Guaranteed pg 1 11-7-19
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Senior Day
The Woodstock Academy football team and cheerleaders celebrated Senior Day on Saturday prior to a 44-0 win over Nonnewaug. Photo by Marc Allard.
Guaranteed
1st winning
season
A win over Stonington the week before gave the Woodstock Academy football team its most ever wins in a season.
A 44-0 win over Nonnewaug Nov. 2 meant the Centaurs reached another milestone.
“Now, we got a winning season under our belt, the first time in school history. It’s an unbelievable feeling. All the kids came out and worked hard on Senior Day and that was really big for us,” said senior receiver Nick Bedard.
The win raised the Centaurs record to 6-1 with three games left in the season.
The Chiefs came in with a 0-2 record and will play only four varsity football games this season, reserving the rest for a junior varsity schedule.
It was a situation that the Centaurs were all too familiar with in the not-so-distant past.
The difference being it was the Centaurs who used to be on the wrong side of the rout.
“At halftime, we talked about that,” said Woodstock Academy coach Sean Saucier. “We’ve been there. The kids understood that and understood how to treat a team with dignity when it’s lopsided. I was proud of them for that. They really got it, they understood.”
The one thing that Saucier knew the Centaurs had to do was to come out and strike early to take any upset potential out of the equation. Woodstock Academy had no problems delivering.
Although, the Centaurs were their own worst enemies early.
The first carry from scrimmage went 20 yards, but the ball popped out and Nonnewaug recovered on its own 35-yard line.
In three plays, the Chiefs lost 18 yards.
That forced a Nonnewaug punt and the Centaurs got the ball back on the Chiefs 47.
Two running plays netted 19 yards and senior Ian Welz (6 carries, 52 yards) took the third one into the end zone, only to turn around and see a penalty flag sitting on the ground about eight yards from the original line of scrimmage.
The holding call made things a little more difficult on the Centaurs but on 4th-and-10, quarterback Ethan Davis went 21 yards to the Nonnewaug 4-yard line.
Running back Gavin Savoie took it in to the end zone on the next play.
Nonnewaug again went backwards on its next possession but a decent punt backed the Centaurs up to their own 15.
A holding call cost the Centaurs 4 more yards.
But Davis (3-for-6, 90 yards) found Travis White over the middle for 9 yards to give the Centaurs a little breathing room.
Woodstock Academy then went to a relatively safe play, a little bubble pass to the right to Bedard.
“All year, we’ve been running that bubble play and we hadn’t broken one. Breaking it outside and then coming back inside with Luis (Miranda) blocking was unbelievable,” Bedard said.
Indeed, Berard got to the right sideline and cut it back inside, going all the way across to the field to the left side where he was greeted not only by Miranda but a phalanx of Centaurs who accompanied him the remainder of the 80 yards to the end zone.
Savoie would set up the final score of the first quarter for the Centaurs.
After a Nonnewaug fumble gave Woodstock Academy the ball on the Chiefs 27-yard line, Savoie ran it 26 yards, finishing just shy of the goal line.
The Centaurs could have easily run it, but instead, targeted another senior, Miranda, who caught the 1-yard pass for his first touchdown of the season.
Up 22-0, Saucier went to his bench.
Adam Schimmelpfennig plays a lot on the defensive side of the ball. Not as much on the offensive side. So, Saucier put the junior in at running back and he carried the ball for the first two plays of the second quarter.
The first went 16 yards; the second ate up the remainder of the distance to the Nonnewaug goal as he scored from 44 yards out to make it 28-0.
A safety added two points to the Centaurs’ total and a Trey Ayotte 5-yard run accounted for a 37-0 halftime lead.
Freshman Trevor Savoie finished off the scoring with a 60-yard gallop with 3:47 left in the game.
Before the game, Woodstock Academy did honor seniors Welz, Bedard, Aidan Morin, Dan Suitum, Miranda, Nick Bessette, Travis White, J.J. Bain, Seth Libby, Gavin Lanning and Zach Bertram.
The success that Woodstock Academy has experienced means it has a chance to win the ECC Div. II title.
Nov. 9 the Centaurs travel to Colchester to play Bacon Academy which owns a 5-2 overall record and a 2-1 Division II mark.
“This game was nice but going into Bacon Academy, we’re going to have to really step up. It’s going to be the biggest game of the season. We’re going to really have to crack down this week and face Bacon with everything we got,” Bedard said.
Should the Centaurs get past Bacon, they host Waterford on Nov. 16 which is currently 2-0 in the division and 6-1 overall, in what will likely be the title game.
The Centaurs are also in the hunt for a Class L state playoff berth. They need to get into the top eight — they are currently No. 12 in Class L.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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