Centaurs pg 1 9-19-19
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Woodstock Win
Woodstock Academy coach Sean Saucier and senior Luis Miranda embrace shortly after the Centaurs’ 31-27 win at Ledyard. Woodstock Academy receiver Nick Bedard hauls in a 40-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ethan Davis. Photos by Marc Allard.
Centaurs
open season
with big win
The final buzzer had just sounded.
The Woodstock Academy Centaurs football team was hooting and hollering, celebrating a 31-27 win over ECC mainstay, Ledyard, on the Colonels home field Sept. 13.
That was with the notable exception of one.
Woodstock Academy senior Luis Miranda was on his hands and knees in front of the Woodstock Academy sideline. Exhaustion was not his problem. Emotion was.
Woodstock Academy coach Sean Saucier came over, stood over him and told him twice, “We’re there.”
The Centaurs football program had arrived. Finally.
“Just thinking about it still gets me choked up,” Saucier said about that moment. “He’s been grinding for the last four years. He had some varsity time as a freshman and I took over when he was a sophomore. He was one of the ones I put out against Killingly as sophomores and was just praying no one got hurt.”
The work that Miranda and his fellow seniors put in at the weight room and the commitment and attitude that they have displayed has started to pay dividends.
“He was crying. I don’t think he believed it, but when it actually happened, it’s overwhelming,” Saucier said.
Miranda said it was a bit hard to fathom.
He had seen a program do a complete 180.
“We’ve had a lot of struggles as a team and in this offseason, it felt different. Working out since December with a lot of the guys through the spring and summer and then football camp with the whole team together, it felt different. The mood and attitude of the guys to prove that we’re back in the ECC and we’re a different team just felt great,” Miranda said.
Not only back. But also competitive.
It’s true; Ledyard had just two wins last season.
In the minds of those in the program, that matters little.
“It’s Ledyard. I grew up hearing about Ledyard and their legendary coaches over the years. There is a lot of respect for Ledyard football and to see Woodstock Academy on the winning end next to Ledyard, I don’t care what year it is, it’s a very special thing for the community,” Saucier said.
It was the first ECC victory for the Centaurs since Sept. 27, 2014, when they downed St. Bernard, 35-14.
It didn’t come easy. The Centaurs had always seemed to be one touchdown behind the Colonels. But they also always seemed to have an answer.
Ledyard scored on its first dive of the game.
After the Centaurs punted on their first possession, they forced Ledyard to do the same. It didn’t go so well.
A mishandled punt snap resulted in the Centaurs getting the ball at the Colonels 36-yard line.
Senior slash Nick Bedard went backwards 4 yards on an end around.
He quickly made up for that.
Sophomore quarterback Ethan Davis (14-for-20, 201 yards passing) found Bedard behind the defensive secondary and got him the ball for a 40-yard touchdown pass.
“He’s so fast, so athletic, that works for me,” Davis said of his receiver who finished with six catches for 114 yards.
Ledyard answered on its next possession to go up, 14-7, and the Centaurs had to survive two scary situations.
The first was a successful onside kick by the Colonels which gave them the ball on the Centaurs 48-yard line.
Ledyard went 1 yard in four plays.
The Centaurs took over on their own 47 and went only three plays before Davis made one of his few mistakes, Caden Foote stepped in front of one of his passes and Ledyard had the ball back on its own 37.
Again, the Centaurs’ defense stepped up and were able to get the ball on the ground where it was scooped up by Seth Libby.
On the next play, Saucier went for it.
He had Davis look for Bedard over the top again and the sophomore delivered a play that went 31 yards to the Ledyard 3-yard line.
Three plays later, Bedard went around the left side, but as he was about to cross the goal line, the ball popped from his hands, right into the waiting arms of teammate Trey Ayotte literally sitting in the end zone to tie the score thanks to a second extra point by first-year senior kicker Aidan Morin.
Ledyard was forced to punt again and the Centaurs began a march down the field.
Nine plays got them down to the Ledyard 25-yard line but time was running out and Davis had to throw. Jaiden Bickham was glad he did. The ball went right into the Ledyard defensive back’s hands at the Woodstock Academy 20-yard line.
In front of him was only green, no one wearing the blue-and-gold. Bickham scored on the pick-6 as time expired in the first half.
“We weren’t happy that we gave up the 80-yard interception but we knew that it wasn’t the end of the game. We knew that we had another half of football. We knew our defense was playing better and our offense was starting to click. We were getting some holes from the line and Ethan Davis was feeling more comfortable. I knew that we would produce. I just wanted to see it through,” Miranda said.
The Centaurs produced on the first drive of the second half. It didn’t start well.
Davis was sacked for a loss of 5 on the first play of the second half. He was then forced from the pocket and gained only a yard and to make matters worse, the Centaurs were then called for offside and were facing a third-and-19 on their own 12.
Davis hit Miranda for 21 yards.
Two runs and four passes later, junior Gavin Savoie (10 carries, 49 yards) scored from a yard out.
“I think that was the turning point, the key drive in the whole game,” Saucier said.
Bedard then picked Ledyard quarterback Brayden Grim and returned the ball to the Ledyard 15.
The Centaurs stalled at the 11-yard line.
Saucier gave Morin the chance.
He split the uprights with a field goal from 28-yards out.
“That was a game changer,” Saucier said.
Ledyard did forge ahead, 27-24, with 9:15 left.
It didn’t faze Davis.
He guided the Centaurs down the field and put the game away on a 13-yard pass play to Travis White.
It capped off a rather impressive debut for the young signal caller.
“I don’t think they needed much confidence in him,” Saucier said. “I think the way he conducts himself, the effort he puts in, and his consistency, he had the team’s respect in going in. What I love is that he makes mistakes and there is no nonsense, no getting down on himself, no self-absorbed pity. He just figures it out and moves on.”
The Centaurs now move on to Game 2.
They host Windham in their home opener at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 21 at the Bentley Athletic Complex.
“I think we can keep the momentum going. We did a good job in a lot of areas but there is always places to improve. We’re just going to rep it out in practice, improve on those things, and be an even better team,” Miranda said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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