By Patrick Newell

Sun Sports Editor

pnewell@evesun.com

VESTAL – When envisioning all the possibilities on how its opening game against Vestal would play out, the one that developed for Norwich would have to full under the category of “worst-case scenario.”

The Golden Bears showed they were a formidable opponent, but the Purple Tornado made it a lot easier on the host club Saturday night at Dick Hoover Stadium committing nine turnovers in a 47-9 blowout loss.

Norwich had four miscues in the opening quarter, six by halftime, and the Vestal offense rode a prolific passing attack to a 40-0 halftime advantage.

Vestal senior quarterback Nick Wegmann, a lefty slinger who had several near-misses early, threw for four scores and 154 yards by halftime, linebacker Mike Osinski returned an interception for a score, and speedy tailback Zach Cook ran for a touchdown. About the only thing out of sync for Vestal was its extra-point attempts as they missed more than they made.

“You’re not going to win many games turning it over nine times, that’s plain and simple,” said NHS first-year coach Mike Chrystie. “We have to do a better job preparing the kids, and we need to do a better job of taking care of the ball. We got exposed tonight, and we know what we have to work on. I hope this helps us in the long run, and we are able to make the improvements we need to make.”