By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
WAVERLY — After a defensive struggle in the first half, Waverly scored twice in a three-minute span in the third quarter on its way to a 28-7 win over Norwich in the semifinals of the Section IV, Class B football playoffs here Friday night at Memorial Stadium.
The win advances the Wolverines into their fifth consecutive Section IV championship game — the first four being in Class C. They will play the winner of Saturday's game between Owego and Maine-Endwell Friday at 8 p.m. at Susquehanna Valley H.S.
"I think it's a major accomplishment," said Waverly coach Jason Miller on bumping up to Class B this year and reaching the title game. "We've had a tough schedule and to get back to the championship game, it means a lot.
"Every year, this semi-final game is the most stressful one," he noted. "You don't have an opportunity to win a Sectional title if you're going home a week before it.
"It's a big deal to be in another sectional title game, and have the opportunity to play one of two very good teams that remain in Class B.
"I'm very grateful that we have another week to be together with these kids," added Miller. "They've worked hard all year and I'm glad they have the chance to continue for one more week."
Norwich opened the game with the ball, and moved into Waverly territory, but its possession ended when Wolverine senior Daltton Davis intercepted a long ball and was taken down at the Waverly 2-yard-line.
The Wolverines picked up a pair of first downs to move out of the shadow of their own goal-line, but ended up punting the ball away.
Norwich was also forced to punt on its next possession, and the Wolverines took over at their own 11.
A pass interference call against Norwich early in the possession moved the ball to the Wolverines' 40, and a 29-yard pass from junior QB Ben Shaw to senior Daltton Davis put Waverly on the Norwich 31.
On the next play, junior Chase Wheeler made a leaping reception on the sideline for a 30-yard gain to the Norwich 1. Ben Shaw scored on a QB keeper on the next play, and senior Hogan Shaw added the PAT kick to give the Wolverines a 7-0 lead with 11:50 remaining in the first half.
With freshman QB Cooper Chrystie completing all four passes he threw and senior tailback Zach Parker picking up 33 yards on five carries, Norwich moved the ball inside the Wolverine 10 on its ensuing possession.
However, a penalty and a pair of negative plays by Norwich resulted in a fourth-and-35 at the Waverly 43.
Following a punt, the Wolverines took over at their 18 and moved the ball to the Norwich 35, but penalties stalled the drive out with 13 seconds left in the first half. The key play in the drive was a 33-yard catch by freshman Axel Murray.
Miller said the Wolverines made adjustments in their run game at halftime.
"Every time we pulled, they were blitzing into the hole, so they were getting behind the pullers and just kind of chasing it down," said Miller. "We weren't doing a great job of blocking.
"In the second half, we kind of committed to running right at them in the base lead, so we weren't pulling," noted Miller. "We were able to get on their second-level back with our blockers — and Ben (Shaw) and Cooper (Robinson) did a great job just finding creases and getting positive yards.
"Norwich is a physical team," added Miller. "(Kaden Downey) and (Zach Turner) are as physical as anybody we've seen this year, and they just gave us fits in the first half."
The second half began on a rather ominous note as Robinson coughed up the ball on the first play near midfield, but four plays later Robinson pounced on a loose ball in the Norwich backfield.
Waverly then marched 65 yards on nine plays, with the big plays a 25-yard run by Ben Shaw, and a 12-yard pass from Shaw to Davis.
Ben Shaw capped the drive with a 1-yard TD run with 6:03 remaining in the third quarter. Hogan Shaw's PAT kick made it 14-0.
After a Norwich three-and-out, Waverly scored on a four-play, 50-yard drive, capped by a 34-yard TD run by Robinson with 3:05 remaining in the third quarter. Hogan Shaw's kick made it 21-0.
Norwich answered with a quick scoring drive — four plays and 65 yards, capped by Parker's 48-yard TD run with 2:10 remaining in the third quarter.
Waverly took the ensuing kickoff and marched from its 25 to the Norwich 9, with runs of 10, 13 and 26 yards by Robinson, and a 16-yard pass from Ben Shaw to Davis accounting for most of the yards.
However, the Norwich defense came up with big plays on consecutive snaps, and a penalty resulted in a fourth-and-goal at the 18. An incomplete pass gave the Purple Tornadoes the ball on downs.
Norwich quickly moved the ball into Waverly territory, thanks in part to an unsportsmanlike conduct call against the Wolverines, but junior Matthias Welles flipped the momentum when he batted a Chrystie pass into the air, and intercepted it, returning it to the Norwich 35.
"Matthias' interception was a big play, it flipped the momentum back to us," said Miller. "Turnovers are the biggest key in whether you're going to be successful or not."
Three plays later, Davis hauled in a 25-yard TD pass from Shaw between a pair of Norwich defenders. Hogan Shaw's PAT kick made it 28-7 with 5:13 remaining.
Miller said his receiving corps had a very good game.
"Our receivers did a really good job of high-pointing the ball down the field, and a really good job catching hitches and just getting what they could.
"They came up hard on those and we got some yards after the catch," said Miller. "Not a lot, but, you know, we were kind of playing that game of cat-and-mouse there, as far as, trying to get by them deep after it. I thought I thought we did a pretty good job in that regard.
"And, I don't remember any drops," added Miller. "The execution in the pass game was pretty good."
Ben Shaw completed 12 of 19 passes for 174 yards and one TD, with Davis leading the receivers with six catches for 98 yards, and one TD, and Wheeler added two grabs for 37 yards.
Robinson led Waverly with 141 yards and one TD on 19 carries, while Ben Shaw had 53 yards and two TDs on 15 carries, and junior Bryce LaForest added 56 yards on four carries.
Chrystie completed 19 of 29 passes for 151 yards and two interceptions, with his twin brother Carter Chrystie hauling in nine catches for 92 yards to lead Norwich receivers.
Parker led Norwich's ground game with 160 yards and one TD on 20 carries.
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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly's Chase Wheeler. IN TOP PHOTO: Waverly's Cooper Robinson. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
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