2006 Chenango Forks Varsity Football

Game 3 vs Owego

Blue Devils Steamroll Owego 35-7!

Articles courtesy of the
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
Place mouse over photos to read caption (no captions this week)
All Photo credits Thomas Labarbera - Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

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Aston's 3 TDs help Forks bounce back
Blue Devils gain 291 yards rushing against Owego

by Mike Mangan
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

TOWN OF CHENANGO -- Its 55-game winning streak against Section 4 competition may have come to an end last week at the hands of Corning East, but the Chenango Forks football team gave notice Saturday that another streak could be alive and well come November.

That being a sixth consecutive trip to the state playoffs.

In a rematch of last year's Section 4 Class B title game, the Blue Devils scored on their first four possessions en route to a 35-7 victory over Owego in a high school football game Saturday.

Joe Aston ran for three touchdowns and Forks limited Owego to 143 yards of offense in bouncing back from a 14-0 loss last Saturday to Corning East, its first loss to a Section 4 foe since 2000.

"In the locker room before the game, we tried to get the guys to know that we needed to re-establish ourselves," Forks senior Dylan Warner said. "We're not a team from the past, we need to have our own identity and I think we had a good start with that today."

Forks (2-1) beat Owego, 25-13, in last year's Section 4 Class B title game, the Blue Devils' fifth consecutive Section 4 title.

Many figured Saturday's game would be as competitive, but Forks had different plans.

The Blue Devils needed just four plays to get their first touchdown as Aston rumbled in from 21 yards out to cap a 55-yard drive for a 6-0 lead just 1:32 into the game.

Forks made it 14-0 on its ensuing drive, a 13-play, 87-yard drive that chewed up over six minutes and culminated with Aston's 12-yard run with 50 seconds left in the first quarter.

Owego began its next possession on its 18-yard line, and promptly turned the ball over on its first play as Colin Lounsberry fumbled, the ball recovered by Forks' Nick Stephens at the Owego 18.

Five plays later, Aston had his third touchdown of the day, a 3-yard run that made it 21-0 with 10:18 left.

Bryan Lance's 33-yard touchdown to Warner with 7:22 left in the second quarter put Forks up 28-0.

Forks tallied 329 yards of offense, including 291 rushing on 48 carries.

Last week against Corning East, Forks mustered just 88 total yards.

"We weren't to the point of questioning our offensive ability," Forks coach Kelsey Green said. "Being shutout, and not really moving the ball at all against Corning East, we wanted to come out, get a few first downs and get things going.

"We had that great first drive and that really set the tone."

Meanwhile, Owego had little success moving the ball against Forks' usual stout defense.

The Indians failed to pick up a first down on three of their five first-half possessions, the other two ending with turnovers.

Further hindering Owego's cause offensively was the loss of 5-foot-10, 260-pound lineman John Conklin, a two-way starter, midway through the first quarter with a knee injury.

Conklin did re-enter the game in the second quarter for a few plays, but the injury kept him out the remainder of the game.

"I thought they absolutely dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball," Owego coach Steve Virkler said. "They were just shoving it down our throats."

	1	2	3	4		Tot
Chenango Forks	14	14	00	07	-	35
Owego	0	0	0	7	-	07

CF - Joe Aston 21 run (Dylan Warner kick failed)
CF - Aston 12 run (Jason Gildea pass from Bryan Lance)
CF - Aston 3 run (Warner kick)
CF - Warner 33 pass from Lance (Warner kick)
CF - Jarred Wells 3 run (Warner kick)
Ow - Bobby Slack 8 pass from Dan Brainard (Kendrick Miller kick)

TEAM STATISTICS

	Owego	CF
First Downs	9	16
Rushes-Yards	27-45	48-291
Passing Yards	98	38
Comp-Att-Int	7-14-1	2-4-1
Total Offense	41-143	52-329
Punts-Ave yards	5-26.2	1-59
Fumbles-Lost	3-2	0-0
Penalties-Yards	1-5	9-90

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Owego rushing

Parker Evans 5-18
Bobby Slack 11-16
Mike Bensley 1-9
Colin Lounsbury 4-7
Mike Poffenbarger 1-5
Andy Race 1-5
Aaron White 2-(-1)
Dan Brainard 2-(-14)

Chenango Forks rushing

Joe Aston 10-74, 3 TDs
Dylan Warner 9-52, 1 TD
Jarred Wells 5-41
Joe Nicholson 7-28
Bryan Lance 4-26
Nick Stephens 3-22
Max Ginty 2-16
Tom McMillen 2-16
Ray Lord 3-14
Tim Zdimal 3-2

Owego passing

Dan Brainard 6-for-9, 80 yards, 0 int, 1 TD
Andy Race 1-for-4, 18 yards, 0 int
Mike Bensley 0-for-1, 1 int

Chenango Forks passing

Bryan Lance 2-for-4, 38 yards, 1 int, 1 TD

Owego receiving

Bobby Slack 2-28, 1 TD
Mike Poffenbarger 1-22
Chris Dimock 1-18
Mike Bensley 1-13
Parker Evans 1-12
Aaron White 1-5

Chenango Forks receiving:

Dylan Warner 1-33, 1 TD
Jarred Wells 1-5

JV Score: Chenango Forks 20-0

Preview Articles:

Forks looks to bounce back against Owego
Football game is rematch of Section 4 Class B final

by Kevin Stevens
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

In a rematch of last autumn's Section 4 Class B football championship game, Owego and Chenango Forks will bring matching 1-1 records into their non-league contest at 1:30 Saturday on Forks' field.

Lest there be any doubt, from an Owego standpoint, not one thing has changed despite the Blue Devils' 14-0 loss to Corning East last weekend that left a blemish on Forks' record this early in a season for the first time since the 1998 squad started 1-1.

"It's one of the best football programs in New York state," Owego coach Steve Virkler said of Forks' five-time defending sectional champions. "That hasn't changed, not because of one loss to another one of the best programs in the state.

"It's hard to simulate what they do because they do it so well. They're so disciplined, they run that offense so well, and defensively it's the same."

Owego, which absorbed a 34-14 loss to Corning East in Week 1, rebounded with a 41-23 win over Dryden last week. Saturday marks the Indians' third consecutive road game.

The Indians return six offensive starters and three defensive starters -- all of the latter, though, having switched positions -- from the team that fell by 25-13 in last year's Class B final.

Andy Race has completed 12 of 19 passes through two games for Owego, Aaron White's 24 points are sixth-best in Section 4, and White and Bobby Slack have teamed for 265 rushing yards.

By way of critiquing his team's play to date, Virkler said, "Not so good is that we started really slow against Corning. The good is that we've gotten progressively better. We do feel we've gotten better since the early part of that game, certainly since our scrimmage."

He added, of the demanding nature of the early portion of Owego's schedule, "We're excited about playing two of the best programs in the state two of the first three weeks. It helps us find out where we're at."

Post-game Article:

Fifth Quarter:

Published Tuesdays in the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

Forks Back On Track

From staff reports

Any thoughts of Chenango Forks dwelling on the end of its 55-game winning streak against Section 4 competition were quickly removed Saturday with a 35-7 victory over Owego in a rematch of last year's Section 4 Class B title game.

The Blue Devils, beaten 14-0 by Corning East the week before for their first loss to a Section 4 team since 2000, scored on their first four possessions Saturday to take a 28-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

"We never talked about the streak beforehand, and we didn't talk about it after," Forks coach Kelsey Green said. "It was a game last week where we didn't play the way we hoped, and we knew we had to have a solid week.

"There was no sulking, nothing different than any other week. It was a football game, and it doesn't have to be a playoff game for these kids to get up for a game."

Junior Joe Aston, who pounded his way to three touchdowns in the victory over Owego, did admit to carrying a little extra motivation into Saturday's game than usual.

"We didn't take that loss too easily," Aston said. "We wanted to come and show that Forks is a top contender, that we still have what it takes and things aren't over (yet)."