2001 Chenango Forks Varsity Football

Article courtesy of the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin - Kevin Stevens 

Yellow-haired coach at Bath is concerned

The two will clash beginning at 1:30 Friday in the Carrier Dome, the Blue Devils seeking a 12th victory in as many outings, against an opponent that figures to stray infrequently from the power football that has it deeper into the state playoffs than any previous Section 5 Class B representative.

Bath has won its last two games by a combined three points. The Rams avenged a 25-0 loss to Hornell -- four-time defending Section 5 champ -- with a 14-13 win, and last week defeated Olean, 24-22.

"We're not real fast," Bath coach Wayne Carroll said. "Forks is very fast and that kind of worries us. We play in kind of a black-and-blue league."

Carroll is easily identifiable these days. He'll be the man on the sideline with the odd looking blond hair, his natural dark-brown locks dyed as result of that surprise slip past Hornell.

"[Hornell] was No. 2 in the state, they'd handled us pretty easily the first time around," Carroll said. "The kids said I'd have to do it if we got by them and I was like, 'Yeah, that sounds good, whatever.'

"Well, we beat them. And now, the hair is kind of yellow, actually, doesn't look very good."

To hear Carroll is to be convinced Bath is one of those happy-to-be-here squads. It is a team with a mere 10 seniors that had, back in the preseason, little or no notion to be preparing for a late-November contest.

"Our offense is not flashy, and if you see us you'd probably say we're kind of boring," Carroll said. "Our philosophy is to get 3 1/2 yards a carry, and Mark Robinson [a 5-foot-10, 190-pound junior back] is our 3 1/2-yards-a-carry guy.

"I've seen Forks and the way they run that option is very explosive. And I know their nose guard is an animal, their linebackers just fly, the quarterbacks are good, all the running backs are good. We may be going into a war with less ammunition."

 Picture text: Forks' defense has been a high point all season. Defensive back Drew Batty, left, celebrates a first-quarter interception with Matt Juriga as the official signals a good catch. Forks beat Cazenovia last Friday, 27-7.