ONEONTA _ It likely will be a quarter the Oneonta High football team will want to forget.
Chenango Valley scored three times in the opening period of Friday night's Section Four Football Conference Division III game en route to a 25-8 victory over the Yellowjackets at Lloyd F. Baker Field.
The Warriors (3-3, 1-2) victory made things interesting in the division. Oneonta (3-3, 1-1) had been tied for the lead with Windsor (3-2, 1-0), which plays host to Norwich (4-1, 1-1) on Saturday. Chenango Forks (4-1, 1-1), which lost to Oneonta two weeks ago, visits non-division foe Owego on Saturday.
The top two teams make the Section Four Class B playoffs.
"All we can do is hopefully play 48 minutes the next two weeks and whatever happens, happens," said Oneonta coach Adam Hoover, whose team hosts Windsor and Norwich, respectively, the next two Fridays. "If we had won this game, it would have been kind of in our own hands and now we have to kind of have some things happen. If we can't go out and execute for 48 minutes, we won't have a lot of success the next two weeks. We really need to get that fixed so we aren't down, 18-0, at halftime and having to scramble to do anything."
Chenango Valley wasted little time Friday.
After forcing Oneonta into a three-and-out on the opening drive, the Warriors used an error-free, nine-play drive to cover 53 yards. Devin Carroll went in on a 3-yard run for a 6-0 lead.
Oneonta went three-and-out on its next drive, though it seemed to be in decent position defensively after an illegal block on the return pushed the Warriors back to their 6.
Five plays later, CV was at its 45. Quarterback Rocco Testani handed to Cam Moochler on the next play. He slipped through a hole on the right side and made a small cut back toward the middle. Oneonta's James Carson had the last chance on defense as he dived in an attempt to trip Moochler about 5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Moochler stumbled briefly, regained his footing and broke away from a pack of defenders for a 55-yard touchdown and a 12-0 lead.
"The hole just opened right up for me," Moochler said. "It was pretty exciting. I just kept running as hard as I could and it turned out pretty good."
The Warriors got the ball back two plays later as Josh Pratt intercepted Dan Broe, who overthrew Eric Scheer. Already deep in Oneonta territory, Scheer returned the ball about 20 yards to the 8. Two plays later _ and after a CV false start _ Testani connected with Pratt for a 12-yard TD with 58 seconds left in the first quarter.
"We talked early in the week that Chenango Valley is a team that once they get momentum, they have the athletes to compete and beat just about anybody around here," Hoover said. "They got that momentum early and handled us on both sides of the ball and just took it to us. By the time we adjusted and decided to come out and play a little tougher, it was too late. They just stuck it to us every aspect of the game, especially that first quarter."
The Warriors outgained Oneonta, 150-15, in the first quarter.
"To sum it up, we just didn't come ready to play," Oneonta's Brendan Pidgeon said. "We had a hard week of practice and we just gave up big plays. ... We came out and we weren't ready. We weren't ready to read our keys, we weren't ready to keep pinching until the whistle and they drove on us."
The Warriors made it 25-0 early in the fourth quarter, when they used a 13-play drive that bridged the third and fourth quarters. Carroll capped the drive with a 3-yard run. In all, the drive covered 58 yards and took 6:53 off the clock.
Oneonta scored two plays later, when Pidgeon broke through the left side for a 57-yard touchdown. Dalton Smith ran in the conversion in to make it 25-8. Pidgeon finished with a team-high 66 yards on 13 carries, and teammate Matt Marcewicz contributed 50 yards on 15 carries.
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P.J. Harmer can be reached at pharmer@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 229.
