SECTION IV FOOTBALL: FORKS RUNS PAST WAVERLY, 31-13, IN BATTLE OF STATE-RANKED TEAMS (24 PHOTOS) (2025-10-24)

By TIM BIRNEY
Valley Sports Report
WAVERLY — Chenango Forks scored in the final minute of the first half to erase an early deficit, then blew the game open late in a 31-13 win over Waverly here Friday night in a non-divisional Section IV football battle of state-ranked teams at Memorial Stadium.

"It was good hard-nosed football," said Waverly coach Jason Miller. "(Forks) is a good football team, and we didn't help ourselves with those early possessions in the second half — our defense was on the field a long time in the second half.

"They got some momentum, and it kind of spiraled out of control from there.

"They are the best team in Section IV, I don't think there's any doubt about that," added Miller. "I wish we had started out a little better in the second half, but we didn't."

The Blue Devils, who entered the game ranked No. 1 in the State in Class C, ran for 367 yards on 53 carries, and had three different backs rush for more than 100 yards.

"They have a lot of weapons," said Miller. "Tate Bender and (Brycen Fry) are really dangerous.

"This is the first time (Sam) Paske has really had to run the ball, and he ran it very effectively," added Miller.

Waverly had the first possession of the game and moved across midfield before punting the ball away.

Forks drew first blood with a nine-play, 71-yard drive, capped by sophomore Brycen Fry's 17-yard TD run with 2:58 remaining to give the Blue Devils a 6-0.

After Waverly jumped offsides on the extra-point attempt, Forks decided to go for two, but senior Troy Beeman led the Wolverine interior line in stuffing the conversion.

Waverly junior Bryce LaForest returned the ensuing kickoff 30 yards to the Wolverine 43, and junior Ben Shaw connected with senior Hogan Shaw on a 34-yard pass down the middle of the field to the Blue Devil 23 on the first play of the possession.

Five plays later, including an 11-yard run by LaForest, junior Matthias Welles bulled in from 1 yard out to tie the game. Hogan Shaw's PAT kick gave the Wolverines a 7-6 lead with 31 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

The Blue Devils took the ensuing kickoff and put together a 15-play drive that consumed nearly eight minutes of the game clock, but stalled at the Wolverine 16 with 4:31 remaining in the first half.

Waverly, however, could not muster a first down and was forced to punt. Bender fielded the punt, reversed field and raced 45 yards for an apparent score, but a block-in-the-back call nullified the score.

Forks began its drive at the Waverly 40, overcoming a pair of penalties — one that nullified a TD pass — and benefitting from a 15-yard face-mask penalty on the Wolverines — to score on an 8-yard pass from Paske to Connor Dunagan with 20 seconds remaining in the half.

The conversion again failed, and Forks led 12-7 heading into the halftime locker room.

"We had worked on stuff all week," said Miller. "At the end of the first half, they were able to put Bender in different spots in the empty set, so they kind of of got us there. They threw a slant there, and we were a little soft on the backside."

Forks opened the second half with the ball, and picked up a pair of first downs before turning the ball over on downs at the Waverly 35.

The Wolverines picked up one first down on the ensuing possession and turned the ball back over on downs when Welles was stopped short on fourth-and-1 at the Forks 45.

Two plays later, Fry broke loose on a 47-yard TD run with 4:02 left in the third quarter. Waverly blocked the PAT kick, and the Blue Devils led 18-7.

On Waverly's first play on the ensuing possession, Bender made an athletic grab for an interception on a deep ball from Ben Shaw intended for Daltton Davis.

"That was a play we diagrammed at halftime," said Miller. "(Forks) had a different guy over there the whole first half, but unfortunately, they put Bender over there, and he's a very, very different defender than what they had there the entire first half.

"Ben (Shaw) threw a great ball, but Bender made a great play on it," added Miller. "And, it put our defense back on the field after their long drive for a score."

Forks iced the game with a 10-play, 95-yard drive — aided by two unsportsmanlike conduct calls against the Wolverines as tempers flared — that bridged the final two quarters.

Fry capped the drive with a 24-yard TD run with 10:06 remaining in the game.

After another nice kick return by Laforest set the Wolverines up at their 49, Waverly pieced together a 10-play scoring drive, capped by a leaping grab in the end zone by Welles for a 4-yard TD reception to close the gap to 24-13 with 5:30 left in the game.

"It was a great play by Matthias," said Miller. "It's something we installed this week."

The drive included a 23-yard run by senior Cooper Robinson, and a 13-yard completion from Ben Shaw to junior Chase Wheeler.

Forks added an insurance TD on its next possession — a six-play, 52-yard scoring drive, capped by Fry's 25-yard TD run.

Paske led Forks with 140 yards on 22 carries, while Fry had 127 yards and three TDs on 13 carries, and Bender added 102 yards and one TD on 16 carries.

Paske also completed 3 of 8 passes for 17 yards and one TD.

Waverly was limited to 198 yards in total offense, including 121 yards on the ground.

Robinson led Waverly with 82 rushing yards on 13 carries — all in the second half, and LaForest added 37 yards on 11 carries.

Ben Shaw completed 9 of 11 passes for 77 yards, one TD, and one interception, with Davis leading Waverly with four catches for 16 yards, and Hogan Shaw added two grabs for 38 yards.

"I like the way Cooper (Robinson) played in the second half, I thought he ran the ball very hard," said Miller. "And, Matthias made a great play on his TD catch.

"There were a lot of pluses, and we'll go back and fix the negatives.

"These games always help," added Miller. "We'll be able to evaluate what they did, and we'll learn from our lack of success."

The Wolverines, ranked fourth in Class B, falls to 7-1 on the season, and will wrap up the regular season Friday when they host Oneonta.

—————————

IN PHOTO 1: Waverly's Cooper Robinson. IN TOP PHOTO: Waverly's Chase Wheeler. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.



Print Friendly Version