Greene makes statement at Sidney

Greene 51, Sidney 12

SIDNEY – Greene went to Sidney Friday night looking to make a statement. Boy, did the Trojans make that statement loud and clear.

Unbeaten in three games, Greene scored 14 points within a 70-second span in the second quarter to turn the tide in Class C division battle, and put 37 points on the board in a runaway second half.

“Sidney is a big, physical team, but I think we wore them down up front,” said Greene head coach Tim Paske. “When we go on the road, we tell the players that it’s a business trip. Our only objective is to win.”

Business picked up late in the second half, but not before the Greene defense made two clutch stands early on. The Trojans fumbled inside their own 15 on the first offensive play of the game, but limited Sidney to a Mike Guerriere 29-yard field goal. The Trojans turned it over again deep in its own end, and again Sidney was limited to a 48-yard Guerriere three-pointers. “They had the ball in our red zone three times in the first half after turnovers, and the defense really stepped up,” Paske said.

Trojans senior Nate Whittaker gave Greene the spark it would need on special teams. Back to return a punt, Whittaker beat the defense for an 80-yard touchdown closing the gap to 7-6. On the ensuing kickoff, Greene’s Garrett Hickey floated a boot short and near the Sidney sideline. The ball was knocked loose and Brendan Kinne recovered at the Sidney 43. Three plays later, Dan Carlin’s five-yard score had Greene ahead for good.

Whittaker ran for the opening score in the second half, and threw a 43-yard scoring toss to Josh Klink. Carlin added a second TD run, while Tyler Beckwith and Robbie Bates tacked on second-half six-pointers. “People have been talking about us quietly, and we welcome the challenge (of our opponents) each week,” Paske said. “We want to play the best, and our kids respond to that.”

Greene finished with 314 yards of total offense and 235 return yards.

Score by Quarters

Green. 0 14 16 21–51

Sidn. 3 3 6 0–12

Scoring Summary

First quarter

S: Mike Guerriere 29 field goal.

Second quarter

S: Guerriere 48 field goal

G: Nate Whittaker 80 punt return (run failed).

G: Dan Carlin 5 run (Whittaker run).

Third quarter

G: Whittaker 5 run (Brian Day pass from Whittaker).

G: Josh Clink 43 pass from Whittaker (Carlin pass from Whittaker).

S: Zach Finch 2 run (run failed).

Fourth quarter

G: Tyler Beckwith 11 run (run failed).

G: Carlin 2 run (Beckwith run).

G: Robbie Bates 6 run (Garrett Hickey kick).

Team Summary

G S

First downs 17 9

Rushes-yards 45-256 34-96

Passing yards 58 127

Comp-Att-Int 3-7-2 4-17-2

Punts-avg. 1-23 4-41

Fumbles-lost 1-1 4-2

Penalties-yards 2-14 2-20

Individual Statistics

Rushing: (G) Nate Whittaker 9-41 1 TD; Garrett Hickey 15-82 1 TD; Dan Carlin 10-79 1 TD; Brian Day 2-(-1); Tyler Beckwith 2-12; Nick Wilcox 1-10; Robbie Bates 3-30, 1 TD; Booker Davis, 2-4; Jack Thibodeau 1-(-1). (S) Dylan Umbra 6-(-9); Guerriere 13-62; Aaron Wood 8-33; Zach Finch 3-7; Jon Mercurio 1-0; Tyler Moffitt 1-3; Paul Ferrante 2-0.

Passing: Whittaker 3-8-2 58 yds, 1 TD. (S) Umbra 4-17-2, 127 yds.

Receiving: (G) Carlin 1-8; Josh Clink 1-43 1 TD; Day 1-7. (S) Wood 3-118; Quinn Dorsey 1-9.

S-E 21, Mount Markham 13

SHERBURNE – Sherburne-Earlville lost 1,300-yard back Billy Northey to graduation, but senior Nate Kline is ably filling Northey’s shoes.

Kline rushed for 271 yards and two touchdowns, and put the game away with a 58-yard dash in the fourth quarter. It was the second straight win for the Marauders, and the first time S-E has had back-to-back victories in three season. “We moved the ball almost at will, the only thing that stopped us was ourselves,” said S-E coach Mickey James.

Sherburne-Earlville ran just 38 plays in the game – 36 rushing attempts – but netted a season-best 344 total yards.

After Kline’s nine-yard TD run in the first quarter, the Mustangs turned the tables with a ball-control attack. Zach King and Matt Casale hit paydirt in the second and third quarters to put S-E in a 13-6 hole.

Nick Beadle’s nine-yard inside rush for a score put S-E in front for good late in the third quarter. “We have sort of a rubber band defense where we bend between the twenties, but we give ground grudgingly inside the 20,” James said. “The thing I was happiest about in this game was how we swarmed to the football on defense. We put a lot of hats on the ball.”

The Marauders look for the three wins in a row this weekend against Westmoreland, who beat Delhi 21-14 on Saturday.

Score by quarters

MM 0 7 6 0–13

S-E 6 0 8 7–21

Scoring summary

S-E: Nate Kline 9 run (kick failed)

MM: Troy Barrett 10 pass to Zach King (Roberts kick)