2016 Chenango Forks Varsity Football

Go ahead, raise a hand if you’d forecast a three-TD spread — or a shutout! — coming out of Chenango Forks vs. Maine-Endwell to open the football season Saturday night.

Fine, it was appreciably tighter than the margin suggests. Nevertheless, 21-0 is 21-0 any way it’s chopped, diced, dissected or analyzed.

Going beyond the scoreboard

But far more startling than that scoreboard reading?

Maine-Endwell, the home team, with athletes sprinkled noticeably about, fell short of a three-figure yardage total. And the last time that happened? Go ahead, dig — deep, deeper and deepest — and by all means, do pass along findings, because that’d require research far beyond what archives on this end would offer.

Chenango Forks’ defenders were that sound on Saturday night at Spartan Stadium, where a prolonged light sprinkle-to-rain was just enough to deal a splash of annoyance through much of the final three quarters.

And with possession of the football? The Blue Devils did what they do, having come upon the latest in long lines of quarterbacks and fullbacks and halfbacks. Oh, and big boys. Those in white jerseys had the edge, as is their wont.

“We were able to get away with running the same play about 10 times in a row at one point,” said Tiernen Joseph, 270-pound senior and arguably best of Forks’ bunch on the lines. “These are the same plays we’ve run all the way up through, we just know what we’re doing. We work them to perfection.”

The opening score was byproduct of vintage Forks offense— that is, after that well-defended first-down throw deep downfield went for nothing.

The Blue Devils dialed up seven running plays to arrive at M-E’s 10-yard line, from which point fullback Jeremiah Allen burst up the middle and muscled through an attempted tackle near the goal line to complete a 10-yard scoring run in the closing minute of the first half.

Allen is strong and quick and just shifty enough. He’ll be Forks’ No. 1 option from now until, well, November 2018?

To the point of the first TD, M-E had snapped the football twice in Forks territory, and didn’t align for a third crack on the positive side of the field until the closing minute of the third quarter. Two plays into the fourth quarter, 6-4 Blue Devils sophomore Matt Paske batted a pass near the line of scrimmage, Allen intercepted in the middle and that Spartans threat was squelched.

The pick set in motion a 60-yard Forks scoring drive that featured an 18-yard option gain — Kris Borelli in concert with Dan Crownshield on fourth-and-2 — and concluded with Borelli turning a botched play into a heads-up 2-yard scoring rush with 6:05 remaining for a two-TD difference.

Against this Forks defense? On this night?

Done deal.

“We were aggressive. It starts with our line, and I thought our line did a heck of a job,” said Devils coach David Hogan. “I thought our linebackers played very well and I thought our outside played very well.

“Just a total team effort. Very, very sound team defense.”

The bar-the-door defensive play was turned in by Crowningshield, who intercepted a pass and returned 32 yards to M-E’s 3 with 4:22 to play, then Crowningshield carried in on first down for the last TD.

Most anticipated a coin-flip of a proposition, say, a one-score difference decided near ballgame’s conclusion.

Why, Hogan was asked, did that not come about?

“That’s a good question. You stumped me on that one,” coach replied. But he elaborated.

“We thought the same thing. We told the kids, we expect this thing to go right to the wire. It was certainly real tight until we finally got that score and then the big pick by Danny was a big play. It was tight, we had to grind it out.

“If we made a mistake it was hard to get a first down after that, after you have a penalty or something like that. We just can’t have those things. That team is too good.

“But I was proud of what our guys did up front against them because they’re very tough up front. That’s where the games are won, so … ”

Penalties, by the way, were few and far between— not unexpected from these two crews, even in a season opener. And not a one, unless hidden between smudged ink on a clipboard, was more than a 5-yarder.

“Everybody thought this was a toss-up, so to do something like that in the first game?” said Joseph. “Obviously, everybody makes it to the playoffs, so anything could happen. But to start off with that? It’s incredible.”

Maine-Endwell, but the way, figures to be just fine. The Spartans have too much personnel and are too well-coached to have an opening setback deter them from their mission. And, they’re unlikely to oppose a defense as stout as the Blue Devils’ until, say, a potential rematch.

Spartans who stood out Saturday included linebacker Josh Chandler and all-purpose football-mover Ryan Brozovic, a sophomore who finds ways to get the job done. Kid’s a good one.

Yeah, M-E will be fine.

It’s just that Forks passed that opening test in really, really efficient fashion— as is customary. The Blue Devils made it 20 consecutive opening wins. Twenty! Crazy, no?

But stay tuned. Section 4’s Class B race is only beginning.