NV Varsity Football at Owego

The Newark Valley Cardinals Varsity football team travelled down route 38 to take on the hosting Owego Indians in a little localized rivalry.  Valley was coming off of a tough loss to Chenango Forks the previous week and were looking to avenge that loss.  Owego was celebrating it's homecoming, had the home field advantage, and this was a "Friday Night Under The Lights!" affair.  The Indians were equally stoked for the matchup.  The first half of this game was a really good one too!  Both teams scored a couple of times and both teams held the lead for a while as well.  Going into the half Owego was clinging onto a single point lead of 13-12.  This was shaping up to be a pretty good game.

Owego had demonstrated early on that they had a passing game and they weren't hesitant to use it to their advantage.  The Cardinals are loaded with pretty solid runners and with the line providing some good blocking Valley opted to stick with more of a ground and pound game.  Owego's aerial assault was surprisingly efficient on a couple of instances where sheer speed of execution was key. The ball would get snapped and the #21 at QB, Patrick Bilbrey, would just as quickly offload it to one of a couple of different receivers that he had at his disposal.  The shorter, screen type plays seemed to work best for Owego although they did strike paydirt on a couple of longer strikes.  One receiving weapon in particular was the #5 sophomore of Will Gladney.  Keep an eye on him folks - he made a couple of one handed grabs that were really (really) something else - he's a good ball player.  The Indians also had a deceptively speedy and quick back wearing jersey #40 of Stavion Canavan.  This kid looks kind of like a beefcake (stocky) - but he moves like a cheetah.  He was fun to watch and was also a contributor to the success that Owego had on the field.

On the Valley side of the ball - it was turning out to be a night of single digit assassins.  <grin>  The Cardinals captain of the ship, #5 Vinnie Darpino burned the Indians badly on a couple of terrific runs that resulted in TD's.   In special teams play #8 Christian Chase was quickly becoming "the man!" on kick off and/or punt run backs as he repeatedly put the Cardinals into good field position.  Chase also had an interception on the night.  David Crow wearing his #7 also had a big night with some solid yardage gained on a couple of really good runs.  Crow also swung the hammer that drove the very last nail into the coffin for Owego late in the game with a huge interception that sealed the deal on this one. 

I would be remiss not to mention the tandem of Dexter Hamilton and Nick Schermerhorn who both had a huge game.  Sporting the #'s 22 and 20 respectively they didn't work in to my "single digit assassins" motif.  I'll let you guys come up with a nick name for them ...  the "doomsday duo"?  :)  In any case - the Cardinals headed back home with a 33-13 win!

Valley moves onto a 4-2 record for the season now and will be continuing with the road show (?!) going out to Spencer Van Etten for yet another Friday Night Under The Lights game.

I'm hoping to have all of the keepers from this one up to the galleries by sometime this evening (Saturday, 11 Oct. '14).  I'm about half way through the batch now.. 

***** GO VALLEY!!!!!  *****

NV Varsity Football @Chenango Forks

Valley's Varsity Cardinals knew they were going to face a tough competitor today when they traveled out to the home of the Chenango Forks Blue Devils.  Forks is a long time, well established powerhouse in Section IV football around here.  They are multiple times state champions and, in short, they know football and they play it very very well.

Forks senior Ryan Bronson is a beast.  The Cardinals had their hands full today with the Blue Devils | Click the photo to view it larger

Forks won the coin toss but deferred and allowed Valley to have first possession of the ball.  This opening Cardinal drive didn't amount to much and the ball was punted away to the home team.  In short order it looked as though the Blue Devils offensive line was able to create lanes and get the run game going - they scored.  Newark Valley got another crack at it and again were shutdown.  Rinse and repeat - this Forks team was living up to the reputation that Forks teams have a history of - they're very good.

Towards the end of the 2nd half though, the Cardinals discovered - either by design, or by chance - that if they played an up tempo game and went no huddle, or very short and quick huddles, that they could, and did, have some success in moving the ball.  Unfortunately they discovered this to late in the half and the clock ran out on them.  But -- this was something to take with them into the break,

Readers digest:  Forks players are pretty good sized (not huge - but big enough), definitely fast, and they are obviously well drilled on their particular skillset (defensive players, offensive players, linemen, running backs, etc ... ).  When these players with these attributes are all on the same page and clicking, it makes for a pretty impressive display of prowess on the field.  Translation - they just overpowered the visiting Cardinals.

Darpino took charge of this game for the Cardinals and demonstrated why he is the team captain | Click the photo to view it larger

Valley didn't seem to be firing on all cylinders though like they have been for the past couple of weeks.  Team captain and QB, Vinnie Darpino had a big game.  He stepped up in a big way and took over at the helm of a badly listing ship and did everything that needed to be done to get something going for the Cardinals.  Returning to that up tempo offensive, Cardinal wide receiver Blake Novi threw an excellent block at one point in the game while Darpino was running the ball that allowed for a good gain in yards.  Darpino did eventually get into the end zone to put six on the board the the Cardinals.  Colemans kick for the PAT was good making it seven.  These would be the only points allowed for Valley though.

So while CF was firing on all eight cylinders, Valley appeared to be firing on only six or seven ...   hard to say.  The Cardinals will need to lick their wounds and re-group this week as once again they go on the road and take on Owego.  Newark Valley moves onto a 3-2 record now on the season.

All photo's (keepers) from this game are now posted out to the galleries.

*****  Go Valley!!!  *****

NV Pee Wee Football vs Apalachin

Tough day in Cardinal-ville ... 

Well ....  the visiting Raiders did just that.  They raided the birdcage and went back home with 3 W's on the day.  Tough one for the home team crowd.  The little ones (C's - 7 & 8 yr olds) played their opponents pretty tough in the 1st half but kind of ran out of steam in the 2nd.  The B's ...  :(  they kinda-sorta ...  well - no good way to put it - they got killed.  The 11&12 yr old A's - God bless 'em. They are seriously under manned with only 13 or 14 players in total on the entire team so you know what that means - these kids are playing, almost non-stop, both offense AND defense.  The visiting Raiders by contrast are HUGE both in physical size, and in numbers - they must have had easily 30+ players on their side of the field.  They are also the #1 ranked team in the state at present for the age division.

Anyway -- congrats are in order to the visiting Apalachin Raiders.  I have to score some dinner for myself but figured I'd get this out real quick with a couple of grabs from each of the three games.  All of the keepers will be going up to the galleries over the next day or so.  Click on any of the images to view them larger.

Spotted at Upper Lisle

...  on my way home from work today.  I happened to have the "Deer Repellent"* on me and spotted this guy in the water coming across the bridge.  I went looking for him and got lucky.  :)  I could have gotten in 'closer' to him had I had my D300 crop body with me, but I didn't.  These were grabbed with the D700, 70-200mm + 1.7x converter which is equal to roughly 340mm.  Click the photo's to view them larger.

* My big camera with big lens - seems that everytime I have it with me kinda hoping to catch a good shot of Bambi and/or one of her cousins ...  nadda.  Conversely when I don't have a camera with me, or if I have the little fuji with short lenses ...  then I see herds of the damned deer.  Thus - "Deer Repellent"

NV Varsity Football - vs Tioga

Whoo hoo!  It's Football Season!!  | Click the photo to view it larger

...  and the HS Football season is underway!!  Valley's Varsity Squad hosted cross county rival Tioga today at the Birdcage and ... lost.  Had the game ended at halftime ... the Cardinals would have won - but as everyone knows games don't end at the half.

Valley lost the coin toss but got first crack at offense as Tioga opted to defer its winning possession till after the half.  This would prove to be a premonition in hindsight - but back to present tense. Valley senior, team captain and QB, Vinnie Darpino wasted zero time with the opportunity and immediately electrified a well attended home opener and got everyone in the house cheering when he zigged and zagged his way through Tioga's D on the very first play of the game and grabbed a real quick 6 points.  The PAT was no go -- with less than a minute into this one the Cardinals were up 6-0.

Valley's Darpino got loose on the opening play and put Valley up on the board early | Click the photo to view it larger

The home side of the crowd was stoked with the early score  | Click the photo to view it larger

( I'm rusty having not followed any football to this point in the year -- I'll have to get back into practice of keeping track of the game so from here on out ..  pretty much just synopsis and opinion. )

Tioga Tigers Jesse Manuel runs the ball during the Tigers victory over hosting Newark Valley | Click the photo to view it larger

Tioga really hurt themselves pretty badly on their opening possession with nervous twitches on the line that kept drawing false start flags ...  they literally went backwards by about 25 - maybe even 30 yards.  Ouch.  Mistakes and inconsistent play would hamper the Tigers throughout the half and the hosting Cardinals would capitalize on this.  Early in the 2nd quarter Tioga ( I'm thinking the #7 of Jesse Manuel ) found the end zone and tied it up 6 all.  The PAT was no go.  Headed into the half and with time running down on the clock, Valley was driving and senior Blake Novi wound up with the ball.  I don't think he got in - I think he came up just a yard or so short (?) - but anyway - Valley did score one more time taking it to a 12-6 lead going into the half.  PAT was no go - this was not a day for field goal kickers ...

Valley senior Blake Novi dives for the end zone in a scoring drive for Valley | Click the photo to view it larger

...  until the start of the 2nd half.  As mentioned earlier - Tioga won the coin toss but deferred on the opening possession until the 2nd half.  Less than 2 minutes into the 3rd they scored paydirt AND did convert on the PAT.  Tioga went up 13-12 and would never look back.  Tioga's game really opened up in the 2nd half of this one and they simply out played the hosting Cardinals.  They demonstrated a depth at running backs with a burly senior #3 Brad Jump, and the aforementioned #7 of Manuel.  Thier O line created lanes that these two exploited on a number of times.  The tigers QB, senior #2 Sam Burn - well - he burned the Cardinals on a few plays as well.

Tioga senior and QB, Sam Burn and the rest of the Tiger's team really came to life and played well in the 2nd half  | Click the photo to view it larger

This was a game of tides ...  the Newark Valley Cardinals rode the tide in the first half, the visiting Tioga Tigers rode it for the 2nd half.  They rolled too winning this one going away 25-12 in the end.  Congrats to the Tigers on their season opening win in, what can be a tough place to win in, Valley's Birdcage.  Hopefully NV will grow and learn from this tough loss and use the experience and knowledge gained as they stay home and host Elmira Notre Dame next week.

There is a full gallery of game day photo's available at the galleries right here.

*****  GO VALLEY!!!  *****

WNYOA Rd. 10 - Thunder Ridge

OK ...

So some of you know that I come from the cycling world - as in road cycling.  ( bicycles )  Every couple of years we as mere mortals get to see Olympic athletes who are at the peak of their respective sports perform on the boob tube.  One of those summer sports is obviously cycling.  I'm sure many of you have seen cycling on the velodrome - most likely on TV - but some of you may have actually seen actual velodrome cycling in person too as there is a world class facility in Trexlertown, Pa.  I've ridden that velodrome myself - never competed or raced there - but I have ridden it.  Where, you might ask am I going with this?  Bear with me if you will...

Steiner and Scutt grabbed the 1st, and hopefully last, unknown start style holeshot  |  Click the photo to view it larger

One of the velodrome events that they have is called "The Unknown Distance Race".  Ummm - yep - it means exactly what it says.  The race might be 10 laps, or it could be 100.  The race officials, via sponsorship, throw in prize laps (primes as they are called) to spice up the race - ie: a bell rings and an announcement is made - "The winner of the next lap pockets $50.00 cash... !!!".  This keeps things interesting and makes for some strategy as obviously the winner of the overall event takes home the biggest prize.  But not knowing when the race ends ...  do you kill yourself for the $50.00 and hope they don't ring the bell (white flag) now that you're toast?  See - makes it interesting.  :)

Thunder Ridge decided to invent the "Unknown Start" today for the big bikes.  Yeah - that definitely added some spice to many a spectator up at the top of the hill, and from what I heard even several of the racers and sweepers.  We're all hanging out, just talking and shootin' the breeze when all of a sudden ( BRAAAAAP!!!! ) here comes the frickin' AA line ripping up the hill at, like, a kabillion mph!!  Holy crap!!  Everyone is bailin' and backing off and trying to get outta the way ...    yikes!!

---

Umm -- promoters for events 11-15 - please don't do that again.  We, as spectators and shooters - we're boring - we'd just assume know exactly when the race is going to start, thank you very much.

---

Maryott fought hard for this one and it was evident that he was stoked about it at the end as he was pumping his fists celebrating his win as he came through scoring taking the checkered flag  |  Click the photo to view it larger

So -- seen above,  Marcus Scutt and Jim Steiner Jr., these two grabbed a couple of good hands full of throttle and fed the rest of the AA line their roosts!  Scutt ran out of gas (literally) and didn't have quite the finish he was hoping for.  I'm not sure how Steiner made out.  There was a heck of a race happening between the two big dogs that were present today though with Bouwens and Maryott going at it.  Bouwens had the early lead, only to lose it to Maryott who established a pretty good gap for a while.  "The Bat" fought hard and closed the gap and was knocking right on his targets tailpipe through the closing lap.  Maryott demonstrated why he is running the #1 plate for the series at present as he successfully held of the hard charging Bouwens for the win.

Ben "Batman" Bouwens could only look on as he came home in 2nd  |  Click the photo to view it larger

The Big Quads - oh boy!!  They are - well - they're the Big Quads.  The start for them was (fortunately) very well telegraphed by the starters and race staff - no surprises in that department.  The racers themselves ... c'mon.  Those of you who attend these races already know - they create their own brand of excitement and this start was not to disappoint!  There was some wild and crazy goings on and a couple of "interesting" line choices made.  A couple of crashes but fortunately no serious injuries (that I'm aware of).

The Big Quads start - yep - it was a wild one at times!!  :)  Whoo hoo!!  |  Click the photo to view it larger

There will be many pics from the event getting posted up to the galleries and facebook over the next couple of days - standby!!

-=- jd -=-

A Couple of Grabs From The Thater Crit

Click the photo to view it larger

I had to go into the Binghamton for something anyway - drop off a dead phone that needs to go in for replacement, and pick up a couple of Monster drinks that I had accidently left in the fridge from earlier in the week.  That was, of course, the most important reason for going there ....  <grin>

Click the photo to view it larger

The Chris Thater bike races were also happening downtown.  I used to race bikes in a former incarnation of myself - a skinnier me.  I stopped doing that though quite a few years ago - it's very hard and I'm very lazy.  I was lazy back then too, but I had pain in the ass teammates who would drag me out and "make me" go riding / training.  I'm glad I did though - they were all a bunch of good guys.  So anyway - I knew the races were happening so I grabbed a camera and a couple of lenses and decided to take them with me.

The weather sucked.  This made me even more happy that I was no longer riding...  I used to hate racing in the rain.  I spent the better part of an afternoon at A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital up in Oneonta, N.Y. one time as a result of racing in the rain.  I only stuck around for a little while as, again, the weather was not all that great, and I wanted to get back home to get my gear ready for my current favorite sport - the WNYOA Harescrambles races up near Norwich tomorrow at Thunder Ridge.

So -- here are a couple of grabs from the race action that I did stick around to see, and there is a small gallery of 40-some-odd keepers there too - the link to those is here.

This chick is supposed to be some kind of badass from what my friend Mike told me.  I guess she did the womens version of the Tour De France earlier this year and has won a boatload of big races.  The race always calls up all of the top contenders and introduces them to the crowd. | Click the photo to view it larger

The Pro Womens field about to start | Click to photo to view it larger

WNYOA / Round #9

AA / Pro class speedster Nick Davis won the premier event of the day on the bikes.  Ben Bouwens grabbed the holeshot but could not hold off the #87.

...  been a while since I've updated my blog.  My bad - I need to be better and more pro-active about it but, frankly, I spend more time in social media - namely facebook - posting there.  I get damn near real-time feedback from there.  This is easier though when cross posting to multiple groups - I only have to upload the article and pictures once and then reference the link back to here.  I gotta get back into that practice.

+++ ANYWAY +++ 

There was a race today!!  Round #9 was held today out at the Tall Pines ATV Park way (way) out in God's Country in the hills above Andover, N.Y..  I had decided the night before that I probably wasn't going to make it out there for the early morning youth races - I would have had to get up at the crack of dawn in order to make it on time.  Based on the weather conditions - kinda glad I didn't.  The place was socked in with fog and an on and off again drizzle ..  that only got worse as the day wore on.

Race promoter Scottie Rich was all over the place today.  He gets around pretty good for being (as he told me when asked "How you doing?") ".. all broken up."  Also when asked ".. you gonna be back for the winter series?" he looked at me with a "Damned straight... " kinda look and answer.  Winter series racers - you've been warned.  ;)

Now this was different, and pretty darned cool too.  Brian Robarge laid down a little "Hendrix'ish" action playing the National Anthem prior to the start of the Big Bikes!  How cool was that?!  :)

Big Bikes - you guys win today!!  Last week, due to having to work I was only able to shoot the Big Quads.  This week, due to being a wuss, I only stuck around for the Big Bikes.  I went back to my car shortly after the bikes race was over for some chow, change batteries, dry gear off, etc ...  while eating the steady rain that had been falling all day long got "steadier" - and harder.  It didn't take a lot of convincing myself that I'd had enough.  I'd had fun mind you, and (I think) I got some decent grabs on the day - but I was NOT going to go back out  there to shoot the lunatics, 'er I mean, Quads.  Nahh .. sorry guys and gals.  Not today.  To wet, to sloppy, to much electronics on me.

While "The Bat" Ben Bouwens, grabbed the holeshot, it was the 87 lurking just to the left in the orange and blue of Nick Davis who took the win.  Bouwens would hang on for 2nd on the day.

Here are a couple to get us started - there will in all likelihood be pics getting to the WNYOA pages on facebook in the coming days too.

The Red Brick Church in Berkshire, NY

Click to view larger

I live next to a church that sits right on the corner of Route 38 and Glen Rd here in Berkshire, N.Y.  It's a pretty neat looking old building.  I have no idea how long it has been around for - I'm guessing a while anyway.  Admittedly, I don't spend much time in churches - most of my Sunday's are at races or football games. I did happen to pop into this particular church a year or two ago - they were having a bake sale, or maybe a blood drive?  I don't know - I forget now - but I had to physically go inside of the place.  Once in I happened to get a peak of the main room where the pews and stuff are.  I decided right then and there that I had to speak with the "Padre", as I call him, and see if I could get permission to shoot the interior of his church 'cause it looked pretty cool in there.  :)  ( I'm guessing maybe he's a "Minister"?  It's not a Catholic church -- I dunno what kind it is -- but I like Clint Eastwood's use of Padre from some of his old westerns ... <grin>  )

The Padre' here at this church - he's a pretty cool and interesting guy whom I have met on more than a few occasions locally and he was more than willing to hear me out.  We agreed that I should just keep in touch and let him know if /when we wanted to see if we could do this.  That was late last summer.  This past Thursday morning I happened to notice that the (now low and early rising sun) was basking the church once again as seen in the top photo.  It was time to speak with the Padre' ...

My thinking is that the church, being situated and facing more or less to the east, early morning sunlight would be best.  I'd hoped to catch the stained glass windows getting illuminated via mr. sun and the interior in general taking on a nice "glow".

Click to view the photo larger | Click here to view it really large (3600px)

I'll be adding more photo's to this post over the next few days ..  I wound up bracketing and doing some HDR as it was pretty dark in there.  We turned up a couple of the lights but that just killed the atmosphere that I wanted / was looking for so - tripod, cable release and slow'ish shutter speeds were the order of the day.

This was a learning experience ...  wouldn't mind trying a do-over.  | Click the photo to view it larger | Click here to view it really large (3600px)

Last ones ...

Click the photo to view it larger

Click the photo to view it larger | Click here to view it really large (3600px)

WNYOA Round 5 / Greek Peak

Click to view the photo larger

Round 5 is in the books.  Mother nature was NOT kind to us for the majority of the week leading up to the event itself.  Only on actual race day did she finally relinquish the wet and miserable grip that she had been stubbornly clinging to and let mr. sun come out.  This was, unfortunately too little, too late.  Conditions were wet.  Not terribly wet - trust me - WNYOA has seen, and raced in, far worse - BUT had we had just one or two straight days of dry weather ....  {sigh}  "Woulda, coulda, shoulda ... "  But as many in the race family say, "... it's a hare scramble, deal with it".

And so we did.  :)

Click to view the photo larger

Click to view the photo larger

Click to view the photo larger

Click to view the photo larger

Click to view the photo larger

Click to view the photo larger

Click to view the photo larger

Click to view the photo larger

This is just a quickie post to get out some random "faces in the crowd" candid type stuff that I like to do from time to time.  The shot of Bobby J. with trash in his hand is one that he actually asked me to take.

<EHEM>  People - NOT COOL.  You want to keep having good venues to race at?  Quit leaving your shit trash all over the place!! </EHEM>

I deployed mr. remote for both the big bikes AND even the quads.  Yeah -- thats a major trust thing right there ...  lol!  I wound up shooting a LOT of images -- gonna take a while to go through all of them and weed out the bad ones, make first round picks, and then whittle that down to keepers that will wind up getting posted up to the galleries.

Anyway ...  enjoy!

-=- jd -=-