SECTION IV FOOTBALL: OWEGO OVERCOMES SLUGGISH START TO DROP JOHNSON CITY (2021-09-17)

BY TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
JOHNSON CITY — It took Owego a little time to get going, but when a big-play opportunity arose, the Indians took advantage and it would carry them to a 20-8 Section IV Division III victory over Johnson City here Friday evening.

Owego had struggled through a pair of three-and-outs, including a punt for no gain, then got the break it needed late in the opening period. Facing a third-and-9, quarterback Ethan Nichols looked downfield and found Spencer Mead all alone near the JC 47-yard line. Mead hauled in the pass and took it down to the 22. Six plays later, about 1 1/2 minutes into the second quarter, Mead punched it in from the one. Teagan Signs converted the PAT kick and the Indian had a 7-0 advantage.

"We definitely came out and started a little bit slower than we did last week offensively," Owego coach Steve Virkler said, "but as we got going, I thought second quarter we really did some good things."

"That play definitely gave us a spark and Ethan Nichols hasn't played a lot of quarterback. He's still fairly fresh at that position, but he showed us some stuff last week a little bit, and certainly at practice this week, so we'll see how it goes, but he certainly had a good performance today."

The Wildcats would punt on their next possession and Owego drove 72 yards in seven plays to make it 14-0. A 54-yard Nichols-to-Mead pass down the right sideline set up a two-yard dive — literally — by Mason Wills and Signs' kick doubled the visitor's lead.

Once again, the Indians' defense forced JC to punt. The line drive went right to up-man Matt Gatto, who rambled several yards to the Wildcat 48.

It would take Owego just four plays to hit paydirt. This time as Nichols hit Mead for a 22-yard gain on second-and-10, then Nichols scampered for a dozen yards down to the 14. Wills took in on the next play, again diving into the end zone. Johnson City blocked the kick, but the Indians had built a 20-0 cushion at intermission.

The Wildcats would go backward in the final minute of the first half as quarterback Damari Johnson was sacked on the final two plays of the period for minus-18 yards.

Johnson City came out in the third quarter and, following Jahvir Brown's 21-yard kickoff return, marched 50 yards in 15 plays with Brown scoring on a 2-yard run. Johnson's PAT toss to Brown cut the lead to 20-8, but JC had chewed 8 1/2 minutes off the clock. A personal foul on third-and-five at the Owego 8 helped the Wildcats' chances.

The Indians answered with a 14-play drive, but even though they turned the ball over on downs at the JC 10, they too had removed valuable minutes from the home team's grasp.

With Johnson missing several plays due to injury, backup QB Peyton Brzozowy tried to get the 'Cats going, his second-down pass to Conor Morrison came up an inch shy. On the next play, Brown was hit twice in the backfield and although he avoided getting tackled he coughed up the ball. Wills jumped on the pigskin to give Owego the ball at the JC 32.

Owego failed to capitalize on the gift of good field position, but strong defensive pressure and an 8-yard sack by Signs gave the Indians the ball back at the JC 17. Steven Bidwell appeared to score on first down, but an inadvertent whistle nullified the TD. The down was replayed and went for a 20-yard loss with a 15-yard penalty included. Bidwell picked up seven yards on the next play, Wills dashed for 24 more and Nichols tacked on a 4-yard keeper to give the Indians a first-and-goal at the two with 48.2 seconds remaining in the game. Nichols would take a knee twice to end the game.

Things didn't appear promising for the Indians at the game's onset. They kept it on the ground on their first possession, but Bidwell only picked up five yards on three runs. The next time they had the ball Nichols threw three incompletions and Bidwell had to deal with a high snap on the punt attempt and the ball basically went straight up in the air.

That would all change, however.

Bidwell, who had to work hard for a lot of his yards, would finish the game with 68 yards rushing on 19 carries. He picked up four first downs for the Indians and put them in position to score their initial TD.

"He's worked awfully hard in the off-season, as hard as anybody we have, to get ready for this year," Virkler said, "so I was happy to see him have a good, solid game for us."

Nichols, who started the night 1-for-4 for minus-2 yards, completed the next five for 135 yards, including three to Mead for 125. Nichols went 7-for-13 for 147 yards and also tacked on 18 yards rushing.

"Ethan Nichols at quarterback stepped up and did some good things and made some plays for us when we needed them," Virkler said.

Wills had four carries for 36 yards.

Owego collected 273 yards total offense, gaining 147 through the air while Johnson City chalked up 146 total yards (133 via the run).

The Indians recorded eight tackles for losses, three of which were sacks. Johnson ended up with 11 yards rushing and six yards passing. Brown toted the rock 17 times for 89 yards, but his last nine carries amassed just 22 yards.

Three of JC's first five possessions resulted in punts. The other two saw the Wildcats turn the ball over on downs and end the half with a sack by Signs and Mead. They had the ball just three time sin the second half and the results were their lone TD, a fumble and a fourth-down sack by Signs.

"I thought overall we played really well," Virkler said. "Their first drive of the second half, they just kind of shoved it down our throat a little bit. I think we've got to find a way to fix that.

"The big one for me was when we had them pinned deep, and it was either a three-and-out or a short drive, and Teagan Signs came up with a big play on the far side and stuck that. That certainly was a difference."

Signs, Mead and Gatto were solid anchors in the middle of the defense and key to holding JC in check most of the night.

"Those guys are all really active at linebacker and they can do a lot of things," Virkler said. "They're pretty dynamic. Matt I think is the one on that fourth-down play that kind of blew through there and forced the thing to pop open."

Owego (1-1) hosts Elmira (1-1) Friday night.

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IN PHOTO 1: Owego's Mason Wills. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.