By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
WAVERLY — Waverly scored three touchdowns in less than four minute in a span that bridged the second and third quarters to blow open a close game on its way to a 41-12 win over Susquehanna Valley here Friday night in the semifinals of the Section IV, Class C football playoffs.
"We always talk about winning the middle four — the last two minutes of the first half and first two minutes of the second half," said longtime Waverly coach Jason Miller.
"We scored on two plays at the end of the first half, then scored on the first play after the fourth-down stop to start the second half.
"Those are big momentum-changing moments," added Miller.
Waverly won the pre-game coin toss, chose offense, and drove the ball inside the Saber 5-yard-line before turning the ball over on downs.
Sophomore QB Cooper Chrystie was 3-for-3 for 32 yards through the air — all to his twin brother Carter Chrystie, and ran the ball three times for 22 yards, but was stopped on fourth-and-goal at the SV 2.
"We had a really good drive, but it ended on a really bad play-calling choice," said Miller. "I would put that on myself."
The Sabers countered with a 17-play drive — all on the ground — that chewed up nearly nine minutes of the game clock to move the ball into the Wolverine red zone. However, a holding call stalled the drive, and Waverly senior Ben Shaw blocked a 36-yard field goal attempt with 41 seconds remaining in the first quarter to keep the game scoreless.
After SV's first possession, the Wolverine defense made an adjustment and stifled the Saber run game until the game was already decided.
"(SV) is a really physical team and we struggled with that a little in the first drive, (but) we moved our ends a little bit inside to shade the tight end, and that helped a lot," said Miller. "It was a good adjustment by (defensive coordinator) David (Shaw).
"And, our outside linebackers did a good job setting the edge when they did try to get outside.
"Yeah, that was the key adjustment, and (SV) struggled from that point on," added Miller.
After an exchange of punts Waverly took over at its 32 with 9:17 remaining in the first half.
Cooper Chrystie started the possession with a 19-yard scamper, and seniors Bryce LaForest and Rhylee Stotler followed with runs of 16 and 17 yards, respectively to quickly move the ball to the SV 16. All three runs were between the tackles.
Three plays later, Cooper Chrystie scored on a 1-yard run to make it 6-0 with 7:34 remaining in the first half.
The Sabers picked up two first downs on their ensuing possession, but turned the ball over on downs at the Waverly 36, thanks to a big fourth-down stop by Shaw.
After a five-yard penalty moved the ball back to the 31, Waverly needed just five plays to increase its lead.
A 10-yard run by Cooper Chrystie, and a 7-yard connection between the Chrystie brothers gave the Wolverines a fresh set of downs, then LaForest and Cooper Chrystie ripped off runs up the middle of 23 and 20 yards, respectively, to set up a 9-yard TD run by LaForest with 1:40 remaining in the half.
Cooper Chrystie's run for conversion made it 14-0.
The Sabers' ensuing possession burned just 23 seconds off the clock with Waverly calling its timeouts after each SV play.
The Wolverines got the ball back at the SV 47 following a punt, and Cooper Chrystie connected with a wide-open Chase Wheeler for a 47-yard TD two plays later to make it 20-0 with 48 seconds remaining in the half./
The Wolverines rushed for 167 of its 257 yards on the ground in the first half, with the large majority of them coming between the tackles.
"We just continued to do what we do, and found some things based on formation that we had an advantage on," said Miller. "Then, they were blitzing a lot, and we thought we get outside on Cooper's legs.
"I thought we did a really good job of running the ball inside with Bryce (LaForest) and Rhylee (Stotler) — both of them did a really good job.
"I also thought we executed up front very well," added Miller. "It's tough to do with the different movements, and the slants they were doing, but it was just a really good effort."
The Sabers started the second half with the ball, but four plays in, Shaw and fellow senior Austin Burns combined for a key fourth-down stop and turnover on downs at the SV 28.
Cooper Chrystie busted loose on a 28-yard TD run on Waverly's first play. The conversion run made it 28-0 with 9:53 remaining in the third quarter.
SV turned the ball over on downs at its 49 on the ensuing possession, and Waverly took advantage with an eight-play scoring drive that included a 15-yard run by LaForest and an 11-yard run by Cooper Chrystie.
Cooper Chrystie's 4-yard TD pass to LaForest with 5:03 remaining in the third quarter to make it 34-0.
Waverly finally tally of the night came three plays after SV turned the ball over on downs at its own 25 on a 25-yard TD pass from Brody Lambert to Brycen Fiske with 9:15 remaining in the contest.
Junior Jesse Lantz's first PAT kick of the night made it 41-0.
SV, which played its starters the entire game, scored two TDs in the final 4 minutes to provide the final margin.
Cooper Chrystie led Waverly with a 141 rushing yards and two TDs on 15 carries, and also completed 9 of 16 passes for 129 yards and one TD.
LaForest had 86 rushing yards and one TD on 10 carries, while Stotler added 37 yards on five carries to a ground game that amassed 257 yards on 36 carries.
Carter Chrystie led Waverly with six receptions for 64 yards, and Wheeler had two grabs for 61 yards, and one TD.
Lambert completed 1 of 2 passes for 26 yards and one TD for the Wolverines.
Susquehanna finished the game with 269 rushing yards on 51 carries, and threw for an additional 62 yards (5 of 17 passing with two interceptions — by sophomore Axel Murray, and junior Sam Cheresnowsky.
The Wolverines, now 8-2, will now make their sixth straight appearance in a Section IV championship game, taking on the state's top-ranked Chenango Forks (10-0) next Saturday at noon at Binghamton's Alumni Stadium.
"We have a tremendous opportunity next week, playing the state's top-ranked Class C team Chenango Forks," said Miller. "It's a tough matchup.
"They have the best player in Section IV, possibly the state," noted Miller. "We have to have a great week of preparation, and just go up there and not be afraid.
"We just need to take care of ourselves this week," added Miller. "We need to have a great week of preparation, and go up there and compete."
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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly's Cooper Chrystie. IN TOP PHOTO: Waverly's Rhylee Stotler and Austin Burns (45) combine on a tackle. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
