SECTION IV FOOTBALL: CORNING BUILDS BIG LEAD EARLY, TURNS BACK MONROE-WOODBURY (2021-09-18)

BY TIM TAYLOR
Southern Tier Sports Report
JOHNSON CITY — Corning filled an open date in its football schedule mid-week and had just a couple days to prepare for Monroe-Woodbury, but you wouldn't have known it during the first half of Saturday's 28-12 non-conference victory over the Crusaders here.

With the exception of Monroe's first possession, the Hawks dominated the first two quarters. And even though it didn't put any more points on the board after intermission, Corning managed to hold its own over the final 24 minutes as well.

"I thought we'd try to make some adjustments," Corning coach Mike Johnston Jr. said. "We scored 28 in the first half and we moved the ball, and we ran clock if we had to. It's not like we had lot of long runs.

"We made some adjustments at halftime and didn't quite follow through with them like we needed to, but like I tell the kids all the time, you can look at the stat charts all you want. If you don't get one stat, the W, then it doesn't matter, so we got the win today puts us at 2-0, proud of that."

Johnston also credited the athleticism of some of the Monroe-Woodbury players.

"You don't take anything away from them," he said. "They had three or four kids up front that were very athletic and good-sized, and big, strong kids."

A penalty against the visitors on an onside kick attempt to open the game gave Corning the ball at the M-W 42. Logan Booker carried the pigskin three straight times, the last going 32 yards for a touchdown. The Hawks were unable to convert the two-point conversion attempt, but had a 6-0 lead just 47 seconds into the contest.

Their lead wouldn't last long as Monroe drove 72 yards in seven plays to knot the score. Jayden Coulanges carried the brunt of the load, gaining 50 yards on five carries, the last being a 22-yard TD run. PAT kick failed and with 7:21 on the clock, the score was knotted at six.

Mason Smith's 38-yard kick return gave the Hawks good field position at their own 42 and a pair of penalties helped move the rock to the M-W 38. Quarterback Landen Burch found Booker open just inside the 20 and Booker sidestepped the defensive back and raced to the end zone. The PAT run failed, but Corning was back on top, 12-6, midway through the period.

The Crusaders bobbled a high bounce on the ensuing kickoff and Dillon Kennedy pounced on the ball at the M-W 30. The Hawks ground out the remaining yards with nine runs. Dylan Fairchild punched it in from the one, Smith scored on the PAT run and Corning had a 20-6 advantage with 1:20 left in the quarter.

"That's big. That's sudden change. It's huge," Johnston said. "I thought Ben Wilcox did a great job placing the ball where we needed it placed today and our kids going down and covering. That was something a week ago that we needed to get better at, and staying in our lanes with lane integrity and what not. The kids rose to the occasion and we were better this week for sure."

Monroe continued to hurt itself with penalties and was forced to punt on its next possession. Corning moved the ball 60 yards to the M-W 8 in 12 plays, but on third-and-goal Conor Fitzgibbon jumped in front of a Burch pass intended for Jack VanWoert in the end zone.

The Crusaders were unable to take advantage of the turnover and punted again with 1:59 remaining in the half. Starting at the M-W 40, it took the Hawks just five plays to find paydirt with Booker scoring on a 12-yard run with 28.1 seconds on the clock. Will Kibler's PAT run made it 28-6 at the half.

Corning utilized several backs on offense, using a run-oriented attack to pick up 144 of its 193 rushing yards in the first half

"We don't have a lot of kids," Johnston said. "We're a double-A school with I think 28 kids suited up today maybe, and I think we had five guys carry the ball. We just try to keep them fresh because a lot of them are skilled kids that are playing on both sides of the ball and on special teams, and we saw week No. 1 that we needed to be in better condition, so I thought that maybe rotating the backs a little bit would keep them fresh."

Monroe took the second-half kickoff and drove 69 yards in eight plays. Michael Zrelak's QB keeper went for 42 yards before Kibler brought him down at the 10. Kibler also stopped Coulanges to force a fourth-and-goal, but Zrelak plunged in from the one to make it 28-12. The PAT attempt failed and Corning maintained its two TD lead with 7:28 left in the quarter.

"We talked prior to, it's hard to stop double wing in two days preparation and it's hard to stop triple in two days preparation," Johnston said. "These guys have been to the state championship game five times and that's the measuring stick. If you want to go out and win it all, you've got to play the best competition and they're good. I mean, they're a really good football team and you saw that more so in the second half when they settled in, but we've got to keep pushing forward and getting better and staying healthy."

Corning faltered on its first possession of the second half and a Burch punt was partially blocked by Romeo Warren, giving Monroe the ball at Hawks' 46. The Crusaders would move the ball down to the 10, but a pair of penalties would help Corning get the ball back at the 17.

As the game moved into the fourth quarter, the Hawks would be forced to punt, but Monroe turned the ball over on downs at its own 44. Corning would give the ball back at midfield, but the Crusaders would punt again.

The Hawks would pick up a pair of first downs, then take a knee to end the game.

Monroe-Woodbury would finish with 204 yards rushing on 37 carries (Coulanges had 93), but Zrelak went 0-for-7 through the air.

Corning put up 204 yards in the first half, 144 coming on the ground. The Hawks finished with 253 total yards.

Burch was 2-for-5 for 60 yards. Booker carried the ball 14 times for 82 yards, Kennedy picked up 52 yards on 12 runs and Smith had 18 rushes for 47 yards. Booker added 38 yards receiving and Kibler tacked on 22 receiving.

"We get back to work on Monday and another league game at Binghamton on the road."

Corning visits the Patriots Friday night.

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IN PHOTO 1: Corning's Landen Burch. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.