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Lopsided wins
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Thanksgiving
By Ron P. Coderre
Jack Cochran, the former New London High School football coach, wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity of Putnam, Griswold or Woodstock on Thanksgiving morning but it’s a sure bet that his name was tossed around frequently at all three locations.
Cochran, for those who don’t know, has the now famous in Connecticut “Cochran Rule” named after him. When he was a coach, his teams were so powerful that they often overwhelmed opponents by more than 50 points. Ergo, the reason for the “Cochran Rule.” Now high school football coaches must constantly be watching the scoreboard for fear of violating the “Cochran Rule” and suffering the consequences, a one-game suspension from practice and game.
On Turkey Day, all three contests had coaches watching the numbers and who they had on the field as the trio of local contests might be classified as “blowouts.”
Killingly 50 – Quinebaug Valley Pride 7
In a game that opened with Putnam, (Oops I still can’t get accustomed to Quinebaug Pride) The Pride taking the opening kickoff and driving the ball down the field for a score, the end result was much different than the opening scenario.
Following a 7-yard run by John Sanderson of The Pride, the Killingly Redmen of coach Chad Neal proved that the competition in the Eastern Connecticut Conference is much tougher than in the CSC, by running off 50 consecutive points.
Leading 37-7 at intermission Killingly outscored the hosts 13-0 in the second half for the final margin. Isaiah Moone (touchdown runs of 9 and 16 yards) and Nick Hewitt with touchdown receptions of 46 and 32 yards, left no doubt in the minds of those in attendance who was the superior team. Quarterback Dezmond Kennawi had a stellar day completing 9 of 13 passes for 206 yards.
Killingly finishes the season at 3-7, while the book on The Pride is 5-5.
Windham 43 – Woodstock 6
The story of the game in Putnam was almost duplicated in Woodstock, as the Acads watched as the Windham Whippets put 43 points on the scoreboard before the Centaurs were able to tally.
Windham led 28-0 at halftime and had to watch the score for fear of violating the “Cochran Rule.” The Whippets produced 15 second half markers on the way to closing out the season with a 7-3 record. The book on Woodstock – 0-10.
Griswold 41 – Plainfield 22
In the only game that had a semblance of competitiveness, the Griswold Wolverines maintained control over the Panthers throughout. The victory for the Wolverines was the 10th in a row over Plainfield on Thanksgiving morning.
Leading 14-7 at the half, Griswold posted 27 second half points as compared to Plainfield’s 15. Thanks to Jordan Federer and Steve Jankowski, Plainfield was able to make it a game. Federer scored twice, on touchdown passes from Jankowski of 24 and 14 yards. Federer returned the favor by hitting Jankowski with a 49 yard scoring aerial.
Both teams close out the season with identical 5-5 records.
Turkey Trimmings
The total points put up by the winning teams were 134, while the losing teams managed only 35 markers. That’s a margin of 99 points! The final overall records for the four local teams was 13-27. That’s twice as many losses as victories and a 32.5 winning percentage… Killingly senior lineman Dane Grauer scored on a seldom used “hook and ladder” play, which Killingly coach Chad Neal called the “Dane and ladder ... The Killingly vs. Pride game was broadcast live by WINY Radio with John Wilbur and “The Coach” Stu Neal providing the commentary. WINY was also sending live reports from Griswold, where Josh Sanchez was on the scene ... Woodstock finished last in the ECC Large Division with a 0-4 mark. Next season, the school with more than 1,000 students, will drop down to the ECC Small Division ... Plainfield finished third and Killingly fourth in the five-team Small Division ... Happy Thanksgiving, Jack Cochran.