|
From the
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin - Nov 8, 2002
CLASS B
Kickoff for the Class B finale
is 6 tonight at Binghamton Alumni Stadium, where the challenge
facing Norwich will be dealing with a Chenango Forks juggernaut
that has:
* Surrendered 411 rushing yards
all season -- 45.7 per game.
* Limited foes to seven or
fewer points in eight of nine games, the exception a 14-point
yield to winless Waverly after leading 43-0 at halftime.
* Rushed for 307.3 yards per
game.
"They've got the whole
package," Norwich coach John Pluta said of the Blue Devils'
defense. "They've got size, they're experienced, they're
exceptionally strong and they have outstanding quickness."
Reigning champion Forks, ranked
second behind Peru in Class B, looks to make it out of Section 4
with a 10-0 record for a second consecutive season.
While its numbers may not stack
up to those of Forks, the defense of Norwich has more than held
up its end in what has been a highly impressive turnaround from
last year's 0-9 season. Five Purple Tornado opponents have been
held to no more than one touchdown.
"Defensively, they seem to
swarm," Forks coach Kelsey Green said. "They have very
good team speed and they gang-tackle you. And they use a lot of
different people defensively, change up the front and the
linebackers all the time."
Pluta said of the startling
turnaround, "I think our kids deserve an awful lot of
credit. People need to know the commitment these kids have made
to one another, and how proud we are of what they've
accomplished."
Either Forks or Norwich will
advance to intersectional play a week from tonight at U-E
against either Solvay or Oneida.
Three Preview
articles from the Norwich paper.
Norwich Evening Sun - Tuesday Nov 5, 2002 Forks
coach sizes up Norwich
By
Patrick Newell
Sun Sports Editor
All of the facts lead one
to an easy conclusion: Chenango Forks is the dominant Class B
football team in Section IV this year, and the Blue Devils could
easily make a case as the best team sectionwide.
As the defending Class B champions and state runner-up in 2001
to Peru and winning games by five touchdowns or more, it comes
as no surprise that the senior-laden club - with most of its
starting lineup intact - has reached the section finals this
Friday at Binghamton Alumni Stadium.
Across the field, another senior-laden club clad in purple and
white is ready to play the role of David. Norwich, one year
removed from a perfect losing season (0-9), has played next to
perfect in 180-degree fashion compiling an 8-1 regular season
record.
Norwich has the second best scoring defense in Class B to
Chenango Forks and a potent and varied offense that should give
Forks a good go. “We think defensively,” said Chenango Forks
coach Kelsey Green, “that (Norwich) seems to have a lot of
team speed and they swarm to the ball very aggressively.”
Such was the defensive philosophy for Norwich assistant coach
John Martinson, who guides head coach John Pluta’s defense.
Martinson made few adjustments in the scheme, but made it a goal
of his team to have 11 players running at the ball on every
play. The ultimate goal, of course, is to have all 11 in on the
tackle.
Forks’ offense has been next to unstoppable with a varied
attack that includes a quarterback platoon with Matt Juriga and
Chris Spencer, along with a bevy of running backs led by
fullback and leading rusher Kelsey Jenks. But as good as the
offense is, the defense may be even better.
Last week, Forks held Oneonta to negative rushing yards for the
game. The week before, Oneonta rushed for 200 yards against
Norwich. Moreover, the Blue Devils’ defense is allowing under
five points per game, and the majority of those points have come
in the fourth quarter with the starters out of the lineup.
Jenks is a three-year starter who leads the group that is long
on depth and experience. Still, Norwich has plenty of weapons on
offense who could inflict some damage on a seemingly
inpenetrable defense. “Reid (Andy) and Bilow (Garrett) both
run the ball hard and obviously Loomis (Thad) at right tackle is
a very good football player,” Green said. “Alger, the
quarterback, he really looks comfortable with what they want to
do offensively. He does a good job handling the ball, he throws
the ball well, and he puts a lot of pressure on the edges
defensively. We have our hands full.”
Later this week, The Evening Sun will continue its week-long
look at the football playoffs including the Oxford versus
Newfield game scheduled for Saturday.
Norwich Evening Sun - Tuesday Nov 5, 2002
NHS
tri-captains exude confidence
By Patrick
Newell
Sun Sports Editor
It goes without saying, senior
leadership is essential to team chemistry and ultimately
success. Norwich, with 18 seniors, has no shortage of
experience, but success was fleeting entering the season.
However, with three veteran captains leading the way, the Purple
Tornado have made one of the most remarkable turnarounds in
section history reversing an 0-9 season into an 8-1 contender
for a Section IV title.
The three young men who lead the group of seniors and the rest
of the underclassmen are tri-captains Chris Brightman, Andy
Chesebro, and Donny Lawrence. Brightman and Lawrence are
three-year starters who played on the 2000 NHS division
championship team, while Chesebro is a two-year starter on the
offensive line.
Brightman started his career as a skill position player on
offense in the running back rotation in addition to starting at
linebacker. The once number 25 had his number transposed this
year to 52 starting again in the linebacking corps while seeing
occasional time as an offensive linemen.
His reality in the early days of August practice was focusing on
winning the first game of the season, and admittedly, playing on
a sectional finalist wasn’t in the front of his mind. “I was
mainly worried about winning the first game,” Brightman said.
Norwich won that game against Class C Sidney, but many naysayers
said it was a win over a smaller school. “Wait until Norwich
played B-GA in the second game” was the statement many made.
The Purple beat the Bears on the road, a victory that
kick-started the belief that this team was for real. “B-GA is
a good football team, and after we beat them people started
realizing we were for real,” Brightman said.
The teams fell one by one with the exception of Oneonta in week
eight. The Purple lined up for a home game last Friday against
Elmira Notre Dame and picked off the Crusaders to reach this
weekend’s game against Chenango Forks.
Forks came into the season as a prohibitive favorite to repeat
its sectional title, especially considering it had so many
returning pieces from a dominant club that finished 12-1. Forks
has dismantled all nine opponents with its closest final a 27-7
victory over Elmira Notre Dame. Many outsiders believe NHS is a
big underdog. Some may even equate the matchup as David vs.
Goliath. “Oh it’s not that bad,” Chesebro said when asked
about the biblical analogy. “We’ve got a lot better attitude
this week and we’re focusing hard. We think we’ve got a good
shot.”
Confidence is a big part of the Tornado’s focus this week. The
belief that a giant can be struck down is essential to a
team’s mindset. “Our coaches have told us this week to
believe in ourselves because they believe in us and think we can
pull it off,” Chesebro related.
Lawrence started his sophomore year as a receiver, but has since
moved to a running back spot where he makes up approximately
one-seventh of a consistent rotation used by head coach John
Pluta. Lawrence also starts at the defensive backfield position
raking in three interceptions this season. So far no one has
slowed down the Forks offense, plus, no one has been able to
solve the Blue Devils’ offense with any consistency. It seems
like a monumental task, but again, confidence reigns in the
Norwich locker room. “I think we have a lot of speed on the
outside and we don’t rely on one back like other teams,”
Lawrence said. “We think we can wear them down using five or
six guys.”
The big question, though, is what do the three guys think about
the so-called underdog status. Chesebro already said he
doesn’t think it’s as bad as people think, while Brightman
and Lawrence offer similar points of view.
“A lot of people on the outside think we’re underdogs, but
within our locker room we know we’re a great team,”
Brightman said. “Chenango Forks is a great team, too, but we
don’t see ourselves as underdogs.”
“We’ve put in a couple new things that I think will give
them a challenge,” Lawrence added. “We believe we have a
chance (to win), but I think most people still think we’re the
underdog.”
Norwich faces Chenango Forks Friday at 6 p.m. at Binghamton
Alumni Stadium.
Norwich Evening Sun -
Friday Nov 8, 2002
Moment Of Truth For Norwich
Football team
By Patrick
Newell
Sun Sports Editor
There is no gray area as far as Norwich coach John Pluta is
concerned. The mission is clear and completion of that mission
may seem like scaling Mt. Everest.
Coming off a 22-12 Class B playoff victory over Elmira Notre
Dame last Friday, the opponent at hand tonight at 6 p.m. is the
greatest the Purple Tornado have faced all season in defending
Class B champion Chenango Forks.
“We have to play extremely well,” Pluta said Thursday night
on the eve of the championship game. “I thought we played our
best game of the season last week against Notre Dame, and we
have to play our best to beat Chenango Forks.”
Nerves play a role in any championship contest, and the Purple
are the first of the locals to deal with those nerves. It would
be only natural to worry a least a little bit about the Blue
Devils, who have compiled some remarkable statistics.
• On defense, Forks is allowing less than five points per game
and hasn’t given up a touchdown in the first half all season.
Its scoring defense is number one among all Section IV teams.
• The offense, like Norwich, has multiple weapons in the
rushing and passing game and averages a Section IV best 37.5
points per game.
• Size-wise, Chenango Forks’ offensive line will outweigh
the Norwich defensive line by around 40 pounds per player. The
numbers are comparable when you flip-flop the respective lines.
• Ranked number two in the state, Forks has won 21 of its last
22 games over the past two seasons with its only loss a 14-7
decision in the state championship game to present number one
Peru.
As the offensive play-caller, Pluta is in charge of attempting
to solve the Forks defense. Thus far, only B-GA has mustered
over 200 yards of offense in a game, and the Bears lost 34-0.
“They are strong on the perimeter with their ends and corners
and (their defense) likes to funnel things to the middle, which
is where their real strength is,” Pluta said of the Forks
defense. “When they can do that and stop the run, then they
like you to put the ball up. They play a couple different
coverages and the try to get you to make a mistake up top, and
they have a sound secondary.”
Patience is a big key Pluta said in that he has to take what the
defense gives him. In the last meeting between the schools in
2000, Norwich’s offense broke off a few big plays, but
struggled to put the ball in the end zone. Even though Forks was
out of the playoff race and Norwich was en route to the division
title, Forks dominated throughout winning 34-7.
That Blue Devils team had a number of sophomore contributors -
like Norwich - and those players have continued to improve and
develop such as quarterbacks Matt Juriga and Matt Spencer,
running back/defensive back Drew Batty, all-star defender and
starting fullback Kelsey Jenks, and all-star lineman Juan
Mendoza. “The key for us is that we have to control the ball
on offense,” Pluta summed up. “We can’t go three-and-out
and allow their offense to have the ball. Their offense is
explosive. Because they run the ball, people don’t think of
them that way, but they are capable of making big plays.”
Pluta’s charge is to find the chink in the Blue Devils’
defensive armor. Pluta’s assistant coach, John Martinson, runs
the Tornado defense. His task is to attempt to slow the most
potent scoring offense in the area.
“Our philosophy is not to sit and allow them to come after
us,” Martinson said. “We will be aggressive and give them
different looks. We’ve got something like 16 interceptions and
we’ve been able to force teams to put the ball on the ground.
We’ve bent and bent at times, but the defense seems to tighten
up we we’ve needed to. We have to try to make them make
mistakes on offense.”
The Forks offense is predicated on the dive option; an approach
based on the way the quarterback reads the defense. Either the
fullback will take the ball from the quarterback up the middle
or the quarterback will fake the handoff and move horizontally
down the line of scrimmage. Once the quarterback reaches the
outside tackle, he’ll either turn the ball up the field for
the run or pitch the ball outside to one of his running mates.
The assignments to stop those three options seem simple on
paper, but in reality superb execution of the offense along with
a dominant offensive line makes it as difficult to stop as a
speeding locomotive. “They have so many options and so many
weapons,” Martinson said. “You can’t focus on stopping one
guy. We have to play assignment football and take care of each
guy on the option.”
Oh, and Martinson added more food for thought. “They run the
dive option better than anyone we’ve seen.”
|