SECTION IV FOOTBALL: NEWARK VALLEY STUMBLES LATE IN SHOWDOWN WITH DELHI (2023-10-21)
Tioga County Sports Report
NEWARK VALLEY — Newark Valley twice grabbed leads against Delhi, but the Bulldogs would rally en route to a 21-14 victory in Section IV Division V football action Saturday.
Tanner Bracchy broke free for an 85-yard touchdown run with 6:26 remaining in the fourth quarter to put Delhi ahead and Lucas Nealis kicked the PAT to make it 21-14.
Defense prevailed for nearly 2 ½ quarters between the Bulldogs and NV until the Cardinals scored with 6:22 on the third-quarter clock.
Delhi fumbled on its first possession of the second half and Matt Keller swallowed up the loose pigskin at the Bulldog 24.
It took NV five plays to find the end zone with Dan Truesdail bulldozing his way in from two yards out. Cooper Davis split the uprights with the PAT kick to give the Cardinals a 7-0 advantage.
The lead would be short-lived as Delhi would even things up just 56 seconds later.
The Bulldogs picked the ensuing onside kick out of the air at their own 45 and three plays later, Noah Dungan dashed 39 yards to paydirt. Nealis kicked the PAT to tie the score.
After Logan Rhodes’ 18-yard kickoff return, the Cardinals marched 66 yards in 10 plays to regain the lead. Truesdail broke loose for a 32-yard TD run, avoiding Dungan’s attempt to strip the ball just outside the goal line. Davis made good on the PAT kick to put NV back on top, 14-7, with 56.7 seconds left in the third period.
Delhi scored on its first possession of the fourth quarter with Sam Davis scoring from 19 yards out at 10:28 and Nealis booting the PAT to knot the score again.
The Bulldogs marched 49 yards in eight plays on the game’s first possession before sputtering at the NV 23.
Newark Valley would punt on its next two possessions with Delhi adding a punt in between.
The Bulldogs’ third possession appeared to bring a score on Charles Haight’s TD pass to Angelo Krzyston, but a penalty relegated the 85-yard strike to a 5-yard gain.
Haight’s next pass to Krzyston resulted in a strip and fumble recovery by Rhodes at the Delhi 34. NV coughed the ball up three plays later.
With help from a late hit penalty, the Bulldogs moved the rock deep into NV territory, but Gabe Merrill intercepted Haight at the 15.
Once again, the Cardinals would end up punting and Davis pinned Delhi back at its own nine with less than a minute remaining in the half.
It was actually a good day for the punters as Davis averaged 47 yards on five attempts and Nealis averaged 42.3 yards on three punts.
Penalties continued to be an issue for NV, which was flagged a half-dozen times for 65 yards.
The Cardinals ran the ball 56 times for 194 yards with Truesdail being the workhorse. He picked up 119 yards on 24 carries. Rhodes toted the ball eight times for 31 yards. NV did not attempt a pass.
Delhi, ranked sixth in the state in Class D, had 333 total yards. Bracchy finished with 130 yards on nine carries, Davis added 67 on 13 carries and Dungan tacked on three runs for 59 yards.
Haight was 5-for-12 passing for 65 yards with Krzyston grabbing three passes for 42 yards and Bracchy making two catches for 23 more.
Delhi (7-1, 5-1 division) clinches the No. 2 seed for the playoffs and seals up the top spot for two-time defending state champions Tioga (8-0, 6-0).
Muddy Playoff Picture
The number three and four seeds will be decided next week, most likely by a tie-breaker.
Newark Valley (4-3, 4-2) heads to Tioga while SVEC (5-3, 3-3) visits Bainbridge-Guilford (3-5, 2-4) and Walton (4-3, 3-3) hosts Harpursville/Afton (0-8, 0-6).
SVEC defeated NV, which beat Walton, which downed SVEC and all three are expected to finish the regular season with 4-3 records in division play.
B-G is still alive, but must beat SVEC and have Walton lose to create a tie-breaker with the Warriors for the fourth seed with SVEC being eliminated.
——————
IN PHOTO 1: NV linemen push the Delhi defense backward on the Cardinals’ first TD play. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
Print Friendly Version
