Game 4 - 2016 Chenango Forks Varsity Football

Game 4 vs Vestal

The Blue Devils defeat Vestal 27-0!
It was the first game vs Vestal since 1991

Chenango Forks shuts down Vestal 27-0

- Kevin Stevens, kstevens@pressconnects.com @PSBKevin

If there was a doubt where Vestal versus Chenango Forks was heading Saturday afternoon, when the sides emerged from halftime refreshed and raring and ready to right all first-half wrongs, the Blue Devils answered emphatically.

Eighteen plays lopped the opening 7 1/2 minutes from the third period and resulted in a three-touchdown spread that left the hosts in decisive in control on the way to a 27-0 football victory.

L.J. Watson rushed for 139 yards and three scores as the Blue Devils scored a TD per quarter and, after halftime, denied Vestal passage beyond their 45-yard line. Watson’s scores came on rushes of 8, 7 and 29 yards in a span of under 16 minutes beginning with the closing minute of the first half.

As for Forks’ defense? That two-figure rushing total allotted Vestal is telling, as was the Golden Bears’ 2.3 yards per carry.

Along moves New York’s top-ranked Class B squad into Division IV competition, beginning next weekend at Susquehanna Valley. The 4-0 Devils are a bit nicked and banged, but showing no discernible hint of weakness.

Oh, and this ground-oriented group let the forward pass seep into the mix for a day. Nine times Cody Bogue let fly, made good on seven for 79 yards with five receivers sharing in the take. Makes it something other than a fair fight, really. Watson, Tim McDonald and the rest running behind Ryan Ehrets and the fellas, and throw that a defense’s way as well?

“We work on it a lot in practice and we feel that we can do it,” said Forks coach David Hogan. “We prefer to run but it doesn’t mean we can’t throw the ball well, too. We’re not afraid to throw it if we have to or even if we feel the situation presents itself, that it’s favorable to pass.

“We have the receivers, we have the blocking up front and we certainly have the quarterback who can throw it.”

The put-away drive, which began at Forks’ 20-yard line, confirmed as much.

Nine plays in there was that third-and-13 pickle, which Bogue tidily tended to by delivering a slice of perfection that Watson stretched to gather in near the Devils’ bench for a 17-yard haul. A bit later it was third-and-10, but a 19-yard Bogue-to-Seth Bush connection transformed that into first down at Vestal’s 18.

The touchdown to make it 20-0 with 4:36 remaining in the third quarter showed the tough-guy side of Watson. The young man known for his speed and footwork and all the highlight-reel material can get after it as well, evidenced by him lugging a defender along the tail end of that 7-yard TD path. In fact, Watson did a good measure of his damage Saturday with contact-initiating effectiveness.

Forks struck first, as it customarily does, with a workmanlike 10-play drive that commenced 2:11 into play. Gains of 11 yards by Watson and 15 by McDonald were the biggest, and McDonald burst inside from the 1 for a lead that wouldn’t go away.

Back and forth the teams slugged through four punts and a misfired Vestal field goal a decent go at that by Richie Gleason from 51 yards until Forks took possession 72 yards from Vestal’s end zone 2:06 before halftime. And few finer examples of two-minute offense will be displayed hereabouts this autumn.

A Bogue-to-Connor Borchardt pass of 30 yards began it all. Bogue completed a couple more shorties, Watson rushed for 9- and 14-yard gains, and suddenly Forks was at Vestal’s 8. Watson got the call for an inside rush that he finished with a lunge and a stretch of the football across the goal line. Bryant LaMere’s second of three successful PAT kicks made it 14-0 with 35 seconds to play in the half.

Then came the drive, followed by a heaping helping of Devilish defense for which Vestal had too little answer.

“We knew we had to stop Logan Wiland, he’s a really tough runner,” said Forks defensive back Bush, who introduced himself with a pop on numerous Golden Bears ball carriers. “We knew we had to stop him up front because if he got into the open field he’d be able to take off really quickly. And we knew they were going to do some counter passes, some trick plays, so we had to stop that as well.”

As for the execution end of things, Bush added: “Our front did really well holding their offensive line back, and we didn’t let them bust through the holes, we stopped the run really well. They had to resort to passing, which our D-backs can cover really well.”

Four-touchdown yield notwithstanding, Vestal defenders were heard from. Keeping this bunch of Blue Devils to 4.7 yards per rush is an accomplishment, as is forcing Watson to assume the role of punter four times.

“We played against a state-championship team today and we kind of got behind the 8-ball a little bit,” Bears coach Marty Fisher said. “But going into halftime and even coming out in the third and fourth quarters, even though the game did start slipping away from us, our kids are pretty tough, they’re pretty classy and we kept on playing.”

The final TD was vintage Watson, a 29-yarder 3:11 into the fourth quarter that started inside, brought a break right, cut-back to the middle, another juke into space and a sprint across the line.

The Golden Bears (3-1), who came into this one ranked ninth in Class A, host Johnson City in Week 5.