Football Wrap-up

Thanksgiving

Day games 

on the 

horizon

By Ron P. Coderre

The 2015 schoolboy football season is quickly coming to a conclusion as the local high schools prepare for traditional Thanksgiving Day contests that will put the cap on the season for all but one team, Killingly.  Killingly raised its record to 8-1 with a strong second half performance against Montville.

Killingly is readying for its Turkey Day Classic against the Quinebaug Valley Pride but the game is gravy on the turkey for Killingly, who have qualified for at least one more game.  The Redmen are solidly in the CIAC Class M playoff picture and may even have a shot at a home game.  The Pride also comes in on a high note following its victory over Platt Tech last week.

Meanwhile, Plainfield, which enters Thanksgiving on a down note with a three-game losing streak, faces the Griswold Wolverines, a team going in the opposite direction.  The Panthers lost to tournament-bound Ledyard last week.  Woodstock, which is also embroiled in a losing season, encounters a new opponent, Constitution State Conference tri-op Thames River on Turkey Day.  The 1-8 Centaurs lost last week to Fitch.

The preps, Pomfret School and Hyde-Woodstock , closed out their seasons, one with a victory and the other with a loss.  Hyde beat Hyde-Bath of Maine and Pomfret, without a victory this season lost to Westminster School. 

Killingly rolls into CIAC Postseason

Following a lethargic first half, in which they went to the locker room on top 14-0, the Killingly High School football machine came to life in the second half and rolled to a convincing 42-6 win over Montville.  The victory assured Killingly a spot in the CIAC Class M postseason playoffs.

Killingly used its vaunted duo of Spencer Lockwood and Austin Caffrey as they engaged the running game to precision.  In the third period Caffrey ran for three touchdowns.  His scores came on runs of nine, 25 and two yards.  On the evening he toted the pigskin 20 times for 153 yards.  In a spectacular senior season, Caffrey has 1,538 yards and 20 touchdowns in nine games.

The younger Lockwood, who is coming into his own more and more each game, registered touchdown runs of 6 and 25 yards.  He had 119 yards on 14 carries.  

Quarterback Kyle Derosier, although not relied on heavily because of the running game, was 4-for-6 and 76 yards with one touchdown pass to his credit.  The aerial came to Derosier’s favorite target Vasileios Politis on a 39-yard hookup.  In what is becoming the norm for Killingly, freshman placekicker Luke Desaulnier was a perfect six-for-six in point-after kicks.

The victory raises Killingly’s record to 8-1 on the season as they also battle for the championship of the Eastern Connecticut Conference Small Division with Windham and Griswold.  The only blemish on Killingly’s record this season is an opening contest loss to Griswold.

The final regular season contest for Killingly is on Thanksgiving Day morning in a 10:15 a.m. game at home when they entertain the Quinebaug Valley Pride.

Pride Shuts Out Platt

Quinebaug Valley Pride running back and spiritual leader Jeremee “Buddha” Perez made certain that the team’s long ride to Milford wasn’t for naught.  Rushing for 99 yards and scoring the Pride’s first two touchdowns, Perez led his mates to a productive 24-0 shutout of Platt Tech.  The 99 yards put Perez over the 1000-yard plateau with 1,001 yards in nine games.

Perez had plenty of help on this day as Kyle Loomis broke the 100-yard mark, rushing for 119 yards on 13 carries and one touchdown.  The Pride’s premier receiver Saige Louis caught his seventh touchdown of the season on a 43-yard pass run play from quarterback Chuckin’ Charlie Innes, who was 5-7 in the air for 112 yards.

The victory assures the Pride of coach Joe Asermelly of a winning season as the team notched its sixth win against three losses.  The final game of the season is Thanksgiving Day morning in Killingly against the highly motivated Redmen. 

Woodstock Loses to Fitch

Woodstock Academy football fell to 1-8 on the season following a 56-23 loss at the hands of the Fitch Falcons in Groton.  The Acads fell behind 42-7 at halftime and watched as Fitch scored 14 more points to open the third quarter.

The Centaurs did manage 16 points in the last period thanks to touchdowns from Tristan Menard and Kameron Janice, who also had the first half touchdown for Woodstock.  Menard and Cahan Quinn had point-after runs and Alden Brennan registered a point-after kick.

Woodstock closes out its season at home on Thanksgiving Day morning when it hosts visiting Thames River tri-op in a 10:30 a.m. contest.

Plainfield Falls to Ledyard

Plainfield High School, still reeling following its forfeit loss to Waterford in week six of the season, fell 35-7 to a Ledyard team determined not to take the Panthers lightly.  The Panthers took a first period 7-6 lead on a Marcus Robinson 22-yard run but then the wheels came off as the Colonels scored 29 unanswered points.

The loss drops Plainfield to 3-6 on the season.  The final game of the season for the Panthers is Thanksgiving Day morning at 10 a.m. when they travel to Griswold for the traditional Turkey Day encounter with the red hot Wolverines.  

Hyde-Woodstock Beats Sister School

Hyde-Woodstock wasn’t very cordial to its sister school Hyde-Bath, scoring 44 points in a 44-26 victory.  After losing four consecutive games the Wolfpack was finally able to mount a winning offense behind running back Jordan Burney who had 196 yards on 21 carries.

Burney had four touchdowns on the afternoon on runs of 4, 1, 1, and 63 yards.  Thanks to Burney’s two first half scores the teams went into intermission with H-W on top of H-B 16-12.  Reese Norton, who had a great overall game, opened the second half scoring on a 1-yard quarterback sneak.  In the final period he iced the game for the Wolfpack when he connected on a scoring pass of 56-yards with Daylen Wiggins.

The victory closes the season for Hyde-Woodstock at 3-4.

Westminster Rings Pomfret’s Bell

The Pomfret School football program, which is on a precarious perch, lost its final game of the season to Westminster School 27-15.  The defeat closed the books on the Golden Griffin’s season at 0-8.

Westminster came to town and quickly asserted itself, scoring all 27 of its points before Pomfret was able to get on the score board.  The Griffs managed to score two touchdowns in the second half.  The first came on a Thos Kuffour 10-yard run and the second on a 25-yard H.P. Wackerman pass to Andrew Brown.

 

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