Football

Chenango Forks 23, Norwich 0

NORWICH – Chenango Forks’ Section IV winning streak of over 50 games and five years without a loss was halted earlier this season by Corning East. Still, one streak remains, and that is a division winning streak of six years as the Tornado fell to the Blue Devils Friday night.

Chenango Forks, with no division losses along with Windsor, is assured another Class B postseason berth after this win. “Forks is a heck of a football team, but we’re proud of the effort of our kids,” said Norwich coach John Pluta. “Our kids played a terrific game.”

Norwich, which suffered its first two-game losing streak in a 3-4 campaign, did little offensively for a quarter and a half, and the Blue Devils’ running-back-by-committee approach led to a pair of scores.

Quarterback Bryan Lance hit paydirt on a one-yard keeper, and Lance threw a six-yard scoring pass to Jason Gildea in the second.

Norwich sustained its first offensive drive late in the half, but was derailed by a five-yard procedure penalty.

Bending but not breaking, Norwich halted a 75-yard Forks drive in the third quarter in which the Blue Devils came as close as the one-foot line. A five-yard penalty forced a field goal.

Down 17 points, Norwich drove from its 15 all the way to Forks 25 getting first-down runs from Chris Mattingly and Brennan Ryan. a fumbled center-to-quarterback exchange ended that drive.