Game 4 - 2004 Chenango Forks Varsity Football

2004 Chenango Forks Varsity Football

Game 4 vs Elmira Notre Dame

Blue Devils defeat the Crusaders 55-14!
17th straight win, a new school record!

Articles courtesy of the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin and Elmira Star Gazette

Forks near perfect in routing Elmira ND

By Brian Moritz
Press & Sun-Bulletin

KATTELVILLE -- So this is what it looks like when one of the state's top football teams plays its best.

Chenango Forks showed why it's ranked Class B's top team according to the New York State Sports Writers Association by routing Elmira Notre Dame, 55-14, in a Section 4 Football Conference Division III game Saturday afternoon at Blue Devil Stadium.

The reigning state champions Blue Devils (4-0) extended their winning streak to 17 straight games dating back to last season.

"We're very proud of the group (Saturday)," Forks coach Kelsey Green said. "We didn't make many mistakes."

To a man, Forks players and coaches called this their best performance of the season. The fact that it came against a traditional power like Elmira Notre Dame left them a little surprised.

"END is one of the top teams in the area," said Forks wide receiver Zach Vredenburgh, who scored three touchdowns on pass receptions and ran an interception back for another one. "We really came to play (Saturday)."

The Blue Devils gained 400 yards on offense, scored the on their first six possessions and were up 48-0 less than two minutes into the third quarter.

"They're a heck of a team," Elmira Notre Dame coach Mike D'Aloisio said. "They're not good, they're real good."

Forks rushed for 354 yards on the day -- 209 in the first half. Behind a dominant performance from their offensive line, the Blue Devils averaged more than 7 yards per carry.

"We got off the football real well," Green said. "We're starting to come together on the line, and we've got some real talented runners."

Forks blew the game open late in the second quarter, as Tim Batty and Vredenburgh connected on three touchdown passes in the final four minutes to take a 27-0 halftime lead.

On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, Batty broke a 74-yard touchdown run. Three plays later, Vredenburgh stepped in front of a Luke Burris pass and returned it 26 yards for a score.

"We played them tough for about a quarter and a half, then things started to snowball," D'Aloisio said. "We couldn't do anything right, and they couldn't do anything wrong."

Chenango Forks tops Notre Dame 55-14

Elmira Star-Gazette

Defending state Class B champion Chenango Forks built a 48-0 lead after three quarters and beat Notre Dame 55-14 in a Section 4 Division 3 football game Saturday.

It was the 17th consecutive win for Forks (4-0, 4-0), which piled up 410 yards of total offense and scored on its first six possessions. Quarterback Tim Batty rushed for 173 yards on eight attempts and scored on a 74-yard run. He also threw three touchdown passes, all to Zach Vredenburgh, who scored a fourth touchdown on a 26-yard interception return.

"They're a heck of a team," Notre Dame coach Mike D'Aloisio said. "They're not good, they're real good.

"We played them tough for about a quarter and a half, then things started to snowball. We couldn't do anything right, and they couldn't do anything wrong."

Both touchdowns for Notre Dame (2-2, 2-2) came in the fourth quarter. Luke Burris threw a 16-yard scoring strike to T.J. Hitchcock, who then caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from John Morrison.

	1	2	3	4		Tot
Chenango Forks	14	20	14	07	-	55
Elmira Notre Dame	0	0	0	14	-	14

CF - Chier 3 run (Batty kick)

CF - O'Branski 5 run (Batty kick)

CF - Vredenburgh 9 pass from Batty (Batty kick)

CF - Vredenburgh 25 pass from Batty (kick failed)

CF - Vredenburgh 8 pass from Batty (Batty kick)

CF - Batty 74 run (Batty kick)

CF - Vredenburgh 26 interception return (Batty kick)

E - Hitchcock 16 pass from Burris (Manuel run)

CF - Hessney 3 run (Sampson kick)

E - Hitchcock 23 pass from Morrison (run failed)

TEAM STATISTICS

	END	CF
First Downs	14	24
Rushes-Yards	33-175	46-354
Passing Yards	122	56
Comp-Att-Int	9-21-1	4-7-0
Total Offense	54-297	53-410
Punts-Ave yards	3-34.3	1-50.0
Fumbles-Lost	3-1	1-0
Penalties-Yards	1-10	1-10

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Elmira Notre Dame rushing:

Manuel 14-98
Norton 7-35
Hitchcock 5-21
Dougherty 3-14
Burris 4-7

Chenango Forks rushing:

Batty 8-173, 1 TD
Spencer 7-34
Jim Nicholson 4-27
Mirabito 3-27
Chier 6-21, 1 TD
Farnham 2-15
O'Branski 3-13, 1 TD
Hessney 3-3, 1 TD
Rittenburg 2-4
Wells 1-5
Joe Nicholson 3-17
Collingwood 2-11
Falcon 2-4

Elmira Notre Dame passing

Burris 8-for-20-1 int, 99 yards, 1 TD
Morrison 1-for-1, 23 yards, 1 TD

Chenango Forks passing:

Batty 4-for-7, 56 yards, 3 TDs

Elmira Notre Dame receiving:

Hitchcock 4-64, 2 TD
Manuel 3-44
Lucarelli 2-14

Chenango Forks receiving:

Vredenburgh 4-56, 3 TDs

JV Score: Chenango Forks 26-14

Preview Articles:

By Kevin Stevens
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
(edited for CF/END content only)

Chenango Forks brings a 3-0 record and the No. 1 Class B ranking to its home field for a 1:30 game Saturday against Elmira Notre Dame. The Blue Devils' 145 points represents a total greater than any other two Section 4 Class B teams combined.

Notre Dame faces defending Class B state champion Chenango Forks

By John Zick

Elmira Star-Gazette

When Notre Dame and Chenango Forks meet Saturday afternoon, the game will pit two of the top programs in Section 4 against each another. Notre Dame head coach Mike D'Aloisio said Chenango Forks isn't just at the top of its class in Section 4, it's the best Class B program in New York.

"We need a few breaks and hope they have an off day," D'Aloisio said. "We're not going to save anything; we're going to throw everything at them we have. If I could find a way to make it legal, I'd throw the kitchen sink."

Chenango Forks, the defending Class B state champion and the state's top-ranked Class B team this year, is coming off a 49-0 win at Chenango Valley. Notre Dame lost 19-0 at home against Norwich.

"This is a must-win for us," D'Aloisio said. "We can't go down there to compete, we have to go down there to win this ballgame."

D'Aloisio said his team should be at full strength after getting back five players who were suspended for breaking team rules.

Tuesday Review Article:
By Staff
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

SIMPLY THE BEST?

Chenango Forks' impressive 55-14 win over Elmira Notre Dame at Blue Devil Stadium on Saturday got Crusaders coach Mike D'Aloisio thinking about his opponents' place in history. "I've always thought that their 2002 team was the best I've ever seen," he said, referring to a 12-1 Chenango Forks team that lost the Class B state championship game. "No disrespect to last year's team (that won the state title), but I'm not so sure that these guys aren't on par with that '02 team, if they're not better. "They really don't have any weaknesses. On offense, they can pass, they can run, they can run power, they can run the option. Most high school teams have trouble in at least one area, but they're strong across the board."