SECTION IV FOOTBALL: WAVERLY RELIES ON DEFENSE, RUN GAME IN 24-7 WIN OVER OWEGO (24 PHOTOS) (2023-10-20)
By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports ReportOWEGO - On a rainy night when its high-powered aerial attack struggled, Waverly’s run game picked up the slack, and its defense was dominant, leading the Wolverines to a 24-7 win here Friday night in Section IV non-divisional football action.
Waverly pounded out 231 yards on the ground, while Tomasso, limited by steady rains and an injury early in the first half, passed for 114 yards, and two TDs.
The Wolverine defense limited Owego to 66 yards in total offense, and just three first downs. In the second half, the River Hawks were held to negative-4 yards, and one first down, and that came on a penalty.
"It’s a good win," said Waverly coach Jason Miller. "We got into a situation we hadn’t been in since the Forks game, and it was good to see us respond to that in the second half — turn the juice on and play a much better game.
""I thought we ran the ball well, and controlled the line-of-scrimmage in the second half, and played outstanding defense," Miller added.
Miller said his three-headed run game with senior Carter George (73 yards on 11 carries), junior Peyton Fravel (43 yards on 13 carries), and junior Kolsen Keathley (30 yards, and one TD on seven carries) made up for Tomasso’s absence in the run game. (The senior QB did pick up 38 yards on eight carries with the majority of the yardage and carries coming early in the contest.)
"(Carter George) ran the ball hard, and he wants the ball," said Miller
"I thought Payton (Fravel) and Kolsen (Keathley) ran hard … all three of them were pretty fresh throughout the second half," added Miller. "You could us start to wear them down a little bit, it was nice to see."
After forcing Owego into a three-and-out to open the game, the Wolverines took over at their 35 following a punt.
Waverly put together a 13-play, 65-yard drive that consumed five minutes, and one second off the game clock.
Junior Payton Fravel started the drive with a 9-yard run, senior QB Joey Tomasso connected with junior Xavier Watson for a 10-yard gain to move the ball to the Owego 46.
A few plays later, with Waverly facing a second-and-17 situation, Tomasso scrambled around end down the visitor’s sideline on a 21-yard run.
Three plays later, Fravel ripped off a 15-yard run to the Owego 12. Four plays later, including a pass interference call in the end zone against the River Hawks, junior Kolsen Keathley bulled in from 1 yard out with 5:37 remaining in the first quarter. Sophomore Hogan Shaw’s PAT kick made it 7-0.
"After the touchdown, we were a little bit out of synch and we got off-schedule with some penalties," said Miller.
"Owego did a good job of pressing Jay (Pipher) and disrupting that route, and obviously the weather disrupted our passing game a little bit, although we adjusted and made the throws we had to make.
"Joey (Tomasso) got a little banged up, and that dictated a lot of what we were able to do," added Miller. "I thought (Joey) did a really good job of managing the game, and throws he had to make. He showed a lot of toughness."
After consecutive Owego punts, sandwiched around a Waverly punt, the Wolverines once again lined up to punt the ball away, but Owego’s Evan Wasielewski blocked IT, and nearly scooped it up, before falling on it at the Wolverine 12.
The River Hawks moved the ball to the Waverly 2 on a pair of 3-yard runs by Conlan Taylor, sandwiched around a 4-yard run by Brendan Schofield.
Taylor was stopped just shy of the goal line on the next play, but an illegal procedure penalty moved the ball back to just outside the 5. A 4-yard run by Schofield again put the ball at the Waverly 1, but a botched center-QB exchange on the next snap put the ball on the ground, and the Wolverines came out of the pile with it.
Waverly quickly moved the ball out of the shadow of its own goal line on consecutive runs of 29 and 12 yards by George.
A botched exchange in the backfield, fallen on by Tomasso, put Waverly in a second-and-11, and they turned the ball over on downs at their own 45 three plays later, but a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct moved the ball to the Wolverine 30.
Four plays later, on fourth-and-7, Elijah Lewis found Jack Buchsbaum wide open at the goal line for a 27-yard TD pass. Adam Arhbal added the PAT kick to tie the game at 7-7 with 4:38 remaining in the first half.
Owego seemed to have all the momentum when Waverly failed to cleanly field the ensuing kickoff, and were pinned at their own 10.
On second-and-11, Watson turned a swing pass from Tomasso into a 32-yard gain, but was stripped of the ball, and Owego recovered at the Waverly 41.
Two plays later, however, Owego returned the favor, and freshman Ben Shaw pounced on the loose ball at the Wolverine 33 with 2:47 remaining in the half.
Eight plays later, Tomasso connected with senior Jake VanHouten on a 16-yard TD pass with 13 seconds remaining in the half. Shaw’s PAT kick made it 14-7.
George had three carries for 20 yards on the drive, while Tomasso had two carries for 17 yards, and Keathley added a carry for nine yards.
"That’s a big drive … we didn’t go into halftime all nervous and jerky," said Miller. "It’s always good to score right before the half.
"We talk a lot about scoring right before half, or right after the half to get the momentum, so we did a really job of that," added Miller.
Buchsbaum nearly returned the ensuing kickoff for a TD, but was knocked out-of-bounds inside the 20. A holding call that would have wiped out the return was declined, and Waverly led 14-7 at the half.
Keathley returned the second-half kickoff 55 yards to the Owego 27.
"Kolsen (Keathley) kept the momentum going with that return to start the second half — it set the tone," said Miller.
Waverly picked up 11 yards on a pass from Tomasso to Watson, but defensive plays by Buchsbaum and Bobby Struble resulted in a loss of seven yards, and a delay of game call put Waverly in a 3rd-and-22 hole.
Waverly picked up 5-yard on a pass from Tomasso to VanHouten, then elected to attempt a 39-yard field. Shaw split the uprights to give Waverly a 17-7 lead with 8:20 remaining in the third quarter.
"That was a big field goal," said Miller. "Thirty-nine yards, with a wet football in these conditions … (Hogan Shaw) has done a great job. He’s one of the best kickers in the state, and he proves it every week."
Neither team managed much offense through the remainder of the third quarter, and the River Hawks turned the ball over on downs at its own 45 with 9:23 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Wolverines proceeded to put together an 11-play drive that chewed up 6 1/2 minutes, culminating with a 5-yard TD pass from Tomasso to Pipher with 2:53 remaining in the contest. Shaw’s PAT made it 24-7.
The key plays in the drive were an 11-yard pass from Tomasso to freshman Matthias Welles, an 8-yard run by Fravel on third-and-two, and an 8-yard pass to Watson on third-and-2.
Owego turned the ball over on downs on the ensuing possession, and Waverly took a knee twice to end the game.
Tomasso completed 13 of 22 passes for 114 yards, and two TDs. Watson led the Wolverine receivers with six catches for 68 yards, while VanHouten had three grabs for 26 yards, and one TD, and Pipher had two grabs for eight yards, and one TD.
Lewis completed 3 of 15 passes for 34 yards, one TD, and one interception, with Joe Palladino leading the River Hawks with two catches for seven yards.
Owego managed just 32 rushing yards on 21 carries, with Palladino and Taylor each running for 16 yards.
Waverly, now 7-1, can clinch its division Friday when it hosts Oneonta for Homecoming.
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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly’s Carter George. … PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
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