Football Roundup

Start of high 

school 

football 

signals end 

of summer

By Ron P. Coderre

The beginning of the high school football season has suddenly arrived and with it the unofficial end to summer is also here.  Although the fall season doesn’t begin for another couple weeks, it seems that when footballs fill the air, the air gets a signal that it’s time to give way from the hot and hazy to the dry and refreshing.

It’s amazing how this apparently occurs every year at this time of the year.  It’s quite a coincidence – football and autumn.

The Friday Night lights were bright in Killingly, Plainfield and Putnam as the Redmen, Panthers and Pride kicked off the 2015 season.  The Woodstock Academy Centaurs delayed their start, traveling to Colchester for an Eastern Connecticut Conference game with Bacon Academy on Saturday afternoon.

 The Panthers and Pride gave their fans something to cheer about as they emerged victorious, Plainfield beating Fitch 27-20 and Pride taking advantage of visiting Bassick’s numerous mistakes 20-14.

Killingly, which had preseason hopes of finally producing a winning record, stumbled at home where the Redmen lost to Griswold 27-22.  Woodstock Academy, which is starving for a victory lost to Bacon Academy in a lopsided contest.

Too Much Yeaton for Killingly

Brandon Yeaton is a name that Killingly football coach Chad Neal and his players will remember for a long time.  In fact, it’s a name they probably wish they’d never heard.

Yeaton, a senior running back at Griswold High School, led the Wolverines to an impressive road victory with a four-touchdown performance.  He opened the scoring in spectacular fashion when he took a kickoff 86 yards for the opening score of the contest.  One that would set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Killingly rebounded from the shock by tallying 15 consecutive points to take a 15-7 advantage into the locker room at intermission.  The Redmen’s scores came on a 1-yard bolt by quad-captain Austin Caffery, a safety and a 3-yard run by quarterback Kyle Derosier.  At the half Killingly had a total of 165 yards on offense as compared to only 25 for the visiting Wolverines.

The second half was more Yeaton as the slippery running back scored on scampers of 18, 2 and 4 yards.  He finished the evening with six rushes for 35 yards.

Caffrey paced the Killingly offense with 142 yards on 26 carries, while signal caller Derosier was 4-for-11 through the air for 39 yards.  The Redmen begin the season at 0-1 in the ECC – Division II competition. Next week Killingly faces another early season test when it travels to Plainfield for a 6:30 p.m. contest against the Panthers.

Panthers Ditch Fitch at Home

In Plainfield it was the Tyler Ballard and Marcus Robinson show as the Panthers disposed of visiting Robert E. Fitch High School of Groton 27-20.  Ballard had a banner evening, scoring three touchdowns and a two-point conversion.

Ballard had a two-yard touchdown burst, a 14-yard TD reception from Robinson and finished his evening with a 49-yard scamper to paydirt.  He toted the pigskin 24 times for 234 yards and had two receptions for 15-yards.

Robinson meanwhile, was 4-for-12 in the air for 32-yards and the touchdown pass to Ballard.  He also opened the Plainfield scoring with a 3-yard TD tally on the ground.  Cameron Gonzales made a key leaping interception toward the end of the game to stop a Fitch drive.  He also contributed 58 yards on the ground on seven carries.

Plainfield opens at 1-0 as it readies for Killingly on Friday.

Pride Takes Advantage of Bassick Miscues

The Quinebaug Valley Pride football squad, composed of players from Putnam, Ellis Tech and Tourtellotte opened the season on a winning note besting visiting Bassick High School from Bridgeport 20-14.  The game was played under the lights in Putnam at the St. Marie-Greenhalgh Sports Complex and matched two Constitution State Conference opponents.

The key to the Pride victory was capitalizing on seven turnovers by the Lions offense.  The visitors from Bridgeport were guilty of relinquishing the pigskin twice on fumbles and five times on pass interceptions.  

Sam Getchel enjoyed a stellar evening on defense for the Pride as he picked off a pair of Lions passes.  The speedy Getchel ran one of his picks back for a touchdown.  In addition to Getchel’s score, the Pride had touchdowns from Jeremee Perez (6-yard run) and Sebastian Ruiz (8-yard run).  Receiver Kyle Loomis had five receptions for 55 yards. 

The Pride opens at 1-0 as it prepares for a 1:30 p.m. encounter against Woodstock Academy on Saturday .

Woodstock Woes Continue

The struggling Woodstock Academy football program continued to run into difficulty as the Centaurs lost to Bacon Academy 47-6 in a one-sided contest.  The best that the Acads could do was to score on the final play of the game, when freshman Cam Large caught a 15-yard scoring pass from Jared Bouten.  The play ended the game and there was no attempt for a conversion.

Woodstock starts the season at 0-1 as it prepares to host Quinebaug Valley Pride on Saturday.