SECTION IV FOOTBALL: FORKS STUNS WAVERLY WITH TD IN FINAL MINUTE TO WIN CLASS C TITLE (24 PHOTOS) (2024-11-16)
By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports ReportJOHNSON CITY — Chenango Forks stunned Waverly with a long kickoff return and a TD in the closing seconds to rally for a wild 38-35 win here Saturday afternoon in the Section IV, Class C Championship game.
The loss denies the Wolverines, who coming into the game were 9-1 and ranked No. 1 in the state, their third straight Class C title.
Special teams is often the most overlooked aspect of the game, but Waverly coach Jason Miller said it cost his team the game Saturday.
"Our special teams was just ... we lost that phase of the game, and in tight games that makes a difference," said Miller.
"Otherwise, we were pretty evenly matched," he noted. "We ran the ball well, we threw the ball well ... but special teams we lost, and therefore we lose the game.
"We don't need to hang our heads on our effort, and that's the main thing I can tell these guys," continued Miller. "We fell short on the scoreboard, but the effort was there, and we just lost one phase of the game.
"When you're playing good teams, you have to finish," added Miller. "It's never over until the last second ticks off the clock."
Miller was pleased with his team's effort.
"It was a great effort by both sides," he said. "It was a great game.
"I'm proud of our kids, they kept battling back," noted Miller. "I don't know how many times we were down, but came back to score and go up.
"I feel bad for our guys. I feel bad for our seniors.
"There's nothing to be ashamed of," added Miller. "Obviously, Chenango Forks is a very, very good football team. They are going to do well in the state tournament."
Leading 30-27, the Forks defense managed their only stop of the game when Waverly junior Hogan Shaw's 35-yard field-goal attempt was wide left by less than a foot with 4:58 left in the game.
The Blue Devils took over at their 30, but Waverly's defense forced the game's only punt on a three-and-out.
The Forks punt, into a stiff breeze, traveled 33 yards, and the Wolverines took over at their own 42.
Senior Kolsen Keathley picked up 4 yards on the first play, but injured his knee on the play and did not return.
Runs of 9 and 13 yards by senior Fletcher Good, who led the Wolverines with 176 yards and four TDs on 29 carries, moved the ball to the Forks 32.
Two plays later, sophomore QB Ben Shaw hit sophomore tight end Matthias Welles down the middle for 21 yards to the Forks 8.
Good capped the drive moments later with an 8-yard TD run with 49.2 seconds remaining in the game. With both of its long-snappers injured, Waverly went for two, and senior Xavier Watson hauled down a lob into the back corner of the end zone to extend the lead to 35-30.
Moments later, Tate Bender fielded the Waverly kick at the Forks 5 and returned it 59 yards to the Waverly 36.
Three plays later, Finn Stark scored on a 5-yard run with 11.6 seconds left in the game. Sam Paske's pass to Jesse Stephens on the conversion provided the final margin.
"It's disappointing," said Miller. "It's amazing how you can go from such a high to a low like that.
"We scored with 46 seconds left, but it never felt right.
"We didn't play well on special teams all day," added Miller. "It was probably a bad decision to kick to (Bender)."
Waverly had 389 yards in total offense, including 248 rushing yards.
"Our game plan was to run the ball, and try to keep it out of their hands," said Miller.
"By alignment, it dictated we would run the ball. I thought we ran hard, and blocked well.
"We knew coming in, (Forks) would want to do something to Xavier (Watson), they have good athletes, but we were still about as effective as we have been throwing the ball," noted Miller.
"Throughout the game, Xavier (Watson) made incredible plays despite double coverage," he added.
Forks opened the game with the ball after Waverly won the toss and deferred. On the third play, an errant pitch hit the ground, and Shaw covered the loose ball at the Blue Devil 32.
The Wolverines needed five plays, the last four runs by Good covering 28 yards, including a 6-yard TD run with 8:05 remaining in the opening stanza. Hogan Shaw's PAT kick made it 7-0.
The Blue Devils needed just three plays to take the lead. After a 49-yard run by QB Sam Paske, Bender scored on an 8-yard run with 7:06 left in the first quarter. After Waverly was flagged for offside, Stark punched in the conversion run to put Forks up 8-7.
The Wolverines took the ensuing kickoff and marched 65 yards on 11 plays to regain the lead.
Waverly converted a fourth-and-2, and overcame an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that put them in a second-and-26 predicament, thanks to a 38-yard pass from Shaw to Watson.
Good, who had a 15-yard run to the Forks 6, capped the drive with a 2-yard TD run with 2:24 left in the first quarter. Hogan Shaw's kick made it 14-8.
Forks answered with its longest drive of the game — a 14-play, 70-yard beauty, that featured a pair of conversions on fourth-and-1. It was capped by a 10-yard TD run by Bender with 7:03 remaining to give the Blue Devils a 15-14 lead.
After mishandling the ensuing kickoff, the Wolverines were pinned at their 14, but they put together a 15-play, 86-yard drive to score in the final minute of the first half.
The drive included runs of 20 and 13 yards by Good, and was capped by an 8-yard TD toss from Shaw to Watson, who made a beautiful catch falling out-of-bounds as he kept his feet in-bounds, with 24.9 seconds left to make it 20-15.
Waverly received the second-half kick, but couldn't field it cleanly, and the Blue Devils came up with a loose ball at the Wolverine 4.
Two plays later, Stark scored on a 1-yard run. Paske added the conversion run, following another Waverly penalty, to extend the lead to 23-20, just 50 seconds into the third quarter.
The Wolverine offense kept rolling with an 11-play, 79-yard drive to regain the lead.
The key plays in the drive were a 26-yard run by Keathley, and a 25-yard pass from Shaw to junior Daltton Davis. Good capped the six-minute drive with a 1-yard TD run. Hogan Shaw's PAT kick gave Waverly a 27-23 lead.
The Blue Devils answered with a 15-play drive that bridged the third and fourth quarters. Stark capped the drive with a 1-yard TD run with 8:19 left in the game to give Forks a 30-27 lead, and set the stage for the wild finish.
Shaw completed 6 of 14 passes for 141 yards and one TD, with Watson hauling in four receptions for 95 yards and one TD to lead the Wolverines.
Keathley added 63 rushing yards on 11 carries.
Chenango Forks had 208 rushing yards in the contest, led by Paske, who had 78 yards on 12 carries, and Stark, who had 55 yards and three TDs on 12 carries. Bender added 37 yards and two TDs on nine carries.
The Wolverines will lose 10 seniors to graduation, including all-state lineman Kam Hills, Watson, and Keathley.
"The guys who came in and gave us two years, we gave them an opportunity to come in and be part of a great program," said Miller. "They're going to benefit academically more than anything else.
"The guys who have been around a long time, they've helped build this program to where it is.
"One thing we can look back on is the state championship, and say we did it," noted Miller.
"This year, we beat some really good teams, and competed against every team we played," added Miller. "We lost by 1 and we lost by 3, but they're both Ls."
The Wolverines entered the season with 65 players on the JV and varsity teams.
"The cupboard isn't bare, but it will be challenging moving up a class for a year," said Miller.
"We'll still have the same goals, we'll just have a different target," he noted. "Maine-Endwell will be the target.
"Nothing will change in terms of goals, and we hope to be back in this position next year," added Miller.
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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly's Kolsen Keathley. IN TOP PHOTO: Waverly's Xavier Watson. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
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