By P.J. Harmer - Contributing Writer - Oneonta Daily Star
ONEONTA — Tim Batty may haunt Oneonta for the rest of the
season.
Quarterback Batty did just about everything right to lead
undefeated Chenango Forks past Oneonta, 30-14, Saturday night at
Lloyd Baker Field.
"That's Batty," Chenango Forks coach Kelsey Green
said of the junior, who made a huge defensive play, kicked a
field goal and punted for the Blue Devils. "Offensively,
defensively, punter, kicker — he's just a special kid."
Batty clinched the Section Four Football Conference
non-division meeting for Chenango Forks (3-0), who has ended
Oneonta's season in the playoffs the last two seasons.
The Jackets (1-2) had seven minutes left and the ball at
midfield facing the 30-14 deficit. After three incompletions,
OHS coach Art Rigas opted to go for it on fourth-and-10.
Oneonta quarterback Andrew Brown found senior Joe Hughes
streaking across the middle and hit him in stride. As Hughes got
inside the 10-yard line, he stiff-armed one Forks defender
closing on his right.
Batty then charged in from the left and chopped the ball
loose. It bounced into the end zone, where Ben Farnham smothered
it for a Forks touchback.
"That had to be (the biggest point in the game),"
Green said. "All the momentum was swinging, that's a
touchdown for them.
"If we can stop their two (-point conversion) we're
OK," he continued, "but if not, it's a one-score game
and with six minutes to go, it's anybody's ballgame."
That wasn't the only big play that hurt Oneonta.
Leading, 10-6, Forks drove inside Oneonta territory but got
stuck at the OHS 25. On fourth-and-9, Batty lofted a ball to
Farnham with Mike Konstanty of the Jackets playing man-to-man.
Konstanty tipped it away, but Zach Vredenbaugh slid under the
ball for a touchdown reception.
"We had a couple of bad breaks," Rigas said.
"It's fourth (down) and we tell Konstanty to knock it down.
He knocks it down and there happens to be a Forks kid sliding
underneath it. It was a one-in-a-million play. To their credit,
they were getting to the ball and that's why plays like that
happen."
Oneonta scored the first touchdown with 744 left in the
opening quarter. That marked the first points scored against
Forks this season.
The first three drives ended with turnovers as Chenango Forks
and OHS fumbled away their first possessions. Oneonta took over
at its 45 with an interception on CF's second possession,
setting up the first touchdown.
Joffre Alvarez gained 40 yards on first down with the Devils'
Steve Samson saving a touchdown. Three plays later, Brown found
Konstanty in the back of the end zone.
"(Konstanty) is such a weapon for them," Green
said. "We knew we were going to have a real tough time
shutting him down, and we didn't shut him down."
Forks took a 7-6 lead on Joe Babcock's 2-yard run with 301
left in the first period. Batty kicked a 36-yard field goal for
a 10-6 lead early in the second quarter.
Forks got comfortable with a 13-0 third quarter as Batty
threw two touchdown passes.
"Timmy made a couple of nice throws," Green said.
"All week we were trying to figure out how we were going to
score. Up front, they are physical, tough people. They made us
earn every inch."
Batty finished with 162 yards passing, compared to Brown's
143.
"They kind of caught us off guard with their passing
game a little bit," Rigas said. "Forks is
traditionally a run, run, run team and tonight they went to the
air and were successful."