{"id":107893,"date":"2025-10-29T18:28:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T22:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?p=107893"},"modified":"2025-11-01T09:48:24","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T13:48:24","slug":"the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ball Never Stopped; River Hawks Cross-Country runs the ball home, officiating homecoming activities"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Wendy Post —<\/p>\n

Although they ended up bowing to the Waverly Wolverines on Saturday in their divisional matchup, 14 Waverly and Owego 7, the lead-up to Homecoming Day for the Owego Free Academy River Hawks and the delivery of the ball to Friday\u2019s pep rally kept the spirits alive!<\/p>\n

With a new field of players and coaches who can gauge where they are moving forward, Spirit Week at Owego Free Academy and the activities leading up to it offered students camaraderie and also reignited some old ideas.<\/p>\n

For one sports team, cross-country, this year\u2019s homecoming took an absolute twist for them as they were able to relay the football from Waverly to Owego\u2019s pep rally on Friday, a total of about 25 miles, with a couple of added twists.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

Pictured, running the ball home, from left, are OA Cross-Country Team members Levi Saunders, Everett Benjamin, Jacob Preston (with the ball), Carolyn Schuyler, Ephraim Doty, and Coach John Heath (on his bike). (Photo by Ken Waterhouse)<\/p><\/div>\n

According to the team\u2019s coach, John Heath, the idea to \u201crun the ball home\u201d was sparked by a video he had watched about ten years ago, where another school did it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it looked like a pretty cool thing,\u201d said Heath.<\/p>\n

The problem, however, is that in previous years, the matchup for the homecoming game was too far a distance, like Norwich or Windsor. \u201cThis year,\u201d said Heath, \u201cwe lucked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The video that sparked Heath\u2019s interest resurfaced this year, and one of the team\u2019s seniors, Stella Palladino, spotted it and pointed it out to Heath.<\/p>\n

Almost simultaneously, they questioned, \u201cWaverly?\u201d<\/p>\n

Plans started almost immediately, with a safety plan drafted for a selected route, and then channeled through the approval process. Then, the promotion began.<\/p>\n

A video was created that included the captains from all the sports teams, building excitement surrounding Spirit Week and the culminating pep rally, tailgate, homecoming parade, and activities. The cross-country team concluded the video, rallying, \u201cWe\u2019re going to run this ball home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Played for students throughout the week, Heath said they \u201cwanted the student body to know about this and to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then Friday came, with 29 cross-country team members participating. It was 10:15 a.m. in Waverly when the ball began its travels, being passed on to other team members along the way in a relay fashion.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

Pictured running through town, from left, are OA Cross-Country seniors Magavin Allen, Javan Belokur (with the ball), Gavin Heath, and Ephraim Doty. (Photo by Ken Waterhouse)<\/p><\/div>\n

It wasn\u2019t over the river and through the woods, but in a sense,it was. The ball traveled down 17C from Waverly and made a pass down Old Barton Road for a river view run. That road had a bit of an incline, but nothing compared to the area known as Devil\u2019s Elbow, an area that, according to Heath, presented the largest challenge.<\/p>\n

The school\u2019s SRO, Owego Police Officer Jared Fiacco, followed the group along the entire route, ensuring safety.<\/p>\n

By the time the football reached Draper Park, and after a relay stop at the Owego Nazarene Church, and others, the pace slowed a bit so the team could enjoy the crowd that awaited them, cheering them on and taking in a bit of the spirit culminating for these Owego athletes and students.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe football never stopped,\u201d said Heath of the relay, noting that each leg of the run was anywhere from four to seven miles long.<\/p>\n

After slowing the pace and meandering through downtown Owego, the ball continued down North Avenue to George Street, where they met up again at Ice Cream Works for the final leg that would carry the ball to its final destination.<\/p>\n

Over at the school, the ball arrived right on time as the emcee, Tom Westcott, announced, \u201cWe have one more team!\u201d<\/p>\n

Arriving proudly at 1:30 p.m., and holding the football and carrying the rally\u2019s Spirit Stick, the team entered the rally, which was well underway.<\/p>\n

As for Coach Heath, who has been coaching for over 20 years, he smiled, knowing that the students who participated in the relay just built a memory that will last forever.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know when we will have this opportunity again, but I know we won\u2019t forget this one,\u201d said Heath.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

Saturday\u2019s Homecoming Parade turns the corner off George Street and onto Sheldon Guile Boulevard in Owego on Saturday, where activities were already taking place. (Photo by Ken Waterhouse)<\/p><\/div>\n

On Saturday, the spirit continued with the annual Homecoming Parade from the Owego Police Department to OFA, where a tailgate awaited. Also, a newer concept, activities were set up around the school\u2019s complex, engaging students and the community, and rounding out the celebrations leading up to Saturday\u2019s home game against Waverly.<\/p>\n

It was a close game and came right down to the end on Saturday, with the River Hawks in possession of the ball with 2:26 remaining, making it to around midfield with under 30 seconds to go. But Ben Shaw came up with a huge eight-yard sack on Owego quarterback Garrett Phelps, and a rushed play on fourth-and-18 was intercepted by Justin Koenig at the Waverly 46-yard line with three seconds to go to seal a hard-fought 14-7 division-clinching victory for the Wolverines, according to a full report of the game by The Morning Times and found at https:\/\/www.morning-times.com\/sports\/article_35820052-fb73-4d2e-845a-cbe9bba2ecb7.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Up next for the River Hawks is a game at Johnson City on Oct. 24, and a home game on Nov. 1 against Horseheads. That game is set for 1:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

As for the cross-country team, they participated in the Marathon Invitational on Saturday, one of the oldest in Section IV, with over 40 teams competing. OFA\u2019s Girls Varsity team placed second; the boys placed fourth.<\/p>\n

To learn more about River Hawks Athletics, visit https:\/\/www.oacsd.org\/page\/riverhawksathletics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To view videos from homecoming events and activities, visit The Owego Pennysaver<\/a> on Facebook.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Wendy Post — Although they ended up bowing to the Waverly Wolverines on Saturday in their divisional matchup, 14 Waverly and Owego 7, the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":107896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Ball Never Stopped; River Hawks Cross-Country runs the ball home, officiating homecoming activities - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Ball Never Stopped; River Hawks Cross-Country runs the ball home, officiating homecoming activities - Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Wendy Post — Although they ended up bowing to the Waverly Wolverines on Saturday in their divisional matchup, 14 Waverly and Owego 7, the...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-29T22:28:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-01T13:48:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/29182500\/Home3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/\",\"name\":\"The Ball Never Stopped; River Hawks Cross-Country runs the ball home, officiating homecoming activities - Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/29182500\/Home3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-29T22:28:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-01T13:48:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/29182500\/Home3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/29182500\/Home3.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"The Varsity and Modified Cross Country Teams from OA are pictured at Ice Cream Works on Friday, and as they prepare to deliver the ball down George Street and into the pep rally at the OFA complex that was underway. (Photo by Wendy Post)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Ball Never Stopped; River Hawks Cross-Country runs the ball home, officiating homecoming activities\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/\",\"name\":\"Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492\",\"name\":\"psadvert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"psadvert\"},\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/author\/psadvert\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Ball Never Stopped; River Hawks Cross-Country runs the ball home, officiating homecoming activities - Owego Pennysaver Press","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Ball Never Stopped; River Hawks Cross-Country runs the ball home, officiating homecoming activities - Owego Pennysaver Press","og_description":"By Wendy Post — Although they ended up bowing to the Waverly Wolverines on Saturday in their divisional matchup, 14 Waverly and Owego 7, the...","og_url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/","og_site_name":"Owego Pennysaver Press","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/","article_published_time":"2025-10-29T22:28:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-01T13:48:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":600,"url":"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/29182500\/Home3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"psadvert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"psadvert","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/","url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/","name":"The Ball Never Stopped; River Hawks Cross-Country runs the ball home, officiating homecoming activities - Owego Pennysaver Press","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/29182500\/Home3.jpg","datePublished":"2025-10-29T22:28:08+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-01T13:48:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/29182500\/Home3.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/29182500\/Home3.jpg","width":800,"height":600,"caption":"The Varsity and Modified Cross Country Teams from OA are pictured at Ice Cream Works on Friday, and as they prepare to deliver the ball down George Street and into the pep rally at the OFA complex that was underway. (Photo by Wendy Post)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/10\/29\/the-ball-never-stopped-river-hawks-cross-country-runs-the-ball-home-officiating-homecoming-activities\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Ball Never Stopped; River Hawks Cross-Country runs the ball home, officiating homecoming activities"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/","name":"Owego Pennysaver Press","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492","name":"psadvert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"psadvert"},"url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/author\/psadvert\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107893"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107898,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107893\/revisions\/107898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}