Football Wrap-up

High school 

gridiron

teams surprise,

disappoint

By Ron P. Coderre

It was an action packed weekend for the local high school football teams with four schools seeing action.  There were some pleasant surprises and some disappointing moments.

Killingly and Plainfield were on the positive side of the ledger, as the Redmen rolled over a good Waterford team 54-22, while the Panthers came from behind to pick up a crucial road win over Montville 26-14.

The Quinebaug Pride, which was riding a two-game winning streak saw their victory hopes washed away when visiting Cheney Tech scored in the final one minute and 30 seconds of the game.  The touchdown secured a 16-9 victory for the visitors and dropped QVP to 2-1 on the season.  Woodstock lost another lopsided contest 42-6 at the hands of the Griswold Wolverines on the road.

Redmen Roll Behind Caffrey

Killingly High School hard charging running back Austin Caffrey led his teammates to an impressive 54-22 win over the visiting Waterford Lancers.  Caffrey did everything except clean the locker room as he was everywhere on the gridiron.

The fireplug (5-feet, 8-inch, 195-pound) running back/linebacker toted the pigskin 21 times for 259 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns.  Killingly jumped out to a convincing 16-6 first quarter advantage with Caffrey opening the scoring parade on an 18-yard touchdown scamper followed by a two-point conversion run.  He closed out the first half scoring for the Redmen with a 12-yard TD run and another two-point conversion.

The relentless Caffrey tallied again in the second half on a 23-yard run, giving him 28 points on the evening (three touchdowns and five two-point conversions).  In the first three games of the season Caffrey has already racked up 514 yards on the ground, putting him well on his way to a 1000-plus yard season.

Killingly quarterback Kyle Derosier also had a banner evening.  He was a near perfect 5-of-6 in the air for 113 yards and two aerial touchdowns.  He recorded scoring passes of 40 and 52 yards to sure-handed Vasileios Politis.  Politis’ two catches accounted for 92-yards of the Redmen offense. 

Sophomore running back Spencer Lockwood produced outstanding numbers in Caffrey’s shadow.  Lockwood registered touchdown runs of 31 and 1-yard.  He ran for 125 yards on 15 carries.

The victory improved Killingly to 2-1 overall and 2-1 in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Small Division.  Following their impressive showing against Waterford, the Redmen enjoy a bye week this week.

Plainfield Surprises In Comeback Win

Down 14-0 with time running out in the first half, Plainfield quarterback Marcus Robinson spurred the Panthers on to victory with a 45-yard touchdown toss to Tyler Ballard.  The score motivated Plainfield as coach Pat Smith’s charges went into intermission down by six points, 14-8, following Robinson’s two-point conversion run.  The late score propelled Plainfield to a stunning 26-14 win over Montville in a road contest.

The second half belonged to the Plainfield defense as they completely shut down the Montville offense, holding it scoreless.  Meanwhile, the Panther offense went to work scoring 18 unanswered second half points.

Robinson opened and closed the second half scoring.  Plainfield’s initial second half score came when the fast-improving Robinson hit receiver Isaiah Fort on an 11-yard aerial hookup.  Robinson, who was 11-16 in the air for 133 yards, scored on a one-yard sneak to close out the scoring.  Sandwiched between Robinson’s heroics was a 98-yard interception return by Ballard.

Ballard returned from a previous week performance where he was held to zero yards, by racking up 93 yards on 14 carries.  He also had five receptions for 93 yards.  Fort had 58 yards on four receptions.

Plainfield improves to 2-1 on the season and 2-1 in the ECC Small Division.  This week the Panthers entertain the visiting Windham Whippets in a 6:30 p.m. contest under the arcs.

Pride Drops Heart Breaker

The high-scoring Cheney Tech offensive football machine rolled into Putnam on Friday evening and was slowed considerably by the Quinebaug Valley Pride.  Despite a great job on defense, coach Joe Asermelly’s team dropped a 16-9 contest as Cheney Tech scored in the dying minutes of the game.

The Pride got a first period touchdown from Saige Louis.  The receiver was on the end of a 52-yard scoring pass from quarterback Chuck Innes.  Jeremee Perez booted the extra-point conversion.  The other Pride score came on a Logan Putnam fumble recovery in the end zone for a safety.

Perez hit the century mark on the ground, rushing for 101 yards on 19 carries.  Innes was 2-for-14 in the air for 66 yards and a touchdown.  Louis was on the receiving end of both Innes completions.

The loss drops the Pride to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the Constitution State Conference.  On Saturday, QVP travels to Wilcox Tech for a 6 p.m. game under the lights.

Griswold Bounces Woodstock Academy

Griswold bounced back from a disappointing loss to Windham by taking the measure of Woodstock Academy 42-6.  The Wolverines tallied 14 points in each of the first three periods to build up an insurmountable 42-0 lead.

Woodstock tallied late in the game when Cam Large caught a Tristen Menard pass that covered 20 yards.

The loss was the third successive defeat for the Centaurs who draw a bye this week.

 

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