2009 Chenango Forks Varsity Football

Forks posts 16th straight football victory over Chenango Valley

Lusht brothers keep win streak going vs. Warriors

By Mike Mangan
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

TOWN OF CHENANGO -- The math proved rather simple Saturday afternoon at Chenango Forks.

One Lusht plus another Lusht added up to a 16th straight victory for the Blue Devils over rival Chenango Valley High.

Junior twin brothers Ryan Lusht and Tyler Lusht combined for 181 yards rushing and two touchdowns, energizing what had been a stagnant running game in leading Forks to a 21-14 victory in a renewal of one of Section 4's more spirited rivalries.

Ryan Lusht's 7-yard touchdown run with 8 minutes, 1 second remaining in the game broke a 14-all tie and enabled Forks (6-0) to deny CV (3-3) its first victory in the series since a 14-13 win in 1994.

"We were very much aware of the streak," said Tyler Lusht, who ran for 87 yards a score in the Section 4 Conference game. "We didn't want to be the team to lose the streak."

The Blue Devils ensured the continuation of their winning ways against CV with a grind-it-out drive bridging the third and fourth quarters that led to the game's decisive points.

With the score tied at 14, Forks took possession at its 48-yard line with 1:15 remaining in the third quarter.

What followed was a 12-play drive -- with no play garnering more than 8 yards -- that chewed up 5 1/2 before Ryan Lusht scored the game-winning touchdown from 7 yards out.

CV threatened to tie late, driving from its 20-yard line to the Forks' 32 in the final minutes, but quarterback Ricky Ruffo's pass on third-and-7 was intercepted by Forks' Casey LaNave with 1:39 remaining.

It was yet another recent close call in the series for CV, which had chances to win late in regular-season losses to Forks in 2006 (14-9) and 2007 (20-14).

CV coach Jay Hope, however, was not in the mood for a moral victory.

"You want to beat good teams," Hope said. "We're close, awfully close, it's just not good enough."

CV grabbed a 7-0 lead on Ruffo's 11-yard touchdown pass to Devin Carroll with 7:03 left in the first quarter.

Forks' defense tightened the remainder of the first half, limiting CV to one first down. Meantime, the Warriors' defense was equally tough, holding Forks' ground game to 36 yards rushing and 59 yards of total offense through the first 22 minutes of play.

Then the Lusht brothers took control.

On a second-and-7 play from the Forks' 16, Ryan Lusht found a hole and sped up the Forks' sideline for a 43-yard run to the CV 42.

Tyler Lusht followed with a 21-yard run before Jimmy Miller scored on a 21-yard run of his own with 1:21 remaining in the second quarter to knot the score at 7.

The Lusht's figured predominantly again when Forks scored on its opening drive of the third quarter to take a 14-7 lead.

The pair combined for 60 of Forks' 71 yards on the drive, the capper a 35-yard touchdown by Tyler Lusht with 9:23 remaining off a pitch from quarterback Rickey Bronson to put the Blue Devils ahead.

"It was tough for us, they were jamming us up the middle and around the edges," Ryan Lusht said. "We had to fix a couple of things to get the ball moving down the field. We're lucky to have our line push them off the ball."

Forks squandered a chance to add to its lead when, on CV's ensuing possession, Ruffo fumbled on a first-down play after getting hit near his team's 40-yard line.

Despite four Forks players surrounding the bouncing ball, CV's Spencer Wallach somehow recovered at the CV 28-yard line.

Still, with CV facing a second-and-33 from its 28, the situation looked bleak.

But Ruffo -- who was superb in the losing effort for CV, completing 12 of 19 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns -- completed a third-and-32 pass to Cameron Fedish for 39 yards and a first down to the Forks' 32.

Later, on a third-and-14 play from the Forks' 36, Ruffo escaped a near-sack before scrambling for 22 yards to the 14 for another first down, an additional 7 yards tacked on the play following a Forks personal foul to give CV first-and-goal at the Forks' 7.

Two plays later, Ruffo found Tom Hull for a 5-yard touchdown pass. The 6-foot-3 Hull won a jump ball over 5-8 defender Miller to tie the score at 14 with 5:48 left in the third quarter.

Forks, however, found a way yet again to get it done in the fourth quarter. By game's end, the Blue Devils had rushed for 280 yards.

"There were so many swings in this game," Forks coach Dave Hogan said. "What's nice is we did hang together, and we were able to put a drive together fortunately.

"CV's a good team, they're getting better. We knew we were going to have our hands full."