SIDNEY- 413 yards of offense and eight touchdowns later there is only one way to surmise the Purple’s Friday night victory over Sidney; it was all Tornado all the time. Just a week after the Norwich Purple Tornado offense produced a mere eight points in their loss against Windsor- Friday night’s contest was just what the doctor ordered for the NHS offense.

Coming into the game as the #12 ranked team in NYS Class C football- Norwich found the end zone on three separate occasions in the opening period. First the Tornado got their running game going as senior Evan Sylstra scored on a one yard run at the 8:46 mark- nearly four minutes later- sophomore Brady Smith scoring on a one yard run of his own.

After early success on the ground, Norwich opted to take their offense to the air. Norwich quarterback Torin Lawrence connected with receiver Mason Edwards on a 16 yard touchdown pass to round out the scoring as NHS took an early 20-0 lead.

Continuing their offensive dominance the Tornado outdid their first quarter scoring total- adding another 21 points in the second period.

Senior running back Mallachi Gaters found the end zone just 38 seconds into the stanza. Torin Lawrence connected on a six yard TD pass to sophomore receiver Holden Ryan for another NHS score at the 5:04 mark. The Tornado went back to their running workhouse in Evan Sylstra, as he joined the scoring party once again- as he danced his way into the endzone on a 2 yard run with just under two minutes to play before the half. Norwich headed to their locker room at halftime with a 41-13 lead.

In the third period, Torin Lawrence scampered in for another Norwich score at the 7:26 mark- upping the NHS lead to 48-13.

Trent Wessels turned defense into offense as he scored the eighth and final touchdown for the Purple with a pick-six with 2:08 left to go in the third- delivering the final margin of victory for Norwich 55-16.

Norwich (4-1) is back in action on Friday October 8th, when they travel to play their rival- Oneonta Yellow Jackets at Oneonta High School with kick-off scheduled for 7:00pm.

Score by quarters

NORWICH- 20 21 14 0 - 55

SIDNEY- 0 13 3 0 - 16

Summary:

First downs: N 26 S 11; Rushes-yds: N 44-378; S 21-129 Passing; N 4-8-0, 35 yds; S 10-21-1, 108 yds. Total yards: N 413; S 237. Punts-avg: N 1-40; S 5-20.4. Penalties-yds. N 6-55; S 5-35. Fumbles-lost: N 1-0; S 1-1. Records: N 4-1

Scoring: N, Evan Sylstra runs for 1 yard TD (2pt conversion fails). N, Brady Smith runs for 1 yard TD (Mallachi Gaters runs for 2pt conversion success). N, Torin Lawrence 16 yard TD pass to Mason Edwards (PAT fails). N, M. Gaters runs for 1 yard TD (PAT by T. Lawrence success). S, 34 yard TD pass (PAT success). N, Torin Lawrence 6 yard TD pass to Holden Ryan (PAT by T. Lawrence success). S, 74 yard TD run (PAT fails). N, E. Sylstra runs for 2 yard TD. (PAT by T. Lawrence success). N, T. Lawrence runs for 14 yard TD (PAT by T. Lawrence success). S, 32 yard field goal. N, Trent Wessels interception for TD (PAT by T. Lawrence success).

Individual Statistics

*stats received only for Norwich*

Rushing:  N E. Sylstra 13-116, T. Lawrence 8-126, M. Gaters 11-108, H. Ryan 2-10, N. Murphy 2-7, B. Smith 5-5, M. Manwarren 1-3, G. Tisworth 2-1.

Passing:  N: Lawrence 4-8-2- 0 35;

Receiving:  N: M. Edwards 1-16, A. Ragonese 1-8, H. Ryan 1-6, E. Sylstra 1-5.