2006 Chenango Forks Varsity Football

Game 10 vs Windsor

CF defeats Windsor 29-12
Wins sixth Section 4 title in a row!

Articles and photos (Wayne Hansen) courtesy of the
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

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Forks makes it 6 straight

Nicholson's three TDs sink Windsor

By Kevin Stevens

Press & Sun-Bulletin

ENDICOTT -- As the rest of Section 4's Class B football lot transitions into winter sports season, Chenango Forks once again shifts into state playoff mode.

The Blue Devils extended to six their string of sectional championships with Friday night's 29-12 victory over Windsor at Union-Endicott's Ty Cobb Stadium, their eighth consecutive victory since a Week 2 setback against Corning East.

Forks senior Dylan Warner accounted for the lone first-half points on a 20-yard field goal, and contributed what may have been the most significant play of the contest on the defensive side to set up his team's first touchdown.

In the end, Forks rushers had outdone their Windsor counterparts by nearly a 4-to-1 ratio in the Blue Devils' second defeat of Windsor in a three-weekend stretch -- each time limiting the Black Knights to a dozen points.

Ahead for Forks (9-1) -- leader by 22-0 midway through the final quarter -- is a state quarterfinal game against Cazenovia or Westhill of Section 3, that at 6 p.m. next Saturday at Cicero-North Syracuse.

Fullback Joe Nicholson rushed for three touchdowns and Nick Stephens another for Forks, which surrendered 244 passing yards and two TDs to Windsor's Adam Good. His night featured a pair of 77-yard scoring strikes to Cody Whitman in the final 5:16 of play.

"Everyone thought that 2005 was the last Chenango Forks team, that was the end of it," said Nicholson, a 197-pound senior. "But we just used that, came out and played Forks football, came out and got it done. I thought we'd be standing here because we're Forks football, we know what we've got to get done and we just came out and did it."

"We knew we were a great team coming in, and we got better and better every week," said Forks quarterback Bryan Lance, whose continued excellence orchestrating the offense led to

101 rushing yards to top all ball carriers. "It just feels so good. Every year, they're saying somebody else is going to beat us. This year, it was supposed to be Windsor taking it to states.

"We're just glad we're not handing in our pads this week."

Forks' first-half offense was, in large part, The Bryan Lance Show.

Beginning with a 26-yard gain on the second play from scrimmage, he was the individual Windsor defenders couldn't seem to contain. In fact, five of Lance's 11 first-half rushes went for double-digit yardage, and he had 101 yards in the books by halftime.

However, Forks' lead at intermission was a scant 3-0. Warner's 20-yard field goal was the relative consolation prize when Windsor's defense denied a Forks squad that had first-and-goal from the 5-yard line. The three-pointer came midway through the second quarter, on the 17th play of a drive that began at Forks' 4-yard line following a superb 44-yard punt by Steve DeMarco.

A short while later, the Black Knights (8-2) rode Good's passing for a seven-play, 57-yard drive that ended when Lance felled receiver Tim Costello at Forks' 11-yard line as time expired in the first half.

The teams traded third-quarter punts before Warner turned in the defensive play of the night.

Windsor started its second possession of the third quarter with 6:22 to play at its 37-yard line. On first down, Good passed to his right and Warner intercepted at about Forks' 42-yard line. He raced back down the field with authority to set up the Blue Devils at Windsor's 18.

It took Forks eight plays to cash in, the points coming on a 2-yard blast -- shoulders-low, legs-a-churning -- by Nicholson. The score came four plays and a Forks penalty after Lance completed a 14-yard pass to Garret Cade on fourth-and-11 from the 19.

"Warner's interception, what a play," Blue Devils coach Kelsey Green said. "I don't think there's any question, that's the key play of the football game. Getting that ball and taking it down there, that was huge. And then getting it in, because they're tough."

The Blue Devils then forced a three-and-out Windsor series, and after a punt, went 49 yards in eight rushing plays. Nicholson dashed in from the 8-yard line to make it 16-0 with 9:36 to play in the game, perhaps a defender's glove or two impeding his progress along the way.

Windsor muffed the ensuing kickoff, Forks recovered, and ran five plays before Nicholson bulled in from the 1-yard line for a 22-0 advantage with 6:19 remaining.

What remained were the two Good-to-Whitman 77-yard scoring passes, with a 3-yard TD rush by Forks' Nick Stephens sandwiched between. Good, despite playing with an ankle sprain, closed 10-for-26 for 244 yards.

"Defensively, we played wonderfully," Green said. "That kid can throw it. It did hurt that he was hobbled, there's no question, because it takes his mobility out, the pressure he puts on our corner. But, boy, they ran hard, they blocked hard, he threw well -- they've got nothing to be ashamed of. They've got a good football team."

Chenango Forks now braces for an 11th weekend of football for the sixth consecutive autumn.

"Six times means we own Section 4 Class B," said Nicholson, who rushed for 84 yards. "Forks is Section 4 Class B, that's what six times means to us."

	1	2	3	4		Tot
Chenango Forks	00	03	07	19	-	29
Windsor	0	00	00	12	-	12

CF - Dylan Warner 20 FG
CF - Joe Nicholson 2 run (Warner kick)
CF - Nicholson 8 run (kick failed)
CF - Nicholson 1 run (pass failed)
W - Cody Whitman 77 pass from Adam Good (pass failed)
CF - Nick Stephens 3 run (Warner kick)
W - Whitman 77 pass from Adam Good (pass failed)

TEAM STATISTICS

	Windsor	CF
First Downs	12	15
Rushes-Yards	21-77	57-300
Comp-Att-Int	10-27-2	1-3-0
Passing Yards	244	14
Total Offense	48-321	60-314
Punts-ave yards	5-30.8	4-29.2
Fumbles-Lost	1-0	2-0
Penalties-Yards	5-35	4-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Windsor rushing

Bryant Parker 9-38
Cody Whitman 11-38
Adam Good 1-1

Chenango Forks rushing

Bryan Lance 13-101
Joe Nicholson 19-84, 3 TDs
Nick Stephens 11-56, 1 TD
Jarred Wells 4-25
Dylan Warner 6-16
Joe Aston 4-15

Windsor passing

Adam Good 10-for-26, 244 yards, 2 TDs, 2 int.
Josh Bean 0-for-1

Chenango Forks passing

Bryan Lance 1-for-3, 14 yards

Windsor receiving

Cody Whitman 4-166, 2 TDs
Travis Blincoe 1-38
Steve DeMarco 2-19
Bryant Parker 2-13
Tim Costello 1-8

Chenango Forks receiving:

Garrett Cade 1-14

Preview Articles:

Windsor hopes to slow down Forks

Devils look to win sixth straight title

By Kevin Stevens

Press & Sun-Bulletin

Not since the present crop of Chenango Forks seniors were turning in sixth-grade homework assignments has a Blue Devils football season concluded within Section 4's boundaries.

Bryan Lance, Josh Cary, Joe Nicholson and the rest of those seniors will be bent on keeping alive that unprecedented stretch when they oppose Windsor for Section 4's Class B championship at 7 tonight at Union-Endicott.

In every season from 2001 to the present, Forks has claimed Section 4's championship and proceeded to state playoffs -- in fact, playing each year in the state final. During that span, the Devils have posted a 70-4 record.

Windsor (8-1) will be after its first sectional title since 1997, and to achieve that must avenge a 31-12 loss served up by Forks (8-1) two weeks ago on the Black Knights' field. In that contest, Forks' superiority on the offensive and defensive lines was the root of its 368-57 advantage in rushing yards.

"I think they're probably talking over at Windsor the way we'd be talking over here; it's a one-game season and that first outcome has no bearing on this game," Blue Devils coach Kelsey Green said.

To shore up what befell the Black Knights that afternoon, coach Dan Hodack said, "It's a combination of doing some things better and doing some things differently."

Senior Adam Good is expected to start behind center for the Knights. He sat out about half of last week's 15-14 semifinal victory at Owego with an ankle injury, and just how mobile he'll be against Forks' pass rush remains to be seen.

"It's not his arm that's hurt. He still has that strong arm," Green said. "We watched a kid from Maine-Endwell do a few things when he was hobbled," Green added, referring to Shane Connolly. He quarterbacked M-E to a 2004 state title with a torn ligament in his knee.

Forks, arguably the most improved squad among Section 4 finalists from opening day to Week 10, has outscored its last three opponents by a combined 82-19. Perhaps the greatest strides have been made by the offensive front -- center Jud DuBois; guards Mike Lucas, Tom Voorhis and Nolan Haycook; tackles Justin Langstaff and Josh Cary; and tight ends Jason Gildea and Clint Cade.

"Our offensive line, overall, really has come together as a unit," Green said. "They're understanding their assignments better than they were early in the year and they're gaining confidence."

Post-game Article:

Fifth Quarter:

Published Tuesdays in the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

FORKS' SIXTH IS SPECIAL

With its 11th consecutive victory in Section 4 playoff competition, by 29-12 Friday night over Windsor, Chenango Forks captured a sixth consecutive Class B championship.

The Blue Devils' streak of state-playoff appearances is twice as long as next-best in Section 4 since the inaugural year of state championship games (1993). Three programs -- Deposit, Elmira Free Academy and Horseheads -- had previously reached state playoffs in three straight seasons.

For the man who oversees Forks' juggernaut, the most recent title indeed feels just a bit different.

"Absolutely." Coach Kelsey Green said. "There is no question that this team has improved more than any team we've had. It's now a source of pride. I mean, they know they're getting better and they just want to continue it, and we want to continue it with them.

"The schedule we had and where we had to go, it just seemed like everything was sort of set up for us to drop off this year. But those kids just wouldn't let it happen."

Friday night at Ty Cobb Stadium, Forks' lead was a tenuous 3-0 at halftime, a score that held well into the third quarter.

But Dylan Warner, whose 20-yard, second-quarter field goal put the Blue Devils ahead for good, intercepted a pass and returned about 25 yards to Windsor's 18-yard line with 6:11 to play in the third. Joe Nicholson rushed 2 yards for a score with 1:47 left, and added two more rushing TDs over the next 7 1/2 minutes for a 22-0 advantage.

"We started picking up on the front line, staying on our blocks and just running it right down their throats," Nicholson said. "It's what we do, it's what Forks football is all about."

The contest marked Forks' first of 2006 on artificial turf, and the Blue Devils appeared to take to the surface quite nicely in the night's hand-numbing chill.

"We like playing on the turf because we've got a fast team," quarterback Bryan Lance said. "We held onto the ball well. That's one thing we came into the game talking about, just hold onto the ball every play, keep two arms on it when you get wrapped up."

Lance started his night with a 26-yard gain on the second play from scrimmage, and had 101 rushing yards in the first half.

"He ran the option to perfection, the mid-line, he did a beautiful job with it," Green said. "Then we went back to old reliable, leads and the options off of it. And when we needed the big throw, he made the big throw to Garret (Cade, a 14-yarder to set up a third-quarter score)."