By Michael Letendre 

The Bristol Central football program looks to stay in the Class L playoff hunt as Week 5 of the scholastic season has the Rams traveling to Hartford Public in a Central Connecticut Conference cross tier challenge. 

That bout takes place on Saturday in Hartford but it remains Friday night lights for the contingent over at Bristol Eastern as another non-conference game is on tap. 

This time, the grouping of Capital Prep/Achievement First comes to the Mum City and should give the Lancers a bit of a test. 

There’s a ton going on this weekend and here’s what to expect as Week 5 commences for the locals: 

Bristol Central (3-1) at Hartford Public (2-2)

Location: The turf field at Hartford Public high school
Day and Time: Saturday, 1:00 p.m.
All-Time Series: The Rams have hit the double-figure mark against the Owls as this Saturday’s showdown is the tenth between the programs. Central holds a 6-3 edge against Public. 

Last Encounter…Back during Week 1 of the 2018 season, Central opened its season with a 34-0 blitzing of Hartford Public (September 7). A young Victor Rosa belted the Owls with four carries for 64 yards. Darrell Payton led the Rams with 13 rushes for 86 yards and two TD’s. 

Last Week…Central withstood a furious comeback bid by Farmington, wrangling up a 35-29 win in the end while Public fell at home to Tolland by a 39-28 push.
Casual facts…Currently, the Rams are tenth in the Class L standings, trailing No. 8 Cheshire by 25 points…No one from the Central football program should read this but in all honesty, the Rams might be able to run the table to Thanksgiving…That would keep Central in the playoff mix and give the squad a chance at a postseason bid…However, it’s one game at a time for the Rams and Public is the game of the week…The Owls, starting off at 2-0 this season, has been bucking the recent trend of programs at Public…But the team has allowed 66 points over the past two weeks in losses to Rocky Hill (27-15) and Tolland…The Owls boast talent on both sides of the pigskin and use a different set of packages and schemes between two signal callers…Seniors Tasani Roach (13-for-33, 244 yards, 2 TD’s) and Christian Garcia (17-for-34, 319 yards, 3 TD’s) have the talent to find targets all over the field…Trai Hodge has 10 receptions for 270 yards and two touchdowns while Garcia (10-110-1) has caught a ball or two this season…Speaking of the versatile Garcia, he can run with the football as well (33 carries, 163 yards, 2 TD’s) while Eric Williams (22-209-3) is a crafty back and must be monitored as well…There’s plenty of offensive skill here which is not in question…But the real issue is the Owls ability in bottling up Rosa, a bulldog on the field who is probably headed to a 2,000-yard rushing campaign, maybe more…Don’t forget, he has over 900 yards on the year and tallied 13 touchdowns to date…You can’t call Central a one trick pony either because Rosa will throw the ball around occasionally to the likes of Damion Glasper and the Owls have to be ready for that possibility…And even off the 29 points it yielded to Farmington, with most of those coming very late in the contest, Central’s defense allows just 13.5 points-per-game which complements its offense (90 points, 22.5 ppg)…What’s the bottom line for Central here? Just stay the course, work to strengths and if the Rams can make early stops versus Public, Central’s offense is going to have a chance to shine…This should be a fun game over in the Insurance Capital of the world. 

Capital Prep/Achievement First (3-2) at Bristol Eastern (2-2)

Location: Alumni Field on the campus of Bristol Eastern
Day and Time: Friday, 6:30 p.m.
All-Time Series: This is the first time the teams have played against each other.  

Last Week…Eastern dropped a heartbreaking 21-20 last second decision at Plainville while Capital overwhelmed Bassick 54-8 from Kennedy Stadium in Bridgeport. 

Casual facts…The contingent from Capital has some size but not as much as Wilbur Cross did according to Eastern head coach Anthony Julius…The team is 0-1 against squads from the CCC this season – dropping a 19-6 opening week decision to Lewis Mills…The Trailblazers have talent as QB Hashim Jones will run with the ball and is quite an elusive fellow. He can also chuck the ball around the field with accuracy and the dual threat athlete is someone who the Lancers must key in on…Defensively, Mehki Tyson-Slaughter will be looking to sack Eastern quarterback Brady Brown – leading the defensive charge for the Trailblazers…But Capital will be squaring off against a motivated Eastern squad that dropped a tough one-point decision at Plainville (3-1) the previous week…The metrics were solid for the Lancers against the Blue Devils, including 300 total yards in offense and a season-high in both tackles for losses (seven) and sacks (three)…Austin Shorette led the charge with 2.5 sacks and two tackles for losses against Plainville…Defense has not been an issue for the locals this season, holding opponents to 15.5 points-per-game and a 22.7-percent conversion rate on third down…The opposition has also misfired five times in Eastern’s red zone and the Lancers did nearly enough against Plainville to steal the game away in the end…Back Alex Marshall belted the Blue Devils for 170 yards on 34 carries and is just under 300 yards away for 1,000 for the season…If the Trailblazers let the senior run wild, it will spell doom and demise for the visiting program…Brown (6-of-11, 70 yards) was tremendous at Plainville, making critical connections throughout the game with Nate Shorette (four catches, 68 yards, TD) coming up with a career game…Injuries continue to haunt BE, as it did towards the end of the Plainville encounter, with the likes of QB Kamden Laprise and Conor McCormick looking to make returns by the end of the month…This is another game against a speedy opponent where the Lancers must make that first tackle count…If Eastern can contain the big play, the Kingstreeters will be getting to the pay window one more time before the bye week commences.