Mattingly reaches 1,000 yards in Norwich win

Norwich 42, Ithaca 12

NORWICH – Norwich finished the 2007 season the same way it started matching its season-high point total of week one in a rout of Ithaca Friday at Ulrich Field.

Norwich (6-3) did not complete a pass its last two games, and it wasn’t needed as the ground attack was hitting on all cylinders. Coming off a 378-yard effort against Windsor, the Purple Tornado finished the season on a three-game winning streak – two of those shutouts – posting a 372-yard rushing total against the struggling Little Red (1-8).

Chris Mattingly, who has served as the workhorse back three years running, completed his best season eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark. Mattingly did so on his final series in a Purple Tornado uniform. After a couple of nice gains, Mattingly barreled into the line of scrimmage, and like he has shown a knack for his entire career, squirted out of a pack of defenders and offensive linemen with a burst of speed racing for a 31-yard TD to end the game’s scoring late in the third quarter.

Mattingly had a career-high 218 yards in the game to finish with 1,067, and set the tone early with a big first-down run on the opening drive of the game. That set up Jesse Prosser’s 21-yard TD run into the left corner in which he dove across the goal.

After Ithaca responded quickly with a 18-yard TD pass from Alex Johnson to Nick Masser, Mattingly kickstarted another scoring driving hitting the Little Red for a 34-yard gainer. Prosser tacked on a 17-yard scoot, and Mattingly had the first of his two TDs on the day scoring from 11 yards out.

From there, it was junior fullback Mike Moon taking over the scoring honors. Tim Clark’s 17-yard punt return put Norwich in good field position, and Jesse Prosser broke two tackles at the line of scrimmage covering 33 yards to the Ithaca 24. On the next play, Moon scored the first of his three TDs making it 21-6.