Football Wrap-up

Hyde School-

Woodstock 

wins historic 

gridiron

contest

By Ron P. Coderre

If you’re into history, as many people are, Hyde School-Woodstock was the place to be on Saturday, November 12, 2016.  The Hyde football field was the site of the final football game on the campus to be played by the Wolfpack.

Hyde School-Woodstock football, which has been in existence for 13 years all under the direction of coach Sean Saucier, will no longer be in existence.  The school announced recently that the property has been sold to Woodstock Academy.  Consequently it will close its doors in June, thereby effectively ending a program that as recently as 2014 won the New England Prep School Athletic Council Bowl Championship.  

The Wolfpack rewarded coach Saucier with a victory over its sister school Hyde School-Bath (Maine) in a game played on the Woodstock campus.

Killingly continued its march to the postseason by shutting out Fitch.  The Quinebaug Valley Pride won its second game of the season and Plainfield lost another one-point decision.

Hyde vs. Hyde

Hyde vs. Hyde may sound like an historic legal case but in essence it was an historic prep school football game.  The game, originally scheduled for Bath, Maine, was rescheduled for competition in Woodstock in recognition of the historic event between the sister schools.

Given the second chance at the home game, the Wolfpack took care of business for coach Saucier, giving him a going away present in the form of a 36-8 victory.  The team concludes its season with a 3-5 record.

Hyde School-Woodstock, obviously pumped for the contest, took care of business early in the game.  The Wolfpack scored all of its points in the first half, as the second half turned into a defensive battle.

Quarterback Jake Vasapolli, who was four-of-eight in the air for 179 yards and three touchdowns, got the offense rolling when he hit Teddy St. Louis on an 86-yard pass-run play for the first score of the game.

Before the first quarter ended Vasapolli connected again, this time with Ippokratis Georgiadis on a 12-yard hookup for a touchdown.  In the second stanza Jordan Knight brought a smile to the home fans when he returned a punt 62-yards for the third unanswered score of the game by the Wolfpack.

Prior to the end of the half, Vasapolli and St. Louis connected once again.  St. Louis’ second score of the game was a 57-yard pass-run aerial hookup.  Four-year performer halfback Marcus Greenridge closed out the home team’s scoring with a 62-yard run from scrimmage.  Jakob Robinson completed the scoring, converting four-of-five point-after-touchdown kicks.

For the history books, Greenridge had four carries for 69 yards and a touchdown and Sean Duffy totaled 35 yards on eight carries.  Vasapolli’s top receiver was St. Louis with two catches for 143 yards and two scores.

On a sad note, history was made on the Hyde School-Woodstock campus on a cool Saturday afternoon perfect for a prep school football game. The seal on the victory was the Gatorade shower poured over coach Saucier in celebration of the win and final game by Hyde on the Woodstock campus.

Killingly Rolls into Thanksgiving with Big Win

The Spencer Lockwood show rolled into Killingly on Friday and when all was said and done, the Redmen faithful walked away knowing they had gotten their money’s worth from the performance.  Thanks to Lockwood, Killingly easily wrapped up its eighth win of the season against only one defeat, steamrolling Fitch 51-10.

Lockwood raced for five touchdowns as he single handedly led the Redmen to the win.  He had 310 yards on 24 carries, giving him a season’s total of 1,703 yards.

The Redmen’s other score came from runningback Zach Caffrey who also scored a touchdown on the ground.

Killingly’s next opponent is the 2-7 Quinebaug Valley Pride in a 10:30 a.m. contest in Putnam on Thanksgiving morning. 

QVP Wins Second Game of Season

The Quinebaug Valley Pride, which is suffering through a long season, won its second game in three weeks, beating Wilcox Tech 33-0.  The win puts the Pride at 2-7 entering its Thanksgiving morning showdown with postseason-bound Killingly High School.

The Pride opened a 20-0 advantage at intermission and kept the visitors at bay for the second half.  QVP was led by Connor Monahan and Jacob Talbot who each scored a pair of touchdowns.  Monahan scored both his TDs on runs of 3 yards.  Talbot, a two-way performer, tallied on a 28-yard pass interception and a three yard run.  The other Pride score came on an 8-yard run by Will McGlynn.  The hard running McGlynn had 144 yards on the day on 20 carries.

Plainfield Suffers Another One-Point Loss

Plainfield, which was beaten earlier in the season 21-20 by Killingly, suffered another heart breaking one-point defeat when it was dropped by Waterford 10-9 on Senior Night.  The Panthers lone touchdown came on a five-yard pass from quarterback Marcus Robinson to Nick Burlingame.  Robinson also booted a 38-yard field goal prior to the half to account for the other three Plainfield points.

Devin McGale had a solid ground game for coach Pat Smith, rushing for 86 yards on 13 carries.  Robinson had 83 yards on the ground from his signal caller’s position.

The loss drops Plainfield to 5-4 on the year.  The Panthers now prepare for their final game of the season on Thanksgiving morning against archrival Griswold.  The contest is scheduled for 10 a.m. at Panther Stadium.

 

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