The Evening Sun | Norwich Flag Football Drops To Owego In Sectionals

NORWICH

– After

facing

Owego

in

the

second

to

last

game

of

the

regular

season,

the

Norwich

Purple

Tornado

flag

football

team

prepared

to

face

them

again

in

the

second

round

of

sectionals.

Norwich

appreciated

more

scoring

chances

in

this

contest

and

attempted

to

keep

up

with

the

Indians,

but

fell

39-19.

Despite

the

loss,

Norwich

had

another

successful

season,

staying

undefeated

up

until

the

latter

part

of

the

season.

Owego

got

started

early

on

defense,

putting

tight

pressure

on

Norwich’s

offense.

They

intercepted

the

ball

on

Norwich’s

first

possession

before

driving

the

ball

down

the

field

for

the

first

score

of

the

game.

Norwich

fought

back

fairly

quick

as

Quarterback

Cameron

VanHouten

had

success

finding

Sarah

Davis

and

Julie

Turner

for

a

few

solid

pass

plays.

This

strategy

set

up

a

nice

breakaway

rushing

touchdown

for

Sarah

Davis

to

even

it

up

at

seven

all.

Owego

answered

back

with

a

quick

drive

of

their

own

and

scored

on

a

long

pass

play,

setting

the

Norwich

defense

off

guard.

Norwich

tried

on

their

next

possession,

but

the

ball

fell

back

into

Owego’s

hands

at

their

own

two

yard

line.

Owego

was

able

to

move

the

ball

and

scored

on

that

same

drive.

Under

two

minutes

until

halftime,

Norwich’s

VanHouten

helped

her

team

drive

down

the

field

with

big

run

plays

and

found

receiver

Julie

Turner

for

a

short

pass

with

14

seconds

to

go.

Norwich

called

a

timeout

before

setting

up

a

last

crucial

play,

which

Turner

caught

for

the

touchdown.

Norwich

was

down

19-13

at

the

half

before

coming

back

out

on

defense

to

start

the

final

25

minutes.

Owego

didn’t

waste

anytime

as

they

ran

down

the

field,

deep

in

Norwich’s

territory.

This

time,

though,

the

Purple

defense

was

fierce

with

a

big

sack

by

Karoline

Olesen

to

set

up

a

fourth

down,

which

the

Indians

went

for

and

a

stop

was

made

by

Brynley

Ryan.

Norwich

took

over,

but

was

forced

to

punt.

Owego

scored

three

more

times

as

Norwich

tried

different

plays

that

didn’t

work

out

in

their

favor.

They

had

Olivia

Schiraldi

and

Josey

Ryan

in

at

quarterback

with

a

few

nice

run

plays,

but

Owego’s

heavily

pressured

defense

forced

them

to

throw

the

ball

into

their

hands

or

to

turnover

on

downs.

With

under

two

minutes

remaining

in

regulation,

Senior

Kayla

Sherman

was

in

as

quarterback.

Sherman

made

great

plays

on

fourth

downs

to

set

up

a

Emma

Urgo

touchdown

with

38

seconds

left.

Owego

elected

to

take

a

knee

to

end

the

game

as

Norwich

put

its

seniors

in

for

the

final

play

of

the

game.

Congratulations

Norwich

on

a

great

season

and

best

of

luck

to

the

seniors.