Game 9 - 2014 Chenango Forks Varsity Football

Game 9 vs Waverly

Blue Devils 13, Wolverines 6
CF Advances To Section 4 Class C Championship Game

Articles courtesy of the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin and The Valley Sports Report

Forks gets past tough Wolverines in Class C semifinal

Kevin Stevens, kstevens@pressconnects.com
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

BINGHAMTON – Chenango Forks overcame a spirited and thoroughly prepared Waverly crew as well as an uncharacteristic batch of self-inflicted hindrances to claim a 13-6 victory in Saturday's Section 4 Class C football semifinal.

The Blue Devils went ahead for keeps 3:38 into second-half play when Cody Lamond rushed 16 yards for a score to complete a 71-yard drive and Tony Silvanic tacked on the PAT kick for the game's final points. Thereafter, Waverly crossed the midfield stripe on one of three possessions.

The top-ranked Blue Devils (8-1) move on to next weekend's title game against Newark Valley (7-2). That'll be a rematch of a Week 5 contest in which the Blue Devils posted a 33-7 win.

But these reigning state champions would appear to have a bit of work to do in the coming week. For starters, those 96 yards worth of penalties had better be addressed toot sweet. And the 13-point output was one-third of what had been the norm through eight games.

"To be honest with you, I didn't expect it to be that tough," said Forks fullback/linebacker Ryan Bronson. "I think some of the penalties killed us, pushed us back. We could have had a first down and didn't have a first down, could have had a touchdown but we didn't.

"But we have to work through that, that's the bottom line."

Waverly nickel-and-dimes Forks via the short passing game, with Peyton Miller completing 14 of 16 for 83 yards. Seven times he connected with Shane Carpenter, and five others with Zack Gingerich.

Meanwhile, the Blue Devils' ordinarily overpowering run game experienced tough sledding, with a 201-yard total and 4.9-per-carry average both shy of accepted standards. For that, credit a Waverly defensive cast that threw a twist into things up front and stymied a good bit of the reigning champs' intentions.

The Wolverines grabbed Forks' attention out of the chute by holding the football for better than eight minutes on the game's opening possession. That one went south on a fourth-and-16 play that resulted in a lost fumble well short of first-down yardage.

An exchange of punts left Forks possession at its 25-yard line 11 seconds into the second quarter. Rushes of 16 yards by Lamond, 26 by Bronson and 10 by Jack Sherwood helped the Devils to Waverly's 5-yard line, from which point Bronson burrowed in for touchdown 4:43 into the quarter. Along the way came a holding penalty that scrubbed an apparent 53-yard scoring run by L.J. Watson.

Waverly pulled even 49.5 seconds before halftime when Gingerich zipped past a defender to receive a 6-yard pass from Miller. That finished a five-play, 20-yard mini-drive that began after Zack Saxon intercepted a second-and-20 pass from Sherwood and Forks was assessed a personal foul at the end of the play.

Forks' final possession of the half began at its 47-yard line, but brought penalties for an illegal substitution and then holding on consecutive downs.

The Blue Devils got out of their own way for a key segment of play to open the third quarter, and an eight-play scoring drive left them ahead to stay.

Key contributions were a 2-yard fourth-down rush by Bronson to the Wolverines' 49, and a snap later Trevor Borchardt's 33-yard catch-and-run to the 16. That set up Lamond for a clear-sailing rush across the goal line.

"My blockers set it up great and I just had to run to the end zone," was how Lamond described the result of Halfback Lead Left. "There was a giant hole, a bus could have gone through it."

Waverly's final sustained drive began at its 43 and ended 11 plays later at the Devils' 24. It wound down with Caleb Gould making a tackle for a 1-yard loss — atoning for his offside penalty just before — and Miller passing incomplete into a crowd on fourth-and-8.

In the final quarter, Forks had a second long would-be TD from Watson negated by a hold, but the Devils' defense proceeded to hold up its end.

"Just seemed like we obviously made a lot of mistakes, far too many mistakes," Forks coach David Hogan said. "The good thing is we still prevailed, that's what we've got to focus on. There are obviously going to be things we're going to have to work on but we got the 'W.' "

As for the root of Waverly's defensive success, Wolverines coach Jason Miller said: "I think we did a good job on the edge, especially on the outside, and then making them at least redirect. When you do that — now I've seen everybody try to do that — you've got to tackle them. That's a whole different issue. I thought we did a decent job of wrapping up."

Sophomore Watson's 77 yards and 11 carries topped Forks in both categories, with Bronson's 55-yard total next-best. Sherwood shook off the interception to complete his remaining four throws in a 4-for-6 passing outing.

"They just had a solid front and we had to bounce it back a lot, I guess," Bronson said of the defensive resistance. "They did a good job handling us. But our line did a good job at the end of the day and got us through."

The outcome made for a seventh time in nine weeks that a Forks opponent failed to muster a two-digit scoring output.

SECTION IV FOOTBALL: DEFENDING STATE CHAMP CHENANGO FORKS OUTLASTS WAVERLY, 13-6, IN CLASS C SEMIFINALS

By TIM BIRNEY Valley Sports Report

BINGHAMTON — The state's top-ranked Chenango Forks survived a determined Waverly and a slew of penalties to escape their Section IV, Class C semi-final football match-up with a 13-6 win here Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium.

His team a decided underdog against the defending state champion, Waverly coach Jason Miller was disappointed by the result, but not by his team's effort.

"I feel awful that we didn't win and I don't believe in moral victories, but I'm so proud of these kids.

"We had a great week of practice, our best of the season," said Miller. "I knew we would play well today.

"Chenango Forks is just so good. I guess we take solace in the fact we just competed to the wire with the No. 1 team in the state," he added. "It's says a lot about where our program is and where we're going."

Chenango Forks head coach Dave Hogan wasn't surprised by Waverly's performance.

"(Waverly) is just an outstanding program. This game has become like a second rivalry for us.

"I know some people will be surprised the game was this close, but they shouldn't be," said Hogan. "They have some good players and there was certainly no quit in them — they came here to beat us, no doubt about it."

The story of the game, said Miller, was his team's inability to stop Forks on third-and-long and fourth-and-short in the second half.

"We couldn't get off the field and that really is the story," said Miller. "When you're in third-down situations, especially putting (Forks) in the situation we wanted them to be in, you have to get off the field.

"That's the game right there," he added. "It was a one-score game and they were able to convert a couple of long third-down situations — that's the story."

The Wolverines opened the game with a 16-play drive that came up empty on the scoreboard, but drained more than eight minutes off the game clock.

"It was certainly what we wanted to do. said Miller. "Our goal was to run the ball and use a controlled passing game to run the clock.

"We wanted to be smart with the football — to be in good second-down situations and makable third-down situations," he noted. "Throughout the entire game, I thought we did that.

"We had very few bad series," added Miller. "We only had one three-and-out. We did a good job controlling the football."

On the 13th play of the possession, junior QB Peyton Miller scampered around right end for what appeared to be a TD, but a block-in-back call nullified the score.

After a sack put the Wolverines in a 4th-and-16 situation, they turned the ball over on a fumble, resulting from what appeared to be a botched hook-and-lateral play, at the Forks 20.

An inspired Waverly defense got the ball back immediately, forcing a three-and-out.

The Wolverines ran 21 first-quarter plays compared to three for Forks, but were unable to dent the scoreboard.

On the Blue Devils' second possession, L.J. Watson broke loose around right end on a 53-yard scoring run, but one of Forks' 11 penalties in the game nullified the effort.

The Blue Devils were penalized 106 yards in the game, including three personal-foul calls and two holding calls that nullified TD runs.

Hogan said the penalties need to stop.

"That's part of the game, but we definitely have to do something about that. We're not going to go much farther if we don't care of it.

"I've never been associated with a game where we've had so many penalties," added Hogan.

The Blue Devils overcame the holding call thanks to a 29-yard run by Ryan Bronson and eventually took a 6-0 lead on a 5-yard TD run by Bronson with 7:11 left in the first half.

Chenango Forks forced a Waverly punt on its next possession, despite a personal foul call for a blow to the head of Miller, and took over at its 26.

Three plays later, after another holding call nullified another long run by Watson, Jack Sherwood's pass was picked off at the 35 by Zach Saxon, who was supplexed to the ground drawing another 15-yard flag against Forks and setting the Wolverines up at the Blue Devil 20.

Five plays later, Miller connected with Zach Gingerich on a quick slant for a 6-yard TD to tie the game at 6-6. Like Forks earlier, Waverly's extra-point attempt failed and the game was tied with 49.5 seconds left in the first half.

Forks opened the second half with an eight-play, 71-yard drive to take a 13-6 lead.

The drive featured completions by Sherwood of 9 and 33 yards and was capped by a 16-yard TD run by Cody Lamond with 8:22 left in the third quarter. It also included conversions on third-and-9 and fourth-and-inches.

The Wolverines picked up three first downs and moved the ball to the Forks 26, but the Blue Devil defense stiffened and forced a turnover on downs with 1:25 left in the third quarter.

The Wolverines ran just eight offensive plays the remainder of the game and did not penetrate into Forks territory.

Forks moved the ball to midfield before being forced to punt. Despite a late-hit call against the Blue Devils on the return, moving the ball out to the Waverly 43, the Forks defense held and forced the Wolverines into its only three-and-out of the game.

The Blue Devils reeled off 10 plays and a pair of first downs, including one on fourth down, before the Waverly defense forced a turnover on downs at its 10.

A quick 10-yard completion from Miller to Saxon moved the ball to the 20, but four plays later the Forks defense forced another turnover on downs and Sherwood was able to take a pair of knees to run out the clock.

"We had some opportunities," said Miller. "The kids fought hard and played a great defensive game."

Miller completed 14 of 20 passes, including 10 of his first 11, for 87 yards and a TD. Shane Carpenter led Waverly with seven grabs for 56 yards and Gingerich added four for 21 yards and a TD.

Joey Peters gained 29 yards on 11 carries to lead the Waverly ground game, which accounted for just 60 yards on 30 carries.

Forks rushed for 206 yards on 38 carries, led by Watson, who had 77 yards on 11 carries and Bronson, who rushed for 55 yards on eight carries.

Sherwood completed 4 of 6 passes for 51 yards and was intercepted once.

Forks will take on Newark Valley, which beat Lansing, 17-14, in overtime in Game 2 at Alumni Stadium, next weekend in the Class C championship game.

THE FINAL WORD: A TOUGH ENDING FOR WAVERLY FOOTBALL

By TIM BIRNEY Valley Sports Report

The Waverly football team was at its best in a season-ending loss in the Class C semifinals Saturday.

The Wolverines lost a 13-6 decision to the state's top-ranked and defending Class C state champion Chenango Forks, but played, hands down, its best game of the season, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

Waverly held Forks' high-powered ground game to 206 yards and gave the offense the ball twice in the fourth quarter with a chance to tie or win the game.

The offense didn't put up big numbers, but it dominated in time of possession in the first half — running 21 offensive plays to Forks' three in the first quarter, which ended with score tied at 6-6.

Junior Peyton Miller was sharp in the short passing game, completing 11 of his first 12 passes, and the Wolverines ran the ball enough in the first half to keep it away from the Blue Devils.

In the second half, Forks drove down field on its first possession and scored what turned out to be the game-winning TD.

Waverly drove deep into Forks territory on its first possession, but turned the ball over on down at the 26 with 1:25 left in the third quarter.

Forks turned the tables in the final 13 1/2 minutes of the game, utilizing its ground-and-pound running game and stout defense to allow the Wolverines just eight more offensive plays.

On a side note, senior Jeff Klossner capped a stellar four-year career that saw him start on teams that played in three Section IV title games and reached the semifinals this year.

To my knowledge, considering Waverly has never qualified for the postseason four years in a row until this string, he is the only player in program history to start in a playoff game in four consecutive seasons.

The Wolverines graduate 16 seniors, led by Klossner, Joey Peters, Zach Saxon, Mac Brown and Alex Volpe, but have a good group of under classmen returning.

However, the reported jump to Class B, along with Chenango Forks, next year could put their postseason streak in jeopardy.