Game 8 - 2004 Chenango Forks Varsity Football

2004 Chenango Forks Varsity Football

Game 8 vs Dryden

Blue Devils defeat Dryden 55-0
for 21st straight win
44-8

Articles on the forfeit (below) courtesy of
the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin and the Ithaca Journal

Team Forks keeps on rolling

Winning streak at 21 victories

BY BRIAN MORITZ
Press & Sun-Bulletin

KATTELVILLE -- Not even an unexpected week off could slow down the Chenango Forks machine.

Playing for the first time in two weeks, the defending Class B state champion Blue Devils rolled to a 55-0 victory over Dryden in a Section 4 Football Conference Division III contest on a postcard-perfect Saturday afternoon at Blue Devil Stadium.

The victory is the 21st in a row for Forks (8-0).

"We really just try to go out and execute," Forks coach Kelsey Green said. "We're

playing our opponent, but we're also playing against ourselves. We try to be as mistake-free as possible."

Forks hadn't played since an Oct. 9 victory over Windsor. The Blue Devils received a forfeit last week, after Bainbridge-Guilford was left shorthanded due to athletic rules violations.

Forks showed no ill-effects from the layoff, winning with its trademark overpowering balance. The Blue Devils rushed 430 yards as a team, but no player rushed for more than 87 yards. Fifteen players carried the ball, and six players scored touchdowns.

Oh yeah, the defense held Dryden to 138 total yards.

"In a day and age where you have teams full of individuals, they are truly a team," Dryden coach Joe Mack said. "They play great team football. You can't help but be impressed with the program they've put together."

The Blue Devils scored on their first play from scrimmage, as quarterback Ryan Batty ran 37 yards for a touchdown on a drive set up by a short Dryden punt. Forks was up 21-0 less than nine minutes into the game after Nick Tarnowski returned an interception 16 yards for a touchdown. It was 42-0 at halftime.

In all, Forks scored on seven of its first eight possessions. Tim O'Branski rushed for a team-high 87 yards for Forks, and Joe Nicholson and Ben Farnham each scored twice.

Abinye Smith rushed for 83 yards for Dryden (3-5), which suited up just 22 players.

"Dryden came to play, they were just a little outmanned," Green said. "Again, we just want to keep marching on and try to get better every week."

Photo: Rebecca Towns - Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

The Ithaca Journal
10/25/2004

Chenango Forks 55, Dryden 0

KATTELVILLE -- After going to the playoffs in Joe Mack's first year as head coach, Dryden clinched a losing season against powerhouse Chenango Forks. Coming off a forfeit victory, the defending Class B state champions used 15 players to rush for 430 yards against the Purple Lions.

"In a day and age where you have teams full of individuals, they are truly a team," Mack said. "They play great team football. You can't help but be impressed with the program they've put together."

Abinye Smith rushed for 83 yards on 20 carries for Dryden (3-5).

	1	2	3	4		Tot
Chenango Forks	21	21	13	00	-	55
Dryden	0	0	0	0	-	0

CF - Batty 37 run (Batty kick)

CF - Joe Nicholson 8 run (Batty kick)

CF - Tarnowski 16 interception return (Batty kick)

CF - Farnham 1 run (Batty kick)

CF - Spencer 31 run (Batty kick)

CF - Farnham 11 run (Batty kick)

CF - Chier 9 run (Batty kick failed)

CF - Joe Nicholson 4 run (Batty kick)

TEAM STATISTICS

	Dryden	CF
First Downs	7	29
Rushes-Yards	27-85	49-430
Passing Yards	53	54
Comp-Att-Int	8-17-2	3-4-0
Total Offense	44-138	53-484
Punts-Ave yards	6-28	1-35
Fumbles-Lost	1-0	1-1
Penalties-Yards	2-8	10-75

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Dryden rushing:

Smith 20-83
Hollenbeck 7-2

Chenango Forks rushing:

O'Branski 5-87
Batty 5-84
Spencer 4-48
Joe Nicholson 8-47
Collingwood 3-37
Chier 4-33
Farnham 3-20
Mirabito 4-19
Purce 1-10
Falcon 3-9
Kwartler 1-9
Sabo 2-9
Hessney 2-8
Rittenburg 2-6
Wells 2-4

Dryden passing

White 6-for-9, 39 yards, 1 int.
Hollenbeck 2-for-8, 14 yards, 1 int.

Chenango Forks passing:

Batty 3-for-4, 54 yards

Dryden receiving:

Hollenbeck 2-20
Leviere 2-15
Johnson 1-11
Foster 1-4
Smith 2-3

Chenango Forks receiving:

Florance 1-25
Tarnowski 1-16
Vredenburgh 1-13

JV Score: 7-6 Dryden

Preview Articles:

BEN JACOBS
Ithaca Journal Staff

Dryden has been eliminated from playoff contention in Division III and now has to deal with the challenge of playing the defending state-champion, first-place Blue Devils. Chenango Forks outscored its first six opponents 319-43 before winning last week on a forfeit by Bainbridge-Guilford.

Tuesday Review Article:

Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin 10/26/2004

BLUE DEVILS KEEP ROLLING

Chenango Forks is simply dominating football games this year.

The Blue Devils are winning by an average score of 53-6. They've scored at least 44 points in each of their games this year and have topped 50 points five times.

Does Forks coach Kelsey Green worry about his players staying motivated and interested?

Not for a second.

"We're blessed to have kids who love to play football," Green said after his team's 55-0 win over Dryden on Saturday. "It's not as hard as it might look like, because the guys like to practice and get the opportunity to play."

The Blue Devils, though, had an unexpected bye week of sorts. They received a forfeit win, after Bainbridge-Guilford was left shorthanded due to suspensions for multiple athletics rules violations.

The forfeit meant that Forks went two weeks without playing -- an eternity at this point in the high school season.

"It seemed like we hadn't played in a long time," Green said. "You gear all week for that game, and you only get so many games in a season, so they're all special. It was a long week."

But Forks was able to make the best of the bad situation. Without a game to prepare for, the Blue Devils spent much of practice last week working on fundamentals.

"We were able top do things teams do in the preseason but can't once the season starts," Green said. "We did more skill work, we worked on line play, on blocking and tackling. We were also able to go a little more live in practice, because we had time for our bodies to heal."

The work paid off on Saturday. Forks showed no signs of rust, opening a 21-0 lead in the first nine minutes against Dryden.

"First of all, it starts with their coaching staff," said Dryden coach Joe Mack. "They've been around a long time, and they're all outstanding coaches. It's an outstanding staff."