Chenango Forks Football- 2007 Season

2007- Intro

The 2007 Chenango Forks football team would be the first team in 6 years to not have ended its season in the carrier dome, and would seek to rectify that by any means necessary. Drawing upon returning talent and up and coming youngsters, the 2007 team would again face a very difficult schedule to remain unbeaten, including a gauntlet of class A team to open the season; Maine Endwell, Corning West, and defending class A state champion Corning East, who shut out the Blue Devils 14-0 the year prior. No doubt the Blue Devils wanted revenge and to head back to the state title game.

The 2007 Chenango Forks Football Team

(All information on this blog is adapted from the fantastic website http://www.forksfootball.com/main.html. The website has information on almost every Chenango Forks game from 2001 to the present, and includes statistics, news articles, pictures and more. All credit goes to the owner of the website for usage of the statistics and pictures and their affiliated sources)

2007- Offense

For the 3^rd time in 3 seasons, a new starting QB stepped up under center, this time Senior Jake Reynolds. Reynolds was a capable passer, completing 29-60 passes for 664 yards, with his main receivers being senior brothers Clint (6’ 2) and Garett Cade (6’4), who played tight and split end respectively. Senior Nick Stephens manned the fullback position, while main ball carrier Joe Aston, who rushed for over 1000 yards in his senior season, and Junior Tim Zidmal manned the other. The offense scored 21 points per game, while rushing for 2478 yards (245 per game) and passing for 664 yards (53 per game)

The Cade  brothers (Garret pictured) were the main receivers on offense, with the pair combining for 19 catches of Reynolds 29 completions

2007- Defense

The defense was a senior laden bunch, with a sprinkling of Sophmore and Junior contributors. Seniors Reynolds and Aston manned the linebacker positions, while in the secondary Sophmore corners D.J. Smith and Rickey Bronson started. The defensive line was led by defensive tackles Jud Dubois, Bob Phelps, and Tom Voorhis, while defensive end Clint Cade and Max Ginty held the edges. The defense gave up 124 points all season, (9.5 per game) while surrendering 1201 yards rushing (109 per game) and 1087 yards passing (99 yards per game).

Jud Dubois (center) was a force on the interior of a solid defense  

2007- Results

The 2007 team faced a very difficult opening and mid season schedule, and responded as well as one could have hoped ; by sweeping its class A gauntlet with 3 wins, 21-0 over ME, 28-6 over Corning West, and 15-12 revenge against defending class A state champion Corning East. From there, the main focus of the schedule was its game against undefeated rival Chenango Valley. In a game that was attended by over 5000 people on the grass of Blue Devil stadium, the cross river rivals played an epic 20-14 battle that was won by the Blue Devils on a last half minute touchdown pass from Reynolds to his 6’4 target Garret Cade for the Blue Devils 13^th straight win in the series. It would not be the last time the two teams would play, however, and in the rematch with the Section 4 class B championship on the line, the Blue Devils would prevail again with a 21-7 win in which they intercepted CV QB Matt Mullins 5 times. From there, the state playoffs waited, and dates against the two teams CF played in the previous year’s state playoff games were won by final scores of 12-7 against Cazenovia and 14-13 over the defending state champions Geneva. It would set up an epic game against none other than the undefeated Rye Garnets for the two teams 4^th matchup in the title game. Rye and Forks battled each other 12-12 going into the 4^th quarter until Rye took a 19-12 lead they would not relinquish for the 2^nd state title and 2^nd straight win against their downstate title game rival. The 2007 championship closed the book on the most dominant stretch of football in school history, as head coach Kelsey Green would step down following the season, taking his 84-6 record over 7 years with him, and opening the door for a new dynasty to be born.