By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – The Bristol Eastern football team came into the 2021 bye week a bit beaten up in terms of injuries.

It seemed in every game this season, a critical two-way player has made an appearance in MASH tent – invisibly parked alongside Alumni Field – and while the program has seen other competitors step up and play well, the Lancers have lost three straight games hitting the bye week. 

But it’s not all doom and gloom for the locals.

The King Streeters lost those three showdowns by a 23 combined points.

That’s what makes Eastern’s 2-3 ledger a bit deceitful.

And the Lancers, falling at Plainville (21-20) to open October and then losing at home to Capital Prep (21-15) the following weeks, knows that their overall ledger could look more like 4-1 instead of the current sub-.500 record.

But against Plainville and Capital, the Lancers were simply one play away from changing the ultimate outcome of the games. 

“We’re in the games but as a competitive person and as a competitive program here, we want to win these close ones,” said Eastern coach Anthony Julius after the loss to Capital Prep. “Right now, we’re just coming up a little short.”

The big play has foiled Eastern recently, whether it was a huge 40-plus yard reception by the Blue Devils or a 72 yard TD rush from Capital Prep.

That’s something the Lancers hope to contain coming out of the bye week.

Recently, injuries to Conor McCormick, quarterback Kamden Laprise, Josh Aubin, Connor Gimpl, Austin Shorette, among others, have taken critical two-way players out of the mix for a quarter here or a couple games there which have all been costly in the end.

But other players have stepped up for those starters over the past couple games, helping to keep the program competitive to the end.

Brady Brown has been excellent in a full-time role at QB, hitting on 56-percent of his passes and averages about 10 yards-per-throw.

He’s done a tremendous job on the defensive end, putting together the complete package.

Brown is an elusive fellow as Eastern’s quarterbacks have only been sacked twice this season.

Back Alex Marshall has all the squad’s rushing touchdowns in 2021, is Eastern’s leading tackler and is a tough two-way player (more on his rushing exploits later).

Nate Shorette (eight passes, 124 yards) has been tremendous offensively as of late while Rayshon Andrews (nine catches, 84 yards) might be seeing the ball a little more in Eastern’s running schemes.

Austin Shorette, Jeremy Kolloverja, Gimpl, Nate Shorette, Aubin, and Andrews have led the squad in tackles and even with a losing ledger, Eastern has outscored opponents this season, 95-83.

Through five games, opponents average only 16.6 points-per-game against Eastern and have scored just six points over third period play.

That’s six points over sixty minutes of tough third quarter action.

Opportunity

Injuries have led to opprotunites for players like linebacker Adam Zavecz and defensive end Malik Sherrill who combined for nearly 10 tackles in that six-point loss to Capital.

That was a huge showing by the duo and a glimpse of what those two athletes could supply the Eastern program on a full-time basis. 

Julius has putting together solid game plans but turnovers have popped up as of late at the worst possible times.

The locals have fumbled away the ball six times to opponents and come up dry in the red zone on six different occasions.

Take some of those miscues out of the mix and that 2-3 record would look a whole lot different. 

“It’s certainly not due to lack of effort,” said Julius of the recent skid. “It’s a lack of execution at times. Hopefully, we’ll take a long look at the film over the bye week and we make some adjustments and hopefully make some noise in the second half season.”

Eastern has some winnable contests on the horizon, starting with a trip to Cheney Tech to battle East Catholic this coming week in a special Thursday challenge at 7 p.m., under the lights.

That’s followed by a home encounter against South Windsor from Alumni Field on Friday, October 29.

And the bye week came at the best point of the Lancers’ schedule – a time for the program to recharge its batteries, get a player a two back from the injured list and make a run to a .500 record going into the final month of the campaign.

“Yeah, I think it’s a good time,” said Julius of the bye week. “It’s a little time to reset here. We’re doing some really good things. We’re doing some things not so well but we’re going to take an opportunity to get better at those through the bye week and get ready to play a good East Catholic team.”

Nearing 1,000 yards

When Eastern invades East Catholic on Thursday, Marshall will tally his 1,000th yard of the season.

He’s been tremendous to date, leading the Eastern offensive charge with 969 yards on the ground – needing just 31 yards for his 1,000th.

On 157 carries, Marshall averages an impressive 6.2 yards-per-carry which includes nine rushing TD’s.

Marshall’s fearless going up the middle and when the likes of Austin Shorette and Jaiden Forte do a little blocking, small seams in the defense becomes big holes for the senior back to power through.

And a 2,000 yard season isn’t out of the equation for Marshall by the completion of the scholastic year.

Eastern’s all-time top rushers

Let’s take a look at Eastern’s top all-time rushers via the Bristol Central website:

BRISTOL EASTERN’S 1,000 YARD SEASON RUSHERS

Reinaldo Soto (BE), 1,713 in 1996

Reinaldo Soto (BE), 1,586 in 1998

Reinaldo Soto (BE), 1,582 in 1997

Gerry Ouellette (BE), 1,523 in 2014

David Casanova (BE), 1,530 in 2007 – They still have that number wrong on the website!

Gerry Ouellette (BE), 1,396 in 2013Dylon Ouellette (BE), 1,391 in 2010

Mike Zeigler (BE), 1,273 in 2008

Greg Jenkins (BE), 1,136 in 2004

Brian Walker (BE), 1,135 in 2001

Charlie Hudson (BE), 1,085 in 1969

Paul Bianca (BE), 1,006 in 1971

Alex Marshall (BE), ??? In 2021

BRISTOL’S 5,000 YARD CAREER RUSHERS

Tim Washington (BC), 7,712 yards, 1998-2001

Reinaldo Soto (BE), 5,161 yards, 1995-98

Garry Pearson (BE, BC), 5,054 yards, 1976-78