Delhi
shot out of the gates on Saturday, and managed to survive a wild 4th
quarter en route to securing a spot in the class C playoffs.
Delhi
opened up a lead of 22-0. A fumble on Greene’s kickoff return gave Delhi a 26
yard field, and Nate Rockefeller got the last 4 to open the scoring. On
Greene’s next possession, Jason Wake stole Kurt Spear’s pass and returned it
nearly half the length of the field to Greene’s 23. Delhi picked up 9 yards on
3 plays, and Pat O’Connell kept it on 4th down, getting not just the
1st down, but all 14 remaining yards. Delhi then forced a Greene
punt, and had it’s only real sustained scoring drive of the game, going 60
yards on 11 plays, with Brenton Hood finishing it with a 1 yard run.
Fortune
then turned against Delhi however, as a punt deep in Delhi territory was
blocked, and Greene’s Duane Sherman carried it 3 yards to the end zone. The
teams didn’t do much for the rest of the half, and they went inside with Delhi
leading 22-8.
Delhi
came out looking ready to retake their dominance, as Hood took the first play
from scrimmage 65 yards on an option pitch, doing an excellent job of finding
the seam, accelerating through, and winning the footrace down the sidelines.
After a Greene punt, the turnover bug again hit Delhi, as Greene recovered a
fumble on Delhi’s 23 yard line. On the next play, Spear hit Dan Say with a
perfectly thrown ball into good coverage down the left sideline, as Say barely
kept his feet inbounds before stepping out of the endzone. The 2 point
conversion was no good, and Delhi led 30-14.
Delhi
and Greene both struggled a bit to move the ball more at this point, but then
Delhi apparently looked to be starting a good drive late in the 3rd
quarter. Starting at their own 20, the ‘Dogs slowly moved the ball into Greene
territory, with the drive kept alive by a fake punt. Greene eventually
stiffened however, and Delhi turned the ball over on downs. Greene mounted its
only sustained drive of the day, a wild ride that included many incompletions
and many clutch catches to keep it going. It also featured a 15 yard run by
Whittaker on a reverse. Spear finished the drive with a 4 yard pass to Zach
Whittaker. The 2 point conversion was no good, leaving Delhi with a 30-20 lead
with about 2 minutes to play, and this is when it started to get a bit crazy.
Delhi had a seemingly secure 2 score lead with very little time to play.
Chad
Rockefeller immediately covered up Greene’s onside kick attempt. Jason Wake
took the first handoff 36 yards to the Greene 1 yard line. Hood finished it on
the next play, but Delhi was unable to score the 2 point conversion, meaning
Delhi’s 36-20 lead still meant only a 2 score game.
With
a little over a minute to go, Greene came out passing once again. Following a
sack of Spear, Say caught a pass down the middle and was able to win the
footrace downfield for a 74 yard score. The successful 2 pointer to Whittaker
meant that Greene was within one score with 44 seconds remaining, which means
the rotund lady had not yet sung her song.
Delhi
was able, however, to cover up a bouncing onside kick attempt. After a short
gain, Greene used one of its time outs, but Nate Rockefeller was able to pull
out a clutch 8 yard run to give Delhi another first down and enough downs to
wait out Greene’s remaining time outs.
Despite
Greene’s 4 TD’s, Delhi’s defense was the real story of the day, holding
fullback Keith Savory, who had averaged 97 yards per game coming in, to just 17
yards. Delhi also held Greene’s very effective passing attack to 10 of 24
effectiveness, and, more importantly, was able to intercept 3 passes. Greene
did pick up 132 yards passing, but only 58 outside of the long TD play to Say.
Delhi was able to pick up 8 first downs in the first half, but only 5 in the
second half, most coming on the drive at the end of the 3rd quarter.
Greene managed 9 first downs on the day. Delhi held a 298-202 advantage in
total yards.
Delhi
will play against Thomas A. Edison High School of Elmira Heights at Union
Endicott on Saturday at 1 pm. In the other class C semifinal, Sidney takes on
Trumansburg at U.E. at 4 pm. The winners will play the following week at
Binghamton Stadium.
First Quarter:
Second
Quarter:
Delhi - Hood
1 run (Chad Rockefeller run)
Greene –
Duane Sherman blocked punt recovery (Alex Henry run)
Third
Quarter:
Greene – Dan
Say 23 pass from Kurt Spear (pass failed)
Fourth
Quarter:
Greene –
Zach Whittaker 4 pass from Spear (pass failed)
Greene – Say 74 pass from Spear (Whittaker pass from Spear)
Delhi rushing: Brenton Hood 27-145, 3 TD; Nate Rockefeller 17-86, 1 TD; Jason Wake 2-38; Chad Rockefeller 1-(-1); Pat O’Connell 5-(-2), 1 TD
Greene rushing: Alex Henry 5-24; Keith Savory 6-17; Zach Whittaker 1-15; William Bennet 2-14; David Yeager 2-4; John Carlin 1-2; David Micha 1-0; Kurt Spear 6-(-6)
Greene passing: Kurt Spear 10-24, 132 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT
Greene receiving: Dan Say 7-122; Zach Whittaker 2-8; William Bennet 1-2