caption, page 12:

Just Missed
The football just avoids the outstretched arms of Woodstock Academy receiver Luis Miranda Saturday against Capital Prep. Photo by Marc Allard




The Capital Prep Harbor Sharks were big.
They were also very athletic.
The one saving grace for the Woodstock Academy football team was that the Sharks were also undisciplined.
Capital Prep Harbor was whistled 16 times for 157 yards in penalties Oct. 20 at the Bentley Athletic Complex in Woodstock.
The Sharks were able to overcome the miscues, however, and scored a 34-19 win over the Centaurs.
Still, Woodstock Academy wasn’t complaining afterward.
When Capital Prep Harbor got off the bus, the size differential between the two teams was rather apparent.
Capital Prep featured a number of players who stood well over 6-feet and weighed north of 200, some even more than 300, pounds.
But the Centaurs were only down by a touchdown in the third quarter.
“We fought hard. They were very big compared to us, but we played with a lot of heart (Saturday) and really did give it our all,” said quarterback Nick Bedard.
The first half was more like most were expecting as the Sharks (3-2) built a 20-0 lead by the break.
The Centaurs drove the ball on their first possession, but missed a 37-yard field goal.
They were forced to punt on their next possession.
Capital Prep Harbor got the ball on its own 20 and marched downfield in 10 plays with quarterback Sahim Hason (15-for-19 passing, 250 yards) hitting Tyrese Wright with a 41-yard touchdown pass.
The Centaurs went down 12-0 after they fumbled on the first play from scrimmage on their own 29.
The Sharks hurt themselves with an offensive pass interference call and a holding penalty, but the drive forged on. Hason carted the ball in by himself, going 14 yards for the touchdown with 9:13 left in the half.
The Centaurs gave Capital Prep Harbor one more opportunity in the half.
They drove to the Sharks 39-yard line but turned the ball over on downs.
Helped by an unsportsmanlike penalty against the Centaurs on a 4th-and-13, Capital Prep made it a 20-point game on the final play of the half when Wright got his feet down just inside the pylon.
The Centaurs changed up looks in the second half.
Derek Thompson played the entire first half at quarterback, but it was Bedard who came on in the second half.
“To Derek’s credit, he helps me diagnose what (the defense) is doing and if he thinks Nick can be effective, he will be the first to tell me,” Centaurs coach Sean Saucier said.
 “That’s a testament to his character and the type of team guy that he has become. We all kind of work together to figure out what we can do that will work.”
Bedard and Thompson’s talents allow Saucier to show defenses something entirely different.
“Derek is more of a passing quarterback and I’m a read option quarterback. I do a lot more running than Derek. He has a better arm and is a lot more accurate. I’m faster than he is, but he’s way better in the air,” Bedard said.
The two did shift roles, however, in the third quarter.
After the Centaurs forced a Capital Prep punt, Bedard (6 carries, 47 yards) surprised the Sharks with his running ability and his 14-yard scamper drove the Centaurs to the Capital Prep 1-yard line.
Saucier called on Thompson to finish things off and the senior snuck into the end zone for the first Centaurs’ score.
On the first play following the kickoff, the Sharks coughed up the football and Blake Kollbeck recovered for the Centaurs.
Saucier then attempted a little chicanery that worked out pretty well.
A double reverse put the ball in receiver Caleb Feen’s hands.
But instead of continuing his journey to the left side, he stopped, turned and threw back to the right where Bedard was all alone and reeled in the 14-yard touchdown pass.
“It was a lot of fun and it put us back in the game. I kind of challenged the kids at halftime and they responded. They were fun to coach right to the very end,” Saucier said.
“Caleb Feen and I were talking about it all week. He was really nervous about it. We didn’t know if it would work, but it worked out perfectly and scored the touchdown. I thought we were going to have them then,” Bedard said.
Capital Prep had other thoughts.
The Sharks scored on the second play of the fourth quarter on a 24-yard run by Wright (4 carries, 40 yards).
 They added an insurance score following a Centaurs punt when Hason connected on a 45-yard pass play.
Thompson (10-for-17 passing, 80 yards) accounted for the final touchdown for the Centaurs when he hit Travis White with a 17-yard score with 15 seconds left
The loss dropped the Centaurs to 1-5 on the year.
“Our best days are ahead of us. That’s what I said (to his team) and I believe it. We have 3 ½ weeks left and we plan to make the most of it,” Saucier said.
The Centaurs have another home game at 1 p.m. Oct. 27 when they host Canton (0-6) of the Pequot Football Conference at the Bentley Athletic Complex.

Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

..