(CORRECTED) SECTION IV FOOTBALL: OWEGO STUMBLES AGAINST M-E IN BATTLE OF UNBEATENS (24 PHOTOS) (2024-11-01)
By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — Penalties, poor field position and a key injury proved costly in Owego’s bid to knock off the state's top-ranked Class B team Friday night.
That trio of factors weighed in for Maine-Endwell's 21-7 win in a battle of Section IV Division III unbeatens on Senior Night at Cristy J. Valvo Stadium.
“Whether it was their special teams or us shooting ourselves in the foot, we just always seemed like we had a very, very long field when we sent our offense out,” said Owego coach Patton Taylor. “Against a team like Maine-Endwell, when your back's constantly 15, 20 yards from your own end zone, it's tough to kind of build any kind of rhythm.
“Defensively, couldn't be more proud of our defense, all night. They did a fantastic job of just giving our offense a chance. We only gave up 21 points to one of the top offenses in the state, fantastic job. Offensively, we’ve got some stuff to figure out. We’ll figure it out next Monday.”
Taylor felt the hype of the game may have contributed to the outcome as well.
“I thought our emotions got to us a little bit,” he said. “It was a noisy atmosphere. I think that might have played a little bit of a role too. Fantastic turnout from Owego, from the community, just an absolutely awesome atmosphere that they provided. I just at times felt like the moment got a little too big for us. We ran into some silly penalties that really set us up with poor field position.”
The River Hawks had been penalized just once for five yards in the first 15 minutes of action before M-E rallied to tie the score at 7-7, but were flagged nine times for 67 more afterward, including five illegal procedure calls.
Owego also found itself beginning six of its 11 possessions from inside its own 30, starting twice at the 35 due to kickoffs out of bounds. The River Hawks did manage to begin drives in M-E territory twice, once after a fumble recovery and another on a long kick return by Jack Buchsbaum.
The Spartans coughed up the ball at their own 42 on the game’s opening drive and Owego took advantage of the gift to grab a 7-0 lead. A pass interference call moved the ball to the 27 and Joseph Palladino carried the pigskin five straight times, bulling his way in from the two with 7:45 on the first-quarter clock. Adam Arhbal’s kick made it 7-0.
Unfortunately for the River Hawks, their star tailback/safety would go down with an ankle injury early in the second quarter. He did continue to handle the team’s punting chores, but his distances were noticeably shorter than in previous games.
The Spartans, ranked No. 1 among the state’s Class B teams, would punt on their next possession and a 30-yard Elijah Lewis-to-Evan English would put the home team at the M-E 35, but the drive would fizzle out.
M-E would then put together a 79-yard drive to even the score. After having a long Vince Mancini touchdown run called back on a penalty, Logan McGuire got behind the Owego defense and reeled in a Preston Ocker pass for a 75-yard TD. McGuire’s PAT kick knotted the score with 8:44 to go in the second period.
Palladino would carry the ball just one more time (that run was erased by a penalty) before heading to the sideline with an ankle injury. He later attempted to return on defense, but that stint was very brief. He carried the ball 11 times for 41 yards before exiting.
“He's obviously an impact player,” noted Taylor. “We had all the confidence in Dylan Brace to go in offensively and Arhbal defensively at safety. Both those guys did a fantastic job, stayed with their keys, Brace ran hard. Really, up front we’ve just got to stay on our blocks longer than half a second.”
Still, Owego would manage just 37 yards on the ground and 35 through the air for the night.
Meanwhile, Mancini had another TD run nullified by a penalty and the half ended with each team punting two more times and the Spartans running out of time in Owego territory.
The second half started off with a pair of Owego punts and another by M-E. The second River Hawk punt was short and a penalty gave the Spartans a first-and-goal at the nine. Ocker scored on a 1-yard keeper three plays later to put the visitors ahead to stay. McGuire’s kick made it 14-7 at 5:03 to go in the quarter.
M-E muffed the punt following Owego’s next possession, but Tyler Mathews barely beat the River Hawks Dylan Brace to the loose ball to avoid a potential disaster. Three plays later McGuire boomed a 65-yard punt for a touchback.
Owego closed out the quarter with back-to-back illegal procedure penalties, then started Q4 off with a holding penalty to move the ball inside their own 10. A short punt gave M-E the ball at the Owego 24, but the Spartans failed to capitalize due to a strong defensive stand by the River Hawks.
The River Hawks wrapped two more punts around one by M-E, then the Spartans put together a five-play, 42-yard scoring drive to seal the victory. Jaden Branch started it with a 32-yard dash, then capped it with an 8-yard run and McGuires kick made it 21-7 with 1:21 to play.
Owego didn’t give in and went to the air, but was unable to rally.
M-E chalked up 256 yards offense with 159 coming on the ground. Branch carried the ball 22 times for 99 yards and Landon Rollo added 43 m0re on seven runs. Ocker went 4-for-7 through the air for 97 yards with McGuire pulling down one pass for 75 yards.
Taylor believes the mistakes made in this game should be quick fixes before the two teams meet again.
“Until the last 2 ½ minutes we had a chance,” he said. “To beat a team like Maine-Endwell, they're so fundamentally sound and so disciplined, details matter.
“Obviously that loss stings. It would have been nice to clinch the division, but I thought that was definitely our worst showing of football offensively this year. Again, just kind of shot ourselves in the foot. With that being said, we had a chance up until the last two minutes of the game. In my eyes, that's a very positive thing.”
Of course, the River Hawks (7-1) have to focus on Norwich first. The Purple Tornado (6-3)) come to town next Friday night for the Class B semifinals, then Owego should get a rematch with M-E the following week at Johnson City. The Spartans (9-0) will host Oneonta (4-5).
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PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
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