NEW BERLIN – Unadilla Valley still believes. Operating all season as the “Little Engine That Almost Could,” Saturday’s Storm outfit resembled a team heading back toward respectability.

Short on numbers all season with a roster barely teetering above the state’s minimum, UV brought a season-high 19 players to the field on homecoming weekend, and it thoroughly thrashed first-year program Roscoe/Downsville, 42-0.

With two games remaining, what was seemingly unthinkable three weeks ago – a winning season – remains a possibility for the Storm. “We set a goal today to score a certain number of points, and hold our opponent below a certain number of points,” said UV coach Daryl Decker. “We wanted that third win so we can still finish with a winning record.”

All season long, UV’s three-H club – Kody Homann, Justin Hofer, and Kurt Haycook – have made the majority of the offensive plays. The template for success remained the same, but to record a shutout at home – something not seen around this parts in a long time – required the contributions of many more bodies.

On the Blue Devils’ opening play of the game, quarterback Collin Tallman was sacked for a 13-yard loss by senior Thomas Meyers. Roscoe/Downsville never did climb out of the red in terms of total yards finishing with minus-four total yards and just two first downs.