October 04, 2005                   By Jonathon Hadley

 

Test #1 was Unatego, and we barely passed that one. Test #2 was Walton, and we passed that one with a strong concerted effort. Test #3, almost certainly the biggest so far, comes on Friday as we take on a Sidney team that has averaged 56 points against the last 2 opponents. We scored 13 points on one of those teams, and Chenango Forks scored 28 on the other. Needless to say, this is a huge task before the 28 gentlemen on the roster.

 

To win this one, and not that I want to sound clichéd, but to win this one, this can’t be just another game on the schedule. If we win this, we play like this game is EVERYTHING. Not to harp on it, but kind of like the Walton game in 1999. After losing by 33 2 weeks before, no one expected much. But coach and the players knew that there were some things that worked the first time around, and they thought they could play better defense the second time. Everything was focused on that one game, and we came out up 28-18 after a dominating effort that was more lopsided than the score. We do have to wonder how well we can endure when we put all that emotion into Walton, now Sidney, and then we’ll still have a third (at least) of the season left. I won’t go too deep into that, but I will say that whether we play Sidney in the playoffs or not, we should try to win this as much as we possibly can (wow, that is deep stuff, eh?).

 

More technically, I think it all will start with defense. We will definitely need a good amount of offense to win as well, but I think we need to shoot for going into halftime down by 2 TD’s or less, preferably 1 or less. We probably won’t stop all that speed and talent, but I truly do believe we can slow it. Look at last season. With mostly the same Delhi kids, we held them to 249 yards of total offense, and only 61 yards passing on 5 for 11. I thought Sohns did an outstanding job on Simonds last year – sure there were 4 catches and 61 yards, but there were no TD’s, no real big plays, and numerous incompletions. Zurn did break free for 136 yards on just 7 carries, but he didn’t score on any of the big ones. In fact, most of his yards came on just 2 carries, and on both of those he was run down from behind by Josh Wake. That is exactly the efforts that we need Friday. Even if you give up a couple completions, keep playing hard nosed pass coverage. Even if a back breaks loose, go get him and keep him from paydirt. Those kind of things kept Sidney’s offense well below average last year. And last year we were inept at scoring. Slow them substantially this year, and with our far greater scoring ability (we’ve already scored 44 points more than last year’s 9 game total, and we’ve only played 5 games) we may just have a chance.

 

I didn’t see Sidney/Norwich, but I was highly impressed by the score. I got to wondering how Sidney lost to Walton. I do think it might be a different game if the 2 played again, but I had some other thoughts as well. Walton is used to Sidney’s athletes. They were not intimidated when Sidney picked them apart at the beginning of the game. Sidney had picked them apart in the past, and Walton had beaten them none-the-less. Could Norwich have gotten a bit intimidated, and could that have made the score balloon like it did? I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s out of the question. We’ve gotten toasted on a few occasions by Simonds, Zurn, and Kozak, so we know what it feels like too. It is of vital importance that we don’t lose our cool, and that we continue to tackle to the best of our ability even if they jump out to a 3 score lead.

 

Around the area, Greene continues to romp, and their offense looks like a machine. I will be curious to see how they do against Unatego the week after next, but I truly think this is a Greene win, possibly by 2 or 3 TD’s. I think Unatego may be more physical, but the high-octane (now there’s a term you get sick of hearing in football talk) Greene offense will frustrate Unatego and steal all the momentum. That October 22 matchup at Delhi is going to be a doozy, I tell you what. Walton and Oxford should be a great game. I never would have guessed that it would have at the beginning of the season, but Oxford is far better than I thought, and Walton is struggling more in a couple areas than I thought they would. Walton has a superior power running game with their lead play – big, strong, experienced O-line; short, stocky, heavy, and quick McLachlan blocking from the halfback position; and 225 lb Richard Fletcher bulling his way through. Their backs are also good at scurrying under the pile for the extra yard or 2. That said, Walton is woefully lacking in speed. Their line will open some holes, but they will only be a big play threat against the poorer teams. And the passing game is worse yet. I’m very curious to see how they do both in the section and out. I still think they will beat Oxford this weekend AND in the sectional final. I wouldn’t be completely surprised to be wrong though. On the state level, I really don’t know if their superior line play on both sides of the ball can overcome their lack of speed and passing offense and defense. I’d like to think it can, but only time will tell. Fortunately for Walton, right now there is no Hart-era Onondaga or Bernstein-era Edgemont out there waiting in the state playoffs. Only teams that have a lot to prove.

 

For picks, I went a mediocre 17-7, or 0.708. For the season I am 93-28, 0.769. This week I am going with Corning East, Vestal, Oneonta, Dryden, Elmira ND, Waverly, Greene, Lansing, Candor, Spencer-VE, West Genesee, Horseheads, Johnson City, Norwich, Forks (though Windsor could preserve Delhi’s streak record!), Southern Springs, Tioga, Walton (one to watch here), Dundee, Unatego, Deposit, Trumansburg, Newfield, and Union-Endicott.