FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: MILLER, SHAW, TOMASSO, AND MORE SPEAK ON STATE TITLE WIN (16 PHOTOS) (2023-12-05)
By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports ReportSYRACUSE - Following Waverly’s historic win over Fonda-Fultonville here Saturday in the New York State Class C Championship game, I had a chance to talk to longtime coach and Waverly alum Jason Miller, defensive coordinator David Shaw, five-year starter at QB Joey Tomasso, and several of his teammates. Here’s what they had to say on a variety of topics:
INJURED DEFENSIVE STARTERSJunior inside linebacker Nate Peters was injured on Fonda-Fultonville’s first offensive play, and did not play another snap on defense the entire game.
The Wolverines shifted senior outside linebacker Carter George inside to replace Peters, and called on junior Payton Fravel to replace George. Later in the first half, Fravel injured his knee, and did not return, forcing Miller to call on junior Seth Noto to fill in at outside linebacker.
"Seth Noto, typically a reserve, came in and played almost the entirety of the game, and did an outstanding job," said Miller.
"We talk about the next man up, nobody panicked. You can tell they were picking on him a little bit, but he just went out and played," noted Miller. "He’s a kid who is always working hard in practice, so it’s great to see him come in on the biggest stage at our level, and be able to contribute to our success.
"Carter (George) moved to inside linebacker, and had never really played their at all," added Miller. "Against (Fonda-Fultonville) there are certain things we worked on all week with that inside linebacker, getting underneath those drops … we survived it, and that’s what good teams have to do.
"It was a chess match, wherever we put a guy that was inexperienced, they threw it there," said defensive coordinator David Shaw. "They picked us apart a little bit in the secondary throwing at the guys who haven’t gotten any reps.
"I’m just proud of the kids who stepped in there with zero reps, and just competed," added Shaw. "They weren’t perfect obviously, but we got enough stops to get the win."
ON JOEY TOMASSOTomasso will graduated with (unofficially) 9,078 career passing yards, and 104 passing TDs — both third all-time in N.Y. State history. He set school records this season with 3,160 yards and 43 TDs. He also ran for 737 yards, and 12 TDs.
In Saturday’s win, Tomasso completed 18 of 26 passes for 333 yards, and despite a knee injury suffered two weeks ago ran 13 times for 58 yards.
"That’s the way you want to go out, right?" said Miller.
"Everybody knew he would be special … to come out here in his final game, and put on a show like that was just impressive," noted Miller. "He’s a once-in-a-lifetime talent.
"Everybody always talks about how good Joey is, and how good Jay (Pipher) is," added Miller. "I’m glad we could reach this pinnacle with them, and let everyone see how good they are."
His teammates heap praise on Tomasso
"Joey is a great guy, and the best quarterback to ever come through Waverly — four TD passes in a state championship game is incredible," said junior Kam Hills.
"His accuracy, by far, is his biggest strength," said Pipher. "It’s in the bread basket every time."
"Joey is a phenomenal athlete and person," said freshman Matthias Welles. "He works hard, and he motivates the younger guys; he’s a great leader in practice, and on the field."
"He’s a great quarterback," said junior Xavier Watson. "Playing for him is amazing, all I have to do is my job because I know he’s going to do his job. It works out perfectly."
For junior Kolsen Keathley, Tomasso is about more than just football.
"When I got to Waverly, the first person to talk to me, be nice to me, and make me feel like part of the team was Joey," he said. :He really welcomed me here, and it was a really good feeling.
"He’s an awesome person," added Keathley.
TOMASSO CREDITS HIS TEAMMATESTomasso threw four TD passes, including three to Xavier Watson — two of them simple hitches that Watson turned into touchdowns by breaking tackles at the line-of-scrimmage.
"Xavier is really good after the catch, we try to get him the ball in space," said Tomasso. "We were seeing different things we could do with him, so we just tried to get him the ball, and let him make things happen … and it worked."
Keathley ran for 126 yards, including a 78-yard TD run in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. He also had two catches for 27 yards.
"(Kolsen) is an explosive runner, and when he gets going, when he breaks that first line, he always has the potential to go all the way," said Tomasso.
Senior Jay Pipher had five catches for 58 yards, and will graduate as the program’s all-time leader in career receptions (179 — fifth all-time in state history), receiving yards (3,135 yards — fourth all-time in state history), and TDs (30). He is also the single-season record-holder for receptions (67 — shares with Watson), and yardage (1,237 -- seventh all-time in state history).
"(Jay’s) speed is his biggest strength, and when the ball goes in the air, he’s going to find a way to come down with the ball," said Tomasso. "He makes great catches in traffic, and he can just run by people.
"And, no one works any harder than Jay," added Tomasso.
Senior Jake VanHouten finished the season with 45 catches for 615 yards, and seven TDs. On Saturday, he had three catches for 87 yards, including a 71-yard TD run that saw him break a tackle at the line-of-scrimmage. It gave the Wolverines a 14-7 lead at the half.
"That was a big play," said Tomasso. "It gave us a big lift.
"Jake is always there for me, and he’s made some big plays for us," Tomasso added.
Tomasso notes a great deal of hard work paid off.
"It all started with our summer workouts," he said. "I preached so much about those … we threw so many balls.
"The last touchdown to Xavier (Watson) … we threw a thousand of those over the summer, and it finally paid off in a big moment," added Tomasso.
WATSON COMES UP BIGWatson had eight catches for 162 yards, and three TDs in Saturday’s win. The first was a 50-yard TD pass that Watson caught in stride behind a defender midway through the first quarter. The second was on a on hitch, where he broke two tackles near the line-of-scrimmage, and the third was on a perfectly-thrown pass to the sideline.
"When Joey throws it up in the air, that’s my ball — that’s my mentality," said Watson.
"I’ve worked for this. I work out all the time, so I can get bigger and stronger than these people, and I can do stuff like that," added Watson in reference to breaking several tackles throughout the game to earn extra yardage.
"Those hitches present a problem because you can’t play us up tight either," noted Miller. "And, Xavier is tough to bring down."
Keathley, who like Watson played at Athens the last two years, was ecstatic about Watson’s performance.
"I’ve been close friends with Xavier most of my life," he said. "To see him balling out like that was wonderful.
"I know he has the potential to go far, and I know he will," added Keathley. "I love that dude."
ON JASON MILLER"I work for the best head coach there is," said Shaw. "He gives me the autonomy to do what I want to do on defenses. I can’t say enough good things about him."
"My relationship with coach Miller has been outstanding," said Joey Tomasso. "It started when I was in fifth grade and started coming up and playing 7-on-7 with the big guys.
"I feel like we’re always on the same page. We always like the same stuff. We always have the same feel for the what the defense is doing, and that stared a long time ago.
"Our connection has really been on-point, especially this last season," added Tomasso.
"Coach Miller is the best, coach Shaw, too," said Hills. "They always have us prepared."
ON WINNING A STATE TITLE"I’m happy for all the seniors … they get to walk off this field with tears of joy, not tears of sadness," said Waverly coach Jason Miller. "They’ve earned it over the last your years, in Joe’s case five years.
"It feels great," he noted. "I’m glad we can say Waverly represented Section IV, and finally brought home a state title."
"I feel a sense of pride that we could do this for (Waverly), which has always been so supportive of our program.
"There was great support on both sides tonight," added Miller. "It was an unbelievable atmosphere, but to turn around and see the sea of red, and be able to put your finger up No. 1; that’s an indescribable feeling."
"It’s a dream come true," said Hills. "It feels phenomenal, I’ve been dreaming about this since I was a little kid.
"I don’t know if I thought we would win a state title, (but) it was definitely the ultimate goal," said Keathley. "I didn’t come here to lose, and have a short season."
"I did not see us winning a state title when I first decided to come to Waverly, but once we started working, and I saw the talent and the coaching, I knew we could achieve whatever we wanted," said Watson.
"It’s pretty crazy to think we’re state champs," said Welles. "It was a team effort."
"Wining a state title has always been the ultimate goal … at first, the goal was to beat Chenango Forks and win a Section IV title, (but) there is no better feeling that this," said Tomasso.
"I can’t describe the feeling," said Pipher. "We didn’t come here to take part in the game, we came here to take over."
"A lot of our key players had experience … we knew what it would take, and we got it done.
"We didn’t take about (last year’s General Brown game) at all," added Pipher. "We knew what happened … I think we took them lightly, and we weren’t going to let it happen again this year.
MILLER IS ALWAYS THINKING"(Winning a state title) is an accomplishment, there’s so much work that goes into it," he said. "For us it started in May.
"All I can think about now is playing Athens in Week Zero," laughed Miller.
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IN PHOTO 1: From left: Jake VanHouten, Jay Pipher, and Joey Tomasso. … PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
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