By Michael Letendre 

BRISTOL – The Bristol Eastern football team was in the mix against Wilbur Cross on Friday night – trailing by just eight points midway through the fourth frame before things eventually fell apart for the locals. 

A late touchdown by Cross quarterback Jamel Lee, combined with uncharacteristic turnovers from the Lancers, doomed the home team as the Governors scooped up a 28-12 non-conference victory from Alumni Field in Bristol. 

The contest, a Connecticut Alliance football battle, saw both squads move to 2-1 off the effort. 

Eastern had chances to put points on the scoreboard throughout the contest but about half-a-dozen turnovers, including two in the red zone, foiled the offensive efforts by the Lancers. 

“[It] certainly [was] a different challenge tonight than we faced the first couple of weeks,” said Eastern coach Anthony Julius of Wilbur Cross. “You’ve got to give credit to Wilbur Cross. They played really hard. They’re a big front and our defense had a hard time handling their size for a little while. We tried to make some adjustments and sometimes they worked and sometimes they didn’t. [There were] a lot of missed opportunities on both sides of the ball tonight.” 

The Lancers threw two interceptions and fumbled away two other balls as Eastern did not score over the final 27:52 of the encounter. 

The Lancers collected nearly 275 yards in total offense but simply couldn’t cash in over second half play. The Governors had just 10 additional yards than Eastern as things were extremely close offensively.

Eastern made several tackles for losses and had Cross rushers in trouble throughout the event. 

But missed assignments on defense eventually led to scores for the visitors. 

And for the first time in 2021, Eastern was penalty free while the Governors were flagged four times, costing the squad 30 yards overall. 

The game started off as an offensive show with touchdowns coming on four of the contest’s first six drives of the game. 

Cross needed just six plays on its first possession when Kenny Flowers, who should have been tackled in the backfield for a big loss, managed to scamper 44 yards into the end zone as the visitors led 6-0 with 7:39 to play in the first period. 

Eastern then turned around and drove the ball to the Governors’ 15-yard line before a fumble gave it back to the visiting aggression. 

But Cross was buried too far in its own territory, eventually punting the ball, and Eastern eventually put a number on the scoreboard. 

A six-play, 63-yard drive saw Eastern QB Kamden Laprise (2-for-5, 28 yards) find Rayshon Andrews all alone in the end zone for a 21-yard TD strike as the contest was knotted up at 6-6 with 31 seconds left in the first frame. 

And then on an eight-play drive by the Governors, highlighted by several hard runs from Jy’zeyah Scurry (19 carries, 105 yards), Lee made a 10-yard sprint into the goal as Cross led 12-6 with 8:47 remaining before the half. 

Eastern responded with a nice drive on 10 plays that encompassed 67 yards and when Alex Marshall (28 carries, 211 yards) made a mad 20-yard rush for six points, sprinting out and to the left – just brushing the end zone – it was a 12-12 game with 4:04 left in the half. 

After a three-and-out by the Governors, Eastern was on the move again and was looking to close out the half with one final touchdown.

But an interception by Flowers with less than a minute before intermission set up Cross in Eastern territory with the go-ahead score looming. 

This time, after a tackle-for-a-loss by Eastern’s Alex Vita, Lee found Jaheim Brazier – just getting the ball over Andrews’ hands – for a 28-yard touchdown strike and when Lee ran the ball in with 0:11 seconds left for a two-point conversion, the Governors nabbed a 20-12 halftime edge. 

“They’re a battled tested program,” said Julius of Cross. “The Southern Connecticut Conference is not a joke in terms of the caliber of teams that they play week in and week out. We knew that we were going to be in for it tonight. Unfortunately, we didn’t play the cleanest game in terms of execution on both sides of the football in [the form of] missed tackles and turnovers. That really kind of hurt us tonight.” 

Eastern had the ball to open the third frame but ran out of downs at the Cross 14 with 8:16 remaining in the stanza. 

From there, the visitors put together a huge 15 play drive – carrying into the fourth period – but Lee was stopped at the Eastern 37 off a slick tackle by Jeremy Kolloverja and with 10:22 left to play, the home team was looking to tie the event up, still trailing 20-12. 

But Marshall was on the sidelines with an injury which forced Josh Aubin (four carries, 17 yards), doing a fantastic job in a pinch situation, to carry the ball for the Lancers. 

However, Eastern turned ball over on downs on the Governors’ 46-yard line with 7:36 to go. 

Six plays later, Lee shook off a couple Eastern tacklers, made a 28-yard jaunt into the end zone and when Flowers nabbed a two-point conversion reception, the insurance score saw Cross seize a 28-12 edge with 3:58 showing on the clock. 

One last interception did-in the Lancers with fifty seconds to play as Lee took two knees and Wilbur Cross handed Eastern its first set-back of the campaign by a 28-12 final. 

“I loved the kids’ effort,” said Julius. “They battled all the way to the end. We just came up short. We [just] got out-executed tonight.” 

Connecticut Alliance Football Showdown 

WILBUR CROSS 28, BRISTOL EASTERN 12 

from Alumni Field on the campus of Bristol Eastern 

Wilbur Cross (2-1)                6 14 0 8 – 28  

Bristol Eastern (2-1)             6 6 0 0 – 12 

SCORING SUMMARY 

First Quarter 

WC – Kenny Flowers 44 run (run failed), 7:39 

BE – Rayshon Andrews 21 pass by Kamden Laprise (kick failed), 0:31 

Second Quarter 

WC – Jamel Lee 10 run (pass failed), 8:47 

BE – Alex Marshall 20 run (kick failed), 4:04  

WC – Jaheim Brazier 28 pass from Lee (Lee run), 0:11 

Third Quarter 

No Scoring 

Fourth Quarter 

WC – Lee 28 run (Flowers catch), 3:58

Individual Statistics 

Rushing – Wilbur Cross: Jamel Lee 15-80, Corey Coleman 3-16, Bryce Thomas 3-1, Ken Flowers 4-47, Jy’zeyah Scurry 19-105; Bristol Eastern: Alex Marshall 28-211, Brady Brown 3-12, Kamden Laprise 1-7, Josh Aubin 4-17, Rayshon Andrews 2-(minus-2). 

Passing – Wilbur Cross: Lee 2-for-4, 34 yards; Bristol Eastern: Kamden Laprise 2-for-5, 28 yards; Brown 0-for-2; Josh Aubin 0-for-1. 

Receiving – Wilbur Cross: Jaheim Brazier 2-34; Bristol Eastern: Rayshon Andrews 1-21, Jeremy Kolloverja 1-7.

Records: Bristol Eastern 2-1 overall; Wilbur Cross 2-1