SECTION IV FOOTBALL: OWEGO PULLS AWAY FROM NEWARK VALLEY TO GIVE NEW COACH A DEBUT VICTORY (2023-09-09)
By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
NEWARK VALLEY — Owego scored 20 second-half points to pull away from Newark Valley and open the season with a 34-14 Section IV Football Conference victory Saturday.
The River Hawks, under new head coach Patton Taylor, Jumped out to a two-touchdown lead in the first quarter, but sputtered in the second. After the half Owego started distributing the ball more, which led to more players getting in on the scoring.
“We have a lot of guys that can do some damage when they touch the ball, so we made those adjustments at halftime just to keep them honest,” Taylor said. “We spread the ball around and it worked out for us.”
NV coach Ted Hardenstine knew coming into the game that this team would be a work in progress. The Cardinals have graduated more than half their roster in each of the past two seasons.
“We’ve got a long way to go with this group,” he said. “We're not there yet, and a lot of that's on us as coaches. We knew that was going to be a challenge for us at the beginning, to get all of our guys up to varsity speed and varsity physicality.
“We were able to flash it at times today, but unfortunately we made far too many mistakes to be able to be successful for week one.”
Those flashes kept the Cardinals close for a half. Owego, hanging onto a 14-6 lead, scored on the second play from scrimmage to open the second half. Joseph Palladino, a first-year player who moved over from the soccer pitch darted through a gap in the line and raced 52 yards.
Adam Arhbal missed his only PAT kick of the afternoon, but Owego was up, 20-6, just 90 seconds into the third quarter.
Following an NV three-and-out, Conlan Taylor capped a 10-play, 75-yard drive with an 11-yard run and Arhbal's kick made it 27-6 with 3 ½ minutes remaining in the period.
The Cardinals started moving the ball late in the period, but a pair of sacks, followed by a tackle for a 1-yard loss to start the final stanza gave the Hawks the ball at their own 39.
An 11-yard run by Brendan Schofield with a 15-yard horse collar penalty tacked on would set the stage for a 25-yard quarterback keeper by Elijah Lewis. Arhbal's fourth PAT attempt of the day split the uprights to make the score 34-6.
NV would drive 66 yards on the ensuing possession to notch its second touchdown of the day on a 1-yard run by Kaiden Pado. Nate Hinckley’s keeper on the PAT made it 34-14 with 5:17 left in the game.
Owego punted twice in the game’s final minutes, but the Cardinals muffed one and ran out of time to put together a sustained drive following the other.
Things appeared to be going the Hawks’ way in the game’s early stages.
They took the ball on the NV 35 when Evan English stopped Cooper Davis on a fake punt attempt on the game’s first possession. Three plays later, Schofield scored on a 29-yard run, breaking a tackle at the 15. Arhbal's kick at 8:20 gave Owego a 7-0 advantage.
A Newark Valley three-and-out on the ensuing possession led to a Schofield 15-yard run with 30.7 seconds to go in the opening period capped a 10-play, 60-yard drive and Arhbal's kick made it 14-0.
Following a 37-yard jaunt by Dan Truesdail to close out the first period, the Cardinals looked primed to get on the scoreboard in the second quarter.
However, a pair of turnovers delayed their first trip into the end zone. NV coughed up the pigskin at the Owego 17 then, following a Hawks punt, Hinckley was intercepted near midfield.
Finally, with time running out in the half, Hinckley threw to Gabe Merrill at the goal line. Despite tight coverage by Evan Wasielewski, Merrill was able to outleap his opponent to make the catch with 4.7 ticks on the first-half clock. The PAT kick was blocked by Zack Bensley and Owego took a 14-6 lead into intermission.
The Hawks rolled up 322 yards offense to 220 for NV.
Schofield led all rushers with 101 yards on 16 carries. Palladino added 75 yards on six runs, and Lewis and Conlan Taylor combined for 66 more on 11 carries. Lewis completed six of nine pass attempts for 80 yards with Palladino making four grabs for 51 and English having three receptions for 29 yards.
Truesdail led NV with 12 carries for 74 yards and two receptions for 25 yards. Hinckley went 4-for-6 through the air for 54 yards. Pado, Davis, Zion King, Logan Rhodes, Dylan Iversen, Hinckley, Merrill and Tim Wojtysiak added 121 combined yards rushing and receiving.
Varying weather conditions were a factor in coach Taylor preparing his charges for the season opener, even forcing them to move to an unusual practice location at one point.
“It's been an interesting week of practice with all the heat,” coach Taylor said. “We were in helmets all week, actually at one point during the week, all these thunderstorms came in. We practiced in the auditorium. That actually happened, so I'm happy with how the boys competed.
The coach was also able to work a few rookies into the game plan.
“We’ve got some first year players,” he said. “They were able to get some play time today, so a good win. We're going to enjoy it today and then we’ve got a big week ahead of us, so we'll be back after it on Monday.”
Hardenstine has confidence the Cardinals will continue to improve.
“I'm still very excited for this group and I still have high expectations for this group,” he said. “They've done everything that I've asked so far and they're willing to work.
“There were moments today where you could see a little bit, like maybe they were starting to feel bad for themselves, but every single time that you ask them to respond they did. And you saw guys fighting for inches, clawing and nailing right to the end.
“As you start to try to identify these new teams, what their characteristics and their traits are going to be, I'll take that every time. I think they're a group that, yeah, we have a lot more to learn. We have a lot more to do to get disciplined, but I'm optimistic. I think they're going to be willing to put the work in and I think we're going to get a lot better.”
On Saturday, Owego visits two-time defending Class B state champion Maine-Endwell (1-0) while NV hosts Tioga County rival Spencer-Van Etten/Candor (2-0).
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IN PHOTO 1: Owego’s Joseph Palladino and NV’s Nate Hinckley. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
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