Tioga County Sports Report

Candor Newark Valley Owego S-VE Waverly Youth College Preview/Wrap-Up Opinion

SECTION IV FOOTBALL: THIRD QUARTER COSTLY AS OWEGO FALLS TO FORKS (18 PHOTOS) (2018-09-14)

BY TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
OWEGO - Owego was every bit involved in Friday's Section IV Division II showdown with Chenango Forks before a tough third quarter proved to be costly for the Indians.

With a 13-3 lead in hand, the Blue Devils created some space when quarterback Jake Topa threw a screen to Lucas Scott and it turned into a 54-yard touchdown. The 6-foot-3, 240-pund sophomore fullback followed a trio of Forks linemen around the left side, then took off down the sideline for his second TD of the night. Beckett Hafer would block the PAT kick to make it 19-3.

"The screen was a great call on their part," Virkler said, of the call which came on second-and-14. "They caught us. We were coming after them and that was a great call on their part, and they executed it perfectly."

On the Devils' very next play, Topa took a keeper down the left sideline, bolting 87 yards for a score, and breaking a tackle along the way. The kick failed and Forks was up, 25-3.

"The long touchdown run by the quarterback, felt like we had some chances maybe to wrap him up and he just made an athletic play and popped it," Virkler said. "That certainly was tough, but with that said, we didn't quit. We kept battling. We came back and put one on the board after that and had a chance here at the end with Kobe (Bogart) and just missed it."

The miss Virkler was referring to was a fourth-down pass to a wide open Bogart across the middle late in the game. The throw was just a bit low and Bogart was unable to reel it in.

"I think the pressure they were putting on us, having to throw it a little quicker than we wanted, or having to get out of the pocket, break our routes off a little bit, so our timing wasn't just on," Virkler said. "I think that's a credit to them and what they did up front.

"I thought we made some pretty good adjustments up front. Some of our guys picked that stuff up, so we were able to move the ball a little bit."

In between the long Forks TDs, Owego put together a nice drive, which started at their own 46 following Christian Sage's 27-yard kick return. Quarterback Tyler Phelps connected with Hafer for 14 yards on a fourth-and-four, then found Sage open for 15 more on the next play.

That put the Indians in the red zone, but Forks came up with a big goal line stand, and got a little help when a low snap on fourth down from the four allowed Jonathan Goodspeed to penetrate the backfield and dump Phelps for a 4-yard loss.

A little salt on the wound followed the Topa TD run as Owego responded with an 8-play, 65-yard drive capped by Phelps' 1-yard run. Phelps found Sage for a 40-yard gain to the CF 30 and hit Ben Miller for 10 yard to set up a first-and-goal at the three. Two plays later, Phelps forced his way in from the one and Nate Bennett's kick made it 25-10 with 1:40 left in the third period.

The Indians got the ball twice in the fourth quarter, but went four-and-out, then turned the ball over on downs following the incomplete pass in open field. Forks chewed up the rest of the clock, picking up four first downs on the ground.

Owego also had a hiccup late in the second quarter, fumbling the ball away while driving in the final two minutes of the half.

Despite the miscues, the Indians came into the game ready to give the state's top-ranked Class B team a challenge and never quit battling.

"I think that's what we have to build off from," Virkler said. "We got down a couple to very tough football team. We didn't quit. We didn't hang our hats. We were able to come back and punch one in ... and had some chances to score in the fourth quarter and didn't finish. Hopefully, we can build off that and get better, and hopefully we get a chance to see them again."

Owego showed CF it could move the ball, driving 64 yards in 10 plays on the game's first possession and taking it to the Forks 10 before settling for a 28-yard field goal by Bennett to take a 3-0 lead.

Forks burned nearly nine minutes off the clock on the ensuing possession, capping a 15-play, 68-yard drive with Scott's one-yard run. The PAT kick gave the Devils a 7-3 lead.

A pair of short Owego punts would leave Forks with the ball at the Indians' 34 midway through the second quarter and Stephen Shepard's 21-yard TD run gave the visitors a 13-3 advantage at halftime.

The Indians did play some tough defense against one of the top offensive lines around. They held Scott, who rushed for 299 yards in his first two games, to 24 yards on 10 carries in the first half. He finished with 70.

"I though coach (Mark) Burrell's defensive game plan was outstanding and I thought our kids executed it really well," Virkler said. "He certainly is their guy right now. I don't know if he's going to be starting next week with Jeremiah (Allen) coming back, that's going to be a tough 1-2 punch, but I thought for the most part we did a good job on him."

On the offensive side of the ball, Phelps was 13-of-23 for 175 yards. Hafer caught three passes for 67 yards and Sage had three receptions for 66 yards. Bogart grabbed four for 14 yards, Miller snagged two for 21 yards and Jason Kithcart had one catch for 15 yards.

Owego (2-1 overall, 1-1 Div. II) hosts Chenango Valley (2-1, 1-1) Friday night for homecoming.

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IN PHOTO 1: Owego's Christian Sage. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.