SECTION IV FOOTBALL: TOMASSO, DEFENSE POWER WAVERLY TO 55-0 ROUT OF SV IN CLASS C SEMIFINALS (24 PHOTOS) (2023-11-03)
By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports ReportWAVERLY - Senior QB Joey Tomasso threw five more TD passes, and ran for another to lead Waverly to a 55-0 rout of Susquehanna Valley Friday night in the semifinals of the Section IV, Class C football playoffs here at Memorial Stadium.
Tomasso completed 20 of 27 passes for 357 yards, including 306 yards and four TDs in the first half. For his career, he now has 8,140 yards, and 93 TD passes.
"Offensively, I thought we executed well, and did what we wanted to do, which was throw the ball," said longtime Waverly coach Jason Miller.
"We didn’t expect the tight man coverage … they kept seven guys in the box, so it made it a little difficult to run the ball, but we never really committed to the run," Miller noted.
Waverly only ran the ball 17 times for 66 yards. Senior Carter George led the Wolverines with 30 yards on five carries, and Tomasso added 20 yards. (He was sacked twice for negative-13 yards, which counts against his rushing total.)
Miller was also pleased to see his team have success in a couple of different areas Friday night.
"We did some things tonight that we’ve been working on all season," he said.
"We hit a post, prior to tonight we were 1-for-11 on posts, and that’s typically what we’re very successful at," noted Miller. "We hit the long post to Xavier (Watson) for the score, which was great to see.
"We hit (tight end) Matthias (Welles) a few times, one for a touchdown, and that was a great catch," added Miller. "He had a couple big catches, and he’s becoming more and more of a weapon; and you have to honor that."
Junior Xavier Watson led Waverly with five receptions for 148 yards, and two TDs, while senior Jay Pipher had five catches for 61 yards, and one TD, freshman Matthias Welles had three grabs for 53 yards, and one TD, and senior Jake VanHouten added three catches for 25 yards.
While the Wolverines keep rolling up ridiculous offensive numbers, the defensive continues to impress, posting its first shutout of the season.
"If the other team doesn’t score, you can’t lose," laughed longtime Waverly coach Jason Miller.
"I thought we played really good defense," said Miller. "I know SV is down some guys, and they are banged up, but that said, we did a nice job preparing this week."
The Wolverines gave up 156 yards through the air, but had one interception. They allowed 96 rushing yards on 31 carries, and sacked the SV quarterback four times.
After SV won the toss and deferred to the second half, Waverly opened the game with the ball, and quickly faced a third-and-10.
Tomasso found Welles a couple yards over the line-of-scrimmage, and he rumbled 44 yards to the SV 28. Four plays later, Tomasso scored on a QB sneak from 1 yard out with 9:37 remaining in the first quarter. Sophomore Hogan Shaw’s PAT kick made it 7-0.
SV’s first possession ended with a punt after three plays, and sophomore Troy Beeman partially blocked the punt to give the Wolverines the ball at the Saber 27.
"That was a big special-teams play," said Miller. "The short field gave us some options, and we took advantage."
On the next play, Tomasso connected with a leaping Watson at the goal line for a 27-yard TD. Hogan Shaw’s boot made it 14-0 with 7:34 remaining in the first quarter.
The Wolverines would find the end zone again just 68 seconds later.
Hogan Shaw’s ensuing kickoff sailed into the end zone to give the Sabers the ball at their own 20. A holding call moved them back to the 10.
On second-and-20, junior Kolsen Keathley sacked SV QB Connor Vanderlinde for a 3-yard loss to the Saber 7. On the next play, Keathley stepped in front of a Vanderlinde pass at the 10, and returned it to the 5.
On Waverly’s first play, Tomasso hit Keathley with a quick strike for a 5-yard TD with 6:26 remaining in the first quarter.
The Sabers moved into Waverly territory on its next possession when Vanderlinde connected with Johnathan Cortese on a 49-yard pass to the Waverly 29. Three plays later, however, senior Jake Benjamin stripped Cortese of the ball, and freshman Ben Shaw pounced on it at the Wolverine 21.
Waverly put together a 12-play drive that featured a 35-yard pass from Tomasso to Watson, and a 16-yard pass to VanHouten, as well as a 24-yard scramble by Tomasso on the first play of the second quarter to convert a third-and-19.
However, the drive stalled at the Saber 9, and Hogan Shaw split the uprights with a 26-yard field goal from the right hash to make it 24-0 with 11:34 remaining in the first half.
SV mishandled the ensuing kickoff, and ended up pinned deep at its own 14. Welles and Beeman combined on a QB sack on third down, forcing the Sabers to punt from their own 9.
Waverly took over at the SV 42, and appeared to score on its first play when junior Payton Fravel fielded a swing pass from Tomasso and raced 42 yards down the visitor’s sideline, but a block-in-the-back call brought the ball back out to the SV 30.
Three plays later, Tomasso hit Pipher in the flats, and he scooted down the home sidelines for a 10-yard TD. Hogan Shaw’s PAT made it 31-0 with 8:22 remaining in the half.
SV put together one of its best drives of the night on its next possession, but again came up empty.
The drive appeared dead in its track three plays after the kickoff, but Vanderlinde connected with Ian Harder on a 16-yard pass on a fake punt to convert a fourth-and-9.
A 17-yard pass from Vanderlinde to Cortese moved the ball to the Waverly 24, but four plays later the Wolverine defense stopped SV on a fourth-and-one play to end the possession on downs.
Three plays later, Tomasso found Watson with a deep ball for a 52-yard TD to make it 38-0 with 2:15 remaining in the first half.
On SV’s first possession of the second half, Vanderlinde hooked up with Harder on a 31-yard completion, but he was stripped of the ball by Ben Shaw, and Pipher scooped it up and returned it to the Saber 33.
Six plays later, Hogan Shaw’s 30-yard field goal made it 41-0 with 6:25 remaining in the third quarter.
SV’s next possession ended on downs at its own 47, and Waverly again took advantage of the short field.
After a pair of runs by George netted 11 yards, Tomasso found Watson down the visitor’s sidelines for a 24-yard gain to the SV 5. On the next play, Welles made a nice catch as he was falling to his back for a 5-yard TD to make it 48-0 with 11 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The next minute was a bit bizarre.
On the final play of the third quarter, Cortese busted out of a pile at the line-of-scrimmage, and raced 85 yards for an apparent TD, but a block-in-the-back call brought the ball back out to the Waverly 28, resulting in a 67-yard run by Cortese.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Waverly’s Bryce LaForest stripped Harden of the ball, and fell to the ground, but quickly got to his feet and raced 75 yards for the final score of the game.
The Wolverines, now 9-1, will face Chenango Forks in a repeat of last year’s Section IV, Class C championship game next Saturday at Vestal High School at noon.
"It’s great to be back in the Section IV final, to have another opportunity, and another week," said Miller. "That’s what we’re talking about now, one week at a time, and one-week seasons.
"There are no second chances," he added. "It’s great to be in this position."
Waverly won last year’s title game, 28-14, and also beat the Blue Devils, 19-15, earlier this season.
"I don’t put much stock in beating them twice in a row," said Miller. "Every game is so different.
"When you’re playing them, you know they’re going to be better at the end of the year," he noted.
"It’s great to be in the finals again, and it’s great to be playing (Chenango Forks)," added Miller.
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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly’s Matthias Welles with a TD catch. … PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
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