JOHNSON CITY – Norwich had three touchdowns taken off the board due to penalty in the first half.

Still, the Purple Tornado overcame those untimely mistakes, rolling to a 34-8 road victory over Johnson City on Friday night.

It was the fourth straight victory for Norwich (5-2), who are closing in on another postseason berth.

“I was proud of the kids overcoming that adversity (the penalties),” said Norwich coach Mike Chrystie. “We were able to clean that up and pull away.”

Penalties on its first drive of the game – one such mistake took a TD off the board – led Norwich to a stalled drive on downs in JC territory.

The Purple Tornado defense, though, quickly forced a Wildcats punt, which led to Norwich’s first score of the game - albeit a score that came on a heads-up play.

The Johnson City punt bounced off Norwich’s Leland Montgomery. What could have been a disaster turned into fortuity.

Braden Hagenbuch identified the deflection, gathered the ball on the bounce, and raced 63 yards for the opening touchdown.

It was the first of four scores for Hagenbuch on the evening.

“It was a great heads-up play by Braden to catch that ball,” Chrystie said. “(Braden) has been a big part of our special teams the last two seasons.”