted to
do,” Sherwood said. “They were tackling the
fullback, I pulled it and went right up the middle.
We had some great blocks, I made a couple cuts and I
was able to outrun their kids.” But Play of the
Game? That was turned in by Watson, and brought the
day’s second touchdown.
Two snaps after Watson made a
diving interception near midfield, he took a pitch
toward the Devils’ sideline on a play that appeared
headed for a whole lot of nothing. Instead, Watson
patiently worked forward, spun out of trouble once —
then a second time — to make his way through a pack
of defenders and complete a 45-yard scoring run.
“There was nothing there, I just spun back and saw a
hole,” he said. “I got through there somehow, got
into the end zone.”
“We call it Quick Pitch Right,”
coach David Hogan said. “There were people outside
the end. He spun off one of the outside would-be
tacklers and I think he broke another tackle and the
next thing you know he was off to the races. It was
beautiful.”
Tony Silvanic — perfect on seven
PAT’s for the afternoon — made it 15-0 with 2:12
left in the opening quarter.
The difference grew to three TDs
when Ryan Bronson chased down a free football after
Jugglers QB Kevin Warmack muffed a shotgun snap, and
raced the remaining 30-plus yards for a score with
39.2 seconds to play in the quarter. That was one of
myriad defensive contributions made by Bronson, who
belted one ball carrier after another after another.
Forks’ defense as a whole turned
in a superlative showing, limiting third-season QB
Warmack — who’d rushed for 632 yards the previous
two weekends — to 74 yards.
A 24-yard Sherwoodto- Robert Story
pass play covered the biggest chunk on a 60-yard
drive for the Devils’ fourth touchdown, and then
came the telltale exchange of 69-yard blows that
served to deflate Notre Dame.
Watson returned the second-half
kickoff 32 yards to the Jugglers’ 48, and seven
plays later made a sensational leaping reception
despite significant congestion in the left side of
the end zone to complete a 19-yard scoring play on
fourth-and-15. Sherwood’s last TD came on a 33-yard
keeper two plays after Silvanic recovered a fumble
by Warmack. All told, it was perhaps Forks’ most
thorough showing of the season, and suggests that
the team is near peak performance at a fine time.
“We’re not sure we’ve played our
best game. It was certainly one of the best games
we’ve had,” Hogan said.
Notre Dame can't keep up with Chenango
Forks in Class C quarterfinal
Defending state champion Chenango Forks scored
touchdowns on six of its first seven possessions, led 29-0 in
the second quarter and rolled to a 57-14 win over Section III
champion Notre Dame in a Class C state quarterfinal game at
Cicero-North Syracuse High School on Saturday.
Ron Moshier
Utica Observer Dispatch
CICERO
Quarterback Kevin Warmack and middle
linebacker Joe Flynt were hobbling around Notre Dame High
School’s locker room Saturday.
Both were hurting, Warmack with a
high-ankle sprain, Flynt with a bum knee. And the agony of
defeat -- a season-ending, 57-14 loss to Chenango Forks in a
Class C state quarterfinal game at Cicero-North Syracuse
High School -- wasn’t helping any.
“They showed why they’re the No. 1
team in the state,” Warmack said. “They’re big, they’re
strong, and they won the battle up front.”
There was no doubt about that.
Defending state champion Chenango
Forks (10-1) scored touchdowns on six of its first seven
possessions, led 29-0 in the second quarter, and limited
Warmack – who had rushed for nearly 200 yards per game – to
71 yards on 19 carries.
It was 50-6 with 4½ minutes left in
the third quarter when the Blue Devils – who at the time had
held Notre Dame to five first downs and 111 total yards --
started resting their starters.
“That’s what the weight room does for
you,” Notre Dame first-year head coach Jake DerCola said,
his Section III champion Jugglers finished at 9-2. “They
smacked us around pretty good and we didn’t recover. They
set the tone.”
Chenango Forks senior quarterback Jack
Sherwood ran for 140 yards and three touchdowns and threw
for another score. Sophomore halfback L.J. Watson added 90
yards on seven carries and scored twice for the
nothing-fancy, but fundamentally-sound Blue Devils, who
gained 409 of their 452 total yards on the ground.
“They’re basic plays, but what they do
they do very well, and they really fire off the ball,”
DerCola said. “They’ve got size. They’ve got speed. They’ve
got power. … I’d be surprised if they didn’t win it again.”
A gimpy Warmack, helped from the field
with an ankle injury with 8:36 left in the first half,
returned to throw a 69-yard touchdown pass to junior wideout
Jerome Brabham that made it 29-6. But one play and 19
seconds later, Sherwood made a great ball fake and sped 69
yards on the option and it was 36-6 at the half.
Warmack, who later threw a 15-yard
touchdown pass to junior Nick Sullivan, finished 9 of 16 for
152 yards. Brabham, named Notre Dame’s MVP during the
post-game ceremony, had seven receptions for 130 yards.
Including a 26-yard loss on a high
snap through Warmack’s hands – Ryan Bronson returned the
fumble 28 yards for a Chenango Forks touchdown – the
Jugglers managed only 49 yards on the ground.
Young Notre Dame football team learns from
'eye-opening' loss
Notre Dame High's 57-14 loss in the state
quarterfinals was a rather telling mismatch that showed the
Jugglers' many underclassmen ? all but four starters return ?
just how good the best Class C football teams in the state
really are. And just how much work needs to be done to compete
with the Section IV likes of ...
Ron Moshier
Utica Observer Dispatch
Notre Dame High quarterback Kevin Warmack was right.
“This game here doesn’t define our season,”
Warmack was saying Saturday, not long after the Jugglers’ 57-14
loss to Chenango Forks in the Class C state quarterfinals. “It
had been 15 years since our school won a section championship –
you can’t take that away. ...
“There were a lot more good times than bad.”
No argument there. The Jugglers claimed their
first Section III title since 1999 and avenged their only
regular-season loss with that 32-20 Carrier Dome win over
previously-unbeaten Herkimer, and they were ranked fifth in the
state entering Saturday’s Central Region matchup with defending
state champion Chenango Forks.
But then came the “bad,” a rather telling
mismatch that showed Notre Dame’s many underclassmen – all but
four starters return – just how good the best Class C football
teams in the state really are. And just how much work needs to
be done to compete with the Section IV likes of a Chenango
Forks, whose Blue Devils have won 11 of their last 12 state
tournament games against the best Section III has to offer.
“Obviously, there are teams out there who are
a lot better,” said two-way starter Joe Flynt, a Notre Dame
junior linebacker and offensive lineman. “Obviously, to get to
this level, we’re going to have to get a lot better.
“This was a big eye opener for us. To be able
to compete, everybody’s going to have to get bigger and
stronger.”
That was a point of emphasis Saturday, after
the Juggler were convincingly run down, run over, and run out of
state title contention by a big, physical Chenango Forks team
whose no-frills, north-south, smash-mouth approach produced 29-0
and 50-6 leads before the Blue Devils called off the dogs late
in the third quarter.
“I just said, ‘Guys, take a look. That’s what
the weight room does,’” Notre Dame head coach Jake DerCola said.
Junior wide receiver and defensive back Jerome
Brabham found that out the hard way.
“We have a lot of work to do, not only on the
field but in the weight room,” said Brabham, who had seven
receptions for 130 yards and a touchdown.
On Saturday, Notre Dame (9-2) started only
three seniors – Warmack, TE-DE Joe Sullivan and RB-DB Jack
Heaton – because Vinnie LoConti fractured his tibia in the win
over Herkimer. Brabham, an all-state receiver played some
quarterback this fall, will likely take over for Warmack next
year. Warmack, a three-year starter, rushed for nearly 2,000
yards, scored 30 touchdowns, and threw 18 touchdown passes this
season.
Chenango Forks runs over Notre Dame 57-14
in Class C state semifinal
Josh Carney
Syracuse Post-Standard
With temperatures in the mid-30s for most of the game, the
Chenango Forks Blue Devils leaned on its big offensive line to
help dominate the line of scrimmage in the Blue Devils 57-14,
Saturday.
Running through gaping holes provided by the
Blue Devils offensive line, quarterback Jack Sherwood and
running backs L.J. Watson and Ryan Bronson ran roughshod over
the Utica-Notre Dame Jugglers with snow falling and the winds
swirling in the Class C State Semifinal matchup at Cicero-North
Syracuse High School.
The Blue Devils took control right from its
opening drive, marching 78 yards in nine plays. On the ninth
play Sherwood kept the ball on a read-option, scampering around
the left end for the 18-yard touchdown that seemingly opened the
floodgates for Chenango Forks.
Returning the ensuing kickoff to its own 31
yard line, Jugglers quarterback Kevin Warmack threw an
interception on the second play of the drive that was just out
of reach of his favorite wide receiver, Jerome Brabham. In a
sign of things to come, it was Watson who made the diving
interception, setting up the Blue Devils at its own 45 yard
line.
After a 10-yard connection from Sherwood to
tight end Bob Story, Watson took the handoff over the right side
where he broke a handful of tackles on his way to a 45-yard
touchdown run that made it 15-0 Blue Devils just 10 minutes into
the game.
The game turned for the worse less than two
minutes later for Utica-Notre Dame.
Facing a 4th and 4 from its own 46 yard line,
Warmack was unable to handle a high snap and had to retreat in
the backfield trying to recover it. At the same time a Blue
Devils defender wrapped up Warmack causing him to fumble again.
The ensuing fumble bounced right to Bronson who scooped up the
loose football and raced 30 yards for the score as the Blue
Devils went up 22-0 in the first quarter.
Coupled with the fumble return for the
touchdown, Bronson added a rushing touchdown and a two-point
conversion to go with his impressive defensive showing for the
Blue Devils.
“He’s been doing that all year, he’s been
doing it for four years,” Chenango Forks head coach Dave Hogan
said. “We’ve come to expect that out of Ryan. He’s a tremendous
player.”
As Bronson and the rest of the Blue Devils
defense combined to shut down the impressive duo of Warmack and
Brabham, Sherwood went to work on the ground for Chenango.
Following a 69-yard touchdown pass from
Warmack to Brabham that was tipped twice before Brabham pulled
it in, Sherwood responded on the very next play with a 69-yard
touchdown run of his own that put Chenango up 36-6 at the half.
“The guys up front did a great job of staying
on their blocks,” Sherwood, who was named Game MVP, said. “When
they’re doing that up front, you see the success we have. I just
read their blocks and found room to run.”
The second half was much of the same for both
teams as Sherwood and Watson ran wild, while Warmack and Brabham
had a rough go of it.
“I told the kids at half that it was 0-0,”
Hogan said. “They did a good job of sticking to it and staying
in the game.”
For good measure, Sherwood connected with
Watson for a 19-yard TD in the third quarter that sealed the
game for the Blue Devils, who went up 43-6.
“You never want to feel comfortable in a game
as a coach,” Hogan said. “But that play, I felt, did it. It was
a heck of a play by Jack.”
Sherwood also tacked on a 37-yard touchdown
run, his third of the game, before the Blue Devils starters gave
way to the backups for the fourth quarter.
With the win, the Blue Devils march on in its
defense of its state title.
“It feels about the same,” Sherwood said. “We
just have to stay focused and do what we do.”
JUGGLERS FALL TO CHENANGO FORKS IN STATE QUARTERFINAL
Fred Miller
Hometown Sports
The Utica Notre Dame Jugglers football team, Champions of Section III for the first time since 1999, fell in New York State Regional round playoff action today, 57-14, to Section IV Champion, Chenango Forks Blue Devils, in a game played at CNS High School.
Chenango Forks, the
State’s #1 ranked Class
“C” team and the
defending State
Champion, jumped out to
a 20-0 first quarter
lead on UND and never
looked in the rear view
mirror.
After
a stalled Notre Dame
drive off the opening
kickoff, Chenango Forks
took its opening
possession to the house,
when quarterback, Jack
Sherwood, took it in
from 16 yards away. The
two-point run was good
and with 3:18 to go in
the first quarter the
Blue Devils had a 7-0
lead.
The
next Jugglers possession
ended when Kevin
Warmack’s pass was
intercepted by Blue
Devils defensive back,
Cody Lamond.
A
personal foul against
the UND defense, on the
end of Chenango’s first
play, set the Devils up
at the Jugglers
doorstep.
The
next play saw sophomore
sensation L.J., Watson,
motor home from 45 yards
away. The extra point
gave Chenango Forks a
15-0 lead with 2:08 to
go in the opening
period.
On
Notre Dame’s third
possession, the shotgun
snap sailed over the
head of Warmack and was
scooped up by Blue
Devils defender, Ryan
Bronson, who rumbled 54
yards for another score.
Tony Silvanic’s point
after gave C-F a 22-0
lead, which is the way
we’d go to the second
quarter.
Chenango would go up
29-0, on a 1 yard TD run
and Silvanic point
after, with 3:42 to go
in the first half.
Utica
Notre Dame played today
without two way starter
and senior captain, Vin
Loconti, who has been a
force on defense this
season. Loconti suffered
a season ending injury
last week, in the
Section III Championship
Game, against Herkimer.
Juggler’s fans had
another scare today,
when Kevin Warmack
sustained a high ankle
sprain late in the first
half that he was never
really able to shake
off. Warmack was held to
just 79 yards on 19
carries on the ground,
but passed for 152 yards
on the day.
After
sitting out a series of
plays on offense and
defense, Warmack
returned, and on his
first play, hit Jerome
Brabham with a pass that
went through the hands
of a Blue Devils
defender.
Brabham plucked the
tipped ball out of the
air and raced 68 yards
for UND’s first
touchdown, with 3:25 to
go in the half. The
conversion failed and
the Jugglers were within
29-6. Jerome was solid
all game long with 130
yards on seven
receptions.
On the
first play of its next
possession, Chenango
Forks quarterback, Jack
Sherwood, called his own
number again and the big
fella scampered 69 yards
for another touchdown.
The point after was good
and Chenango Forks took
a 36-6 lead to the
intermission.
Sherman was the biggest
man on campus in this
run, rushing for 140
yards and three scores
and passing for another
to teammate, LJ Watson.
The
Section IV wrecking crew
amassed 419 yards, on
the ground, against a
worn out UND defense.
At the
half, first year Head
Coach, Jake DerCola,
told My Hometown Sports,
ESPN Radio 99.1 FM, “The
message to my team, is
that there is a whole
half of football left
and giving up is not an
option.”
Blue
Devils Head Coach, Dave
Hogan, told ESPN 99.1
FM, My Hometown Sports,
“I am extremely proud
and pleased with my
team’s complete effort
in the first half. I
expect more of the same
from them in the second
half.”
With
Warmack and another key
Juggler’s defensive
player, Joe Flynt,
clearly hobbled hobbled
by first half injuries,
the Jugglers yielded 28
second half points to a
Chenango Forks team that
was hitting on all
cylinders.
Notre
Dame did get on the
board late in the
fourth, when junior
receiver, Nick Sullivan,
grabbed a 15 yard
touchdown pass from
Warmack. Warmack then
hit Jerome Brabham with
the two point
conversion, which marked
the final time these two
players, teammates since
they were little kids,
would connect for a
completion. Congrats on
a great run guys.
With
the win, Chenango Forks,
(10-1), will travel to
Rochester for a date
with Maple Grove. The
winner of that game will
play in the State
Championship at the
Carrier Dome, on 11/29.
Utica
Notre Dame finishes a
fine season at (9-2) and
will forever enjoy that
Section III banner, as
it hangs in Michael
Walsh Gym.
|
|
01 |
02 |
03 |
04 |
|
Tot |
| Chenango Forks |
22 |
14 |
14 |
7 |
- |
57 |
| Utica Notre
Dame |
0 |
6 |
0 |
8 |
- |
14 |
- CF - Jack Sherwood 18y run
(Ryan Bronson run)
- CF - LJ Watson 45y run (Tony
Silvanic kick)
- CF - Bronson 32y fumble
return (Silvanic kick)
- CF - Bronson 1y run
(Silvanic kick)
- ND - Jerome Brabham 69y pass from Kevin Warmack
(pass failed)
- CF - Sherwood 69y run
(Silvanic kick)
- CF - Watson 19y pass from
Sherwood (Silvanic kick)
- CF - Sherwood 33y run
(Silvanic kick)
- ND - Nick Sullivan 15y pass from Warmack (Brabham
pass from Warmack)
- CF - Tim
McDonald 5y run (Silvanic kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
| |
UND |
CF |
| First Downs |
10 |
20 |
| Rushes-Yards |
28-72 |
50-399 |
|
Passing Yards |
160 |
56 |
| Comp-Att-Int |
8-15-2 |
3-6-0 |
| Total
Offense |
43-232 |
56-455 |
| Punts-Ave yards |
3-29 |
0 |
| Fumbles-Lost |
3-2 |
1-0 |
| Penalties-Yards |
5-27 |
4-20 |
|
|
|
| . |
|
INDIVIDUAL
STATISTICS
Utica Notre Dame rushing
- Kevin Warmack 20-74
- A.J. Papa 1-7
- Jack Heaton 2-4
- Joe Sullivan 1-1
- Jerome Brabham 3-(-3)
- Sammy Bianco 1-(-11)
Chenango
Forks
rushing
- Jack Sherwood 6-139, 3 TDs
- LJ Watson 8-91, 1 TD
- Ryan Bronson 10-54, 1 TD
- Tim McDonald 10-40, 1 TD
- Tyler Wilson 4-34
- Dylan Studer 3-12
- Jacob Krupp 3-12
- Cody Lamond 1-7
- Gunnar Giordani 1-4
- Dan Crowningshield 1-4
- Isaiah Roman 3-2
Utica Notre Dame passing
- Kevin Warmack 8-for-15, 160y, 2 TDs, 2 ints
Chenango
Forks
passing
- Jack Sherwood 3-for-6, 56y, 1 TD
Utica Notre Dame receiving
- Jerome Brabham 6-138, 1 TD
- Nick Sullivan 1-15, 1 TD
- Riley Davis 1-7
Chenango Forks
receiving:
- Rob Story 2-37
- LJ Watson 1-19, 1 TD
Preview
Article(s)
Chenango Forks backed solidly by Bronson, Luybli
Kevin Stevens
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
Senior linebackers are leaders of a top-shelf defense for defending state champions
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Bronson doubles as fullback, Luybli as O-lineman.
- Coach David Hogan labeled the two 'heart and soul' of defense.
- Next for the Blue Devils is state quarterfinal against Utica Notre Dame.
Utica Notre Dame will be introduced Saturday to side-by-side disruptive forces well-known to football programs within Section 4.
Chenango Forks' Class C title defense will resume at noon Saturday at Cicero-North Syracuse against the Jugglers, whose offensive task it will be to solve a defensive puzzle with a pair of senior linebackers the key pieces.
Ryan Bronson and Hunter Luybli are the cornerstones of a defense that has limited seven of 10 opponents to seven or fewer points, and which on Saturday defended Newark Valley right out of its comfort zone in a 42-21 triumph for the program's fifth sectional title over the last six years.
"I told them both before the game, if they play well we're going to win this game. And I absolutely believe that they played outstanding," Blue Devils coach David Hogan said of the pair's contributions against Newark Valley.
Bronson, 5-foot-8 and 190 pounds according to the roster, doubles as starting fullback. Luybli, 5-11 and 210, does his offensive work up front. Each was a first-team all-state selection last season, Bronson on defense and Luybli on offense.
"They are both vocal, but also their leadership comes through in the way they play," Hogan said. "They're physical and they're mental, they are the heart and soul of our defense, for sure.
"Ryan's probably a step faster, although Luybli's gotten a step faster since last year. Both are very, very tough-nosed kids. They're very similar, tough, tough cookies."
Offensive game plans hereabouts have been known to take into account the presence of Forks' linebackers, each ferocious in search of the ball carrier and each a sound finisher when arriving at that carrier.
Luybli summed up the pair's mission as follows:
"First thing I look for is right up the middle, heart of the line, we're going to stop that and then anything outside we're going to go out there. Pretty much anything inside the ends is ours. We spread them out, close in on them and that's what we do, what we've been doing for years.
"We're all over the place."
Indeed.
The Blue Devils were thrilled to have Allan-Michael Rios in the thick of the defense for last Saturday's game. An illness has cost him playing time this season, but the 6-3, 220-pounder appeared more than healthy given his work up front against the Cardinals.
"Let me tell you, it's great to have him back. We need him," Hogan said.
"He played very well Saturday. We were very careful with the way we used him because we don't want a major setback. Throughout the game, he was, 'I feel great, coach, feel great.' Great to have him back and it looks as if he'll be playing more moving forward."
Notre Dame football team facing defending state champs
Notre Dame High's football team doesn't mind being the underdog in Saturday's Class C regional final against defending state champion Chenango Forks.
Ron Moshier
Utica Observer Dispatch
Notre Dame High's football team has its Section III title.
Now, the road back to the Carrier Dome -- and a shot at a Class C state championship -- runs through Chenango Forks.
The Blue Devils are the defending state champs. They have won five Section IV titles in the past six years and 10 in the last 12, including five straight Class B titles from 2003-2007.
And only once in Chenango Forks' last 11 state tournament appearances have the Blue Devils lost a regional game to a Section III team.
On paper, none of that adds up to a Notre Dame victory Saturday afternoon, when the Jugglers play top-ranked Chenango Forks for a Central Region title at Cicero-North Syracuse High School.
All that's done, however, is make playing the "underdog card" easy for first-year head coach Jake DerCola and his staff.
"New coach, new staff, everybody is picking against you. … We've used all of that," DerCola said. "Our guys have responded very well, too.
"We're the underdog, but we don't mind that, not at all. It doesn't matter if people are picking us or not. It's more like, 'Your backs are against the wall. Just make a statement. Let's go show them. Let's put Utica back on the map.'"
Leading that battle cry, of course, will be all-state quarterback Kevin Warmack, the senior co-captain who Sunday ran for two touchdowns, threw a touchdown pass, and caught a touchdown pass in Notre Dame's 32-
20 victory over previously-unbeaten Herkimer in the Section III finals at the Carrier Dome.
Warmack has rushed for 1,920 yards and 27 touchdowns and has thrown for 1,241 yards and 16 scores. He's also scored 30 touchdowns and 204 points.
"It's going to be a challenge," Warmack said of Saturday's matchup with Chenango Forks. "They're big, they're fast, and we're going to have to stop their running game. But we've been underdogs before and I have confidence in our team.
"We're not intimidated."
Running back Jack Heaton has added 423 yards on the ground, including a 73-yard touchdown in the win over Herkimer, and Warmack's favorite target, junior wideout Jerome Brabham, has 37 catches for 545 yards and seven touchdowns.
On Saturday, though, they will be facing a Chenango Forks defense anchored by all-state senior linebackers Hunter Luybli (5-11, 210) and Ryan Bronson (5-8, 190).
"They're aggressive and they fly all over the place," DerCola said. "We definitely have to get somebody on them. … You watch Chenango Forks on film, though, and I just don't think they have seen someone like Kevin yet.
"Somebody with his vision and his quickness is hard to emulate; I really don't know how you can do that."
The Jugglers, however, will be without senior defensive end and receiver Vinnie LoConti. He suffered a high ankle sprain and cracked tibia against Herkimer.
LoConti's season-ending injury leaves Notre Dame with only three senior starters Warmack, Heaton and TE-DE Joe Sullivan, one of the Jugglers' top receivers and their sack leader on defense.
"LoConti will definitely be missed," DerCola said. "It's definitely going to be tough without him. We've watched film, though, and our guys are confident. I think it helps that we've been battle-tested. Chenango Forks has been in some blowouts and we've battled all season."
Notre Dame vs. Chenango Forks
Who: Section III champion Notre Dame (9-1) is ranked No. 5 in the state; Section IV champ Chenango Forks (9-1) is No. 1.
What: Class C Central Region championship/state quarterfinal.
Where: Cicero-North Syracuse High School.
When: Noon, Saturday.
Past: Notre Dame's only trip to the state playoffs ended with a 20-9 loss to Section IV's Delhi in 1999; Forks beat Section III's General Brown 35-18 last year, and went on to win a Class C state title with a 28-27 victory over Rye Neck.
Present: Notre Dame avenged a 28-24 regular-season to Herkimer with a 32-20 win over the Magicians in the Section III finals; Forks' only setback is a 20-7 nonleague loss to defending Class B state champion Maine-Endwell (winner of 48 straight games).
Future: Winner plays No. 2 LeRoy (10-0) or No. 3 Maple Grove (10-0) in a semifinal game at noon Saturday, Nov. 22, at Sahlen's Stadium in Rochester.
Chenango Forks 9-1 vs. Notre Dame Jugglers 9-1
Fred Miller
Hometown Sports
It is always a great feeling, when you win a sectional tournament and feel that you have accomplished one of your goals.
The Utica Notre Dame Jugglers now must move on to the State tournament. If they think Herkimer was tough, now they must face one of the most dominate programs in all of New York.
The Chenango Fork (C-F) Blue Devils, are the defending Class C state champions. The Blue Devils have won the state title three different times and have been in the state finals a total of seven times. Their only loss of the season was a 20-7 decision to number one ranked, Class B power, Maine-Endwell.
The Devils are a power running team, led by sophomore running back, L.J. Watson, and senior fullback, Ryan Bronson. The Blue Devil defense is also tough, giving up no more than 14 points a game this season, with the exception of their loss to Maine-Endwell.
Following his eight touchdown performance the week before, many wondered what QB, Kevin Warmack, had in his bag of tricks for the sectional final.
Warmack caught a 41 yard touchdown pass from Jerome Brabham, threw a 41 yard pass to Joe Sullivan and ran for two scores of 47 and 74 yards, respectively.
The Jugglers defense smothered the Herkimer rushing attack for most of the game.
Chenango Forks will look to establish the line of scrimmage and try to keep the ball away from Warmack. Notre Dame will, again, need to play nine men in the box, if they hope to slow down the Blue Devils.
If they can take advantage of the speed of Warmack and again play solid defense upfront, the Jugglers could pull out the upset.
If they allow C-F to dominate on the line of scrimmage, it could be a long day for Notre Dame.
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No Contest
The past was just that for Utica Notre Dame quarterback Kevin Warmack when it came to line up and have a go at Chenango Forks, which smacked Section 3's champions around the field in a 57-14 win.
A senior and three-season starter, Warmack was coming off a two-game stretch in which he'd rushed for 632 yards. In the first of those two he went for 387 and scored a Section 3 record-tying eight touchdowns.
Clearly, resistance provided was something far short of what the Blue Devils bring.
Warmack carried on the first play from scrimmage, and was felled after a 1-yard advancement by Ryan Bronson and Jack Sherwood. In fact, six of the Jugglers' first seven rushing plays were QB keepers, but defended to the tune of 2.8-per-rush average.
Warmack's first pass of the game went for a 1-yard loss, courtesy of the Devils' Trevor Borchardt. His second pass was intercepted by a diving L.J. Watson, and two plays later Watson scored Forks' second TD. It was an all-she-wrote 22-0 when Bronson recovered a muffed snap by Warmack and returned for a score in the final minute of the first quarter.
After rushing for just short of 200 yards per game through 10 weeks, Warmack was held to 74 by Forks. Meanwhile, the Blue Devils utilized a dozen carriers in a 399-yard effort.
"I feel like the first two drives when we were putting on some hard hits, I felt that they didn't want to play physical anymore," Watson said. "And that's what we are, a physical team."
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