By Michael Letendre
NEW HAVEN – For only the second time in school history, the Bristol Eastern football program scored just two points in a game.
But on Friday night, those couple points were more than enough to get to the pay window against Hillhouse in a Connecticut Football Alliance showdown in New Haven.
An early safety with 7:24 left to play in the first period propelled the Lancers to an improbable 2-0 win over the Academics from Bowen Field across the street from the Floyd Little Athletic Field House.
The Kingstreeters, 3-0 for the first time since 2010, did enough offensively to move the chains and while the squad got into the red zone on more than one occasion, the big score didn’t come but the Academics (0-2) were bottled up over long and tedious drives.
“The offense, we didn’t put points on the board, but we made some plays when we had to,” said Eastern coach Anthony Julius. “And we were able to stay on the field. We made a bunch of fourth down conversions. So, we didn’t light up the scoreboard the way we would like to, but the offense did enough tonight which is, you know, because our defense is that good.”
The Lancers roped up nearly 240 total yards in offense, tallying 10 first downs, as back Jaiden Fore made 36 bone-crunching carries to pace the offense.
He nabbed 129 yards on the ground and caught three passes for 41 yards – capturing just under 170 yards in total offense.
“We knew that they were going to try to stop me, but I tried to do all I could do,” said Fore. “And I did everything I could do [to help Eastern win].”
With the showdown hanging in the balance late in the fourth quarter, and Eastern clinging to that two-point edge, senior captain Adam Zavecz had the play of the game.
Stuck at midfield, Zavecz made a mad rush, smashing his way into the Hillhouse defensive line and appeared to get stuck.
However, he simply kept grinding and grinding and amazingly, he broke free and was off to the races.
The Eastern sideline erupted as Zavecz ran 38 yards into the Academics red zone for a first and goal situation.
Overall, Zavecz scooped up four carries for 50 huge yards.
“Adam and Jaiden are really the kind the catalyst here of our offense,” said Julius of Zavecz and Fore. “Team’s focus on Jaiden because Jaiden is an elite running back. So, we have a change of pace in back with Adam going in there. That’s a real benefit to us and you can see how hard he runs. They’re both a handful to takedown.”
Eastern quarterback Kamden Laprise (5-for-11, 62 yards) always seemed to make a big connection with Zion Otero, Chase Dauhpinee or Fore and when the team was on defense, the Academics’ offense received a failing grade.
Hillhouse managed just 21 yards in total offense over first half play but remained pesky in the final 24 minutes – getting to Eastern’s one-yard line midway through the fourth quarter before the drive fizzled out.
And that’s a credit to Eastern’s defense as Zavecz made three tackles for losses, Mikey Sherrill nabbed a huge sack on Hillhouse quarterback Dairion Johnson (6-for-18, 81 yards) while Hunter Wells and Ryan Zavecz also tallied tackles that went for a loss.
On Eastern’s opening drive, Fore nabbed 60 total yards – including a huge 42-yard dash – over eight carries but the Lancers were stopped at Hillhouse’s five-yard line – giving Hillhouse the ball for the first time that night.
Two plays later and stuck on its own two, the ball was snapped out of the end zone by the Academics – Eastern was awarded two points – and for the final 40:36 of the game, the Lancers amazingly held on to that slim lead until the end over a noteworthy defensive performance.
“That second play of the game, that set up our 2-0 lead,” said Fore of the safety. “Hey, we won. 2-0 isn’t pretty but we did it.”
Each and every drive by the Academics was foiled by Eastern’s defense while on the flip side, the home team crowded the line to keep Fore from escaping downfield.
The Academics were big and athletic on many fronts which disrupted several drives by the Lancers.
“Credit to Hillhouse,” said Julius. “They were unbelievably good on defense. [They have] great size, great athleticism. Their coach put together a great game plan. “
After the safety, both squads went three and out while Wells tallied a four-yard loss when he tackled Johnson to force a 4-and-12 situation to start the second period.
Slick running Elijah McClain started taking off in the middle of the second period for Hillhouse, but a hard luck drive ended at Eastern’s 36 before the squad was forced to punt with 2:20 to go in the half.
Eastern ended the stanza with Fore making a huge fourth down conversion – one of two in the first half – but the eight-play drive died on its own 37 as the 2-0 edge lasted into the half.
“I really thought that we were going to score at some point,” said Julius of his squad. “I thought we were kind of chipping away and almost popping and almost popping. It just didn’t work [but] credit to the kids.”
“They’re the ones who put the work in, they’re the ones working hard, and they stepped up when they need to.”
The first two drives of the third period were foiled by the other team’s defenses but with 4:18 to go in the tilt, Hillhouse nearly punched in six points.
Off a short punt by Dauphinee, filling in admirably for the injured Gavin Damboise, Hillhouse started on Eastern’s forty-yard line and went right to work.
McClain made two big dashes for first downs and to start the fourth quarter, the Academics were facing a fourth-and-six situation at Eastern’s 27.
Johnson found a falling Amare Jackson for an 11-yard conversion, leading to a fresh set of downs and putting the home team into the red zone.
Three rushes later, Hillhouse almost snuck into the goal, but Adam Zavecz’s last second tackle of back Amir Daniley prevented him from scoring.
And it all went south from there on third-and-goal.
Deren Newton was dropped for a three-yard loss by Fore, a false start then put the squad on Eastern’s nine-yard line and when Johnson’s final pass of the drive went through the end zone and out of bounds, Eastern’s defense made a stone-cold stop.
The Lancers’ offense got the ball back, still up two with 8:02 to go in the game as the Academics’ 13 play drive quickly fell apart.
Eastern then went three-and-out and Hillhouse had another short field to operate on with 6:52 left.
Four plays later, Adam Zavecz dropped McClain for a two-yard loss, forcing another turnover, and Eastern tried to end it with 5:24 remaining.
Laprise connected with Dauphinee on a critical 13-yard reception on third down and later – on another huge third down play – the slick QB found Fore for a 13-yard connection and a fresh set of downs as the game was approaching the three-minute mark.
Adam Zavecz then made his mad dash into the red zone with his 38-yard gallop as the home team needed to waste all of its time outs over Fore’s ensuing carries to save the clock.
One final rush by Fore ended on Hillhouse’s six with 1:06 to play but the home team never got to Eastern’s side of the field.
Johnson managed to complete two first down passes which got the Academics just short of midfield.
A false start by Hillhouse essentially ended the game as the squad never got off another offensive play as Eastern held on to dear life to snare a huge 2-0 win in the squad’s 2023 road opener.
“We didn’t execute the way we wanted to, but the kids did enough to win,” said Julius. “We talk about those little battles throughout the game, and we won more little battles than we lost. It’s a good thing.”
Bristol Eastern Football – Connecticut Football Alliance Challenge
BRISTOL EASTERN 2, HILLHOUSE 0
from Bowens Football Field, New Haven
Bristol Eastern (3-0) 2 0 0 0 – 2
Hillhouse (0-2) 0 0 0 0 – 0
SCORING
First Period
BE – Safety (ball was snapped out of the end zone by Hillhouse), 7:24
Second Period
– No scores
Third Period
– Nope, nada
Fourth Period
– Nothing
Individual Statistics
RUSHING – Bristol Eastern: Jaiden Fore 36-129, Adam Zavecz 4-50, Lincoln Bashaw 1-1, Chase Dauphinee 1-(minus-3); Hillhouse: Elijah McClain 15-106, Amir Daniley 11-1, Delon Relaford 1-3, Deren Newton 1-(minus-3), Dairion Johnson 2-(minus-4), Team 1-(minus-2).
PASSING – Bristol Eastern: Kamden Laprise 5-for-11, 62 yards; Hillhouse: Dairion Johnson 6-for-18, 81 yards.
RECEPTIONS – Bristol Eastern: Chase Dauphinee 1-13, Zion Otero 1-8, Fore 3-41; Hillhouse: Relford 2-35, Amare Jackson 2-19, Tre’Jon Williams 1-21, Daniley 1-6.
Records: Bristol Eastern 3-0 overall; Hillhouse 0-2.
