Game 3 - 2007 Chenango Forks Varsity Football

Game 3 vs Corning East

Blue Devils defeat Corning East 15-12!
Breaks the Trojans 15 game win streak!

Articles courtesy of the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, Corning's The Leader and the Elmira Star-gazette
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Photo credits - Jason Whong - Elmira Star Gazette

Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
There was no Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin based article on this game, rather, they used an edited version of the Elmira Star Gazette article.

Forks stops Corning E. win streak

By Joe Mink
Gannett News Service

CORNING -- Chenango Forks ended Corning East's 15-game winning streak in a hard-hitting non-league game between Section 4 football powers Friday night.

Tim Zdimal scored on a 2-yard run with 7 minutes, 2 seconds left to play for Chenango Forks, and the Blue Devils held off a late drive by East for a 15-12 victory in a driving rainstorm at Corning Memorial Stadium.

The defending Class A state champion Trojans (2-1) threatened late, marching from their own 9 after Forks' Joe Aston pinned East inside its 20-yard line.

Corning East's Mitch Keefer tries to avoid Chenango Forks' Jud DuBois in the first quarter of Forks’ 15-12 victory Friday night at Corning.

Corning East's Mitch Keefer tries to avoid Chenango Forks' Jud DuBois in the first quarter of Forks’ 15-12 victory Friday night at Corning.

On third-and-3 with time running out, East quarterback Matt Pierotti rushed close to a first down. No measurement was taken, and thinking East had the first down, Pierotti spiked the ball to stop the clock at 7.9 seconds. But his third-down run had been placed short of a first down, and the spike ended the threat.

"I thought it was a first, but I'm not going to blame the refs," East coach Tim Hughes said.

He did point to mistakes -- four fumbles with one lost in the fourth quarter, and four penalties for 30 yards. Forks fumbled once and lost it but had just one penalty, a 5-yarder.

"Hanging in is a good way to describe how we finished," said Forks head coach Kelsey Green, whose team is ranked second in the state in Class B. "These were two good teams and one physical game."

East is ranked No. 3 in Class A.

Chenango Forks junior Kevin Hamilton was injured during the kickoff return following Zdimal's touchdown. He lay on the field for several minutes and was taken off on a stretcher. Green said that was more of a precaution and Hamilton should be OK.

East led for most of the game, going up 6-0 in the first quarter on Chris Parrillo's 39-yard run on a third-and-5 play.

Forks (3-0) went up 7-6 on quarterback Dan Reynolds' 13-yard TD run and Rob Lumsden's kick.

The Trojans regained the lead with 5.6 seconds left before halftime as Pierotti recovered his fumbled snap and ran in from 12 yards out.

Reynolds led all rushers with 91 yards. Dane Blodgett led East with 86 yards.

East's streak ends at 15

Chenango Forks beats Trojans 15-12.

By Joe Mink

Elmira Star-Gazette

CORNING -- Corning East's 15-game winning streak came to an end on a controversial play in a hard-hitting non-league game between Section 4 football powers that saw players on both sides get hurt.

Tim Zdimal scored on a 2-yard run with 7 minutes, 2 seconds left to play for Chenango Forks, then the Blue Devils held off a late drive by East for a 15-12 victory in a driving rainstorm Friday night at Corning Memorial Stadium.

The defending Class A state champion Trojans threatened late, marching from their own 9 after a clutch punt by Forks' Joe Aston to inside the East 20.

Corning East's Chris Parrillo breaks the tackle of Chenango Forks' Mike Sackett during the first quarter Friday at Corning East High School.

On third-and-3 with time running out, East quarterback Matt Pierotti rushed for close to a first down. No measurement was taken, and thinking East had the first down, Pierotti spiked the ball to stop the clock at 7.9 seconds. But his third-down run had been placed short of a first, and the spike ended the threat.

"I thought it was a first, but I'm not going to blame the refs," East head coach Tim Hughes said.

He did point to mistakes -- four fumbles with one lost in the fourth quarter, and four penalties for 30 yards. Forks fumbled once and lost it but had just one penalty, a 5-yarder.

"Hanging in is a good way to describe how we finished," said Forks head coach Kelsey Green, whose team is ranked second in the state in Class B. "These were two good teams and one physical game."

The most serious injury appeared to be suffered by Chenango Forks junior Kevin Hamilton during the kickoff return following Zdimal's touchdown. He lay on the field for several minutes and was taken off on a stretcher. Green said that was more of a precaution and Hamilton should be OK.

East (2-1) led for most of the game, going up 6-0 in the first quarter on Chris Parrillo's 39-yard run on a third-and-5 play. Mitch Keefer's interception of Forks quarterback Jake Reynolds set up the touchdown.

Forks (3-0) went up 7-6 on Reynolds' 13-yard TD run. Limited to 27 yards on their first 14 plays, the Blue Devils gobbled up 48 on their next two as Reynolds found Matt Mirabito streaking down near the sideline for a 35-yard gain, followed by his run and then Rob Lumsden's kick.

The Trojans regained the lead with 5.6 seconds left before halftime as Pierotti recovered his fumbled snap and ran in from 12 yards out. Dane Blodgett intercepted Reynolds at the Forks 36 to set up the three-play drive.

East almost repeated its feat with an 11-play, 71-yard drive that started with 3:09 left, but this time it came up short.

Green said he was on needles and pins right up to the final whistle.

"Every time they ran the ball I held my breath," he said.

Reynolds led all rushers with 91 yards. Blodgett led East with 86 yards. Pierotti added 71 and Parrillo 53.

The game was held up for almost a half hour midway through the second quarter because of lightning.

Forks ends East's streak

By Bob Benz
The Corning Leader

CORNING | This time, the first quarter was not the issue for Corning East.

After being outscored 22-0 in the opening quarter of their first two games, the Trojans jumped out to a 6-0 lead by scoring on their second possession, while limiting Chenango Forks to just one first down and 18 yards of total offense through 12 minutes of play.

However, two turnovers, 45 yards worth of penalties and a generally ineffective second-half offense proved too much for East to overcome in a 15-12 loss to Chenango Forks Friday under a steady rain at Memorial Stadium.

"The perfect game keeps eluding us," East head coach Tim Hughes said. "But I was pleased with how physical we played."

The loss ended a 15-game winning streak for the Trojans, marking their first loss since falling in the state semifinal round in 2005. It was also East's first regular season loss since 2004.

If that wasn't enough, time and downs unceremoniously ran out on East during the team's last-gasp drive, which also proved to be its most sustained offensive possession of the second half.

Despite a drive start at their own 9 and just 3:09 showing in the fourth quarter, the Trojans patiently moved the ball inside Chenango Forks territory with less than a minute to play. East used it final timeout with 41.1 seconds left, while facing a second-and-5 at the Forks 38.

Quarterback Matt Pierotti called his own number on back-to-back plays, gaining three yards on second down and just one yard on third down, leaving the Trojans with 4th-and-less-than-a-yard as the clock ticked below 15 seconds.

However, when the clock stopped with roughly 13 seconds showing on fourth down following Pierotti's third-down run, the Trojans thought they had picked up the first down, prompting Pierotti to spike the ball, which actually turned the ball over on downs.

"Usually, they stop the clock when they have a first down, so we were pretty upset about that," East fullback Dane Blodgett said of the confusion that cost the Trojans' a final desperation chance to either tie or win the game. "(The officials) gave us no explanation."

"The loss does not boil down to that very play," Hughes said. "I refuse to let ourselves believe that. That's on us. But I never envisioned the game coming down to us spiking the ball on fourth down."

Although the finish was upsetting for the Trojans, they were put in that desperation position as a result of Chenango Forks' dominating defense. Until East's final drive, which netted three first downs and covered 57 yards, the Trojans were limited to just 19 yards and three first downs for the remainder of the second half.

"We struggled on offense in the second half and it's hard to move the ball on those guys," Hughes said.

While the 12-7 lead East held at halftime remained when the fourth quarter began, the Blue Devils used a nine-play, 54-yard drive to pick up what proved to be the game-winning touchdown. Tim Zdimal scooted in off left guard for a four-yard touchdown run with 7:02 to play in the fourth to put Forks ahead. The Blue Devils made it a three-point game when Jake Reynolds connected with a wide-open Clint Cade for the two-point conversion.

East amended previous slow starts by taking its first first-quarter lead of the season when Chris Parrillo took a counter handoff and broke free for a brilliant 39-yard touchdown run, shaking free of would-be tacklers on his way to the end zone.

Although Forks went ahead 7-6 on Reynolds' 13-yard touchdown run, East struck just before halftime to take the lead.

Blodgett set up the score with an interception of Reynolds and 32-yard return of the pick to the Forks 36 with just 28.1 seconds left in the first half. Two plays after Blodgett ripped off an 18-yard gain on first down, Pierotti improvised on a fumbled snap and went in on a 12-yard touchdown run with just 5.6 seconds left in the half.

Blodgett led the Trojans on the ground with 86 yards on 18 carries. Pierotti finished with 59 yards rushing on 15 attempts, while Parrillo amassed 53 yards on the ground.

East (2-1) will play at Elmira Free Academy at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Chenango Forks improved to 3-0 with the win.

Place mouse over photos to read captions
Photo credits - Jason Whong - Elmira Star Gazette