By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – The Bristol Eastern football team was on the verge of tying up its rain-soaked affair against South Windsor on Friday evening.

With the rain coming down in sheets over second half play, the Lancers were in the red zone, trailing by seven and ready to pounce from the South Windsor four-yard line to tie – and possibly – go ahead in the game.

But a critical fumble with 1:53 left to play gave the Bobcats possession of the ball and one first down later, South Windsor had wrapped up the showdown via a 21-14 win in CCC Tier III play from Alumni Field.

The win was the second in a row for the Bobcats (2-1) while the Kingstreeters (3-1) lost for the first time in 2023.

Eastern back Jaiden Fore played a tough game despite the miserable conditions, making 26 carries for 141 yards and two touchdowns.

Most of that yardage came over second half play as the senior found all the seams and holes teammates Adam Zavecz and Randy DeNoto were creating.

“The offensive line played much better today,” said Eastern coach Anthony Julius. “Jaiden obviously ran the ball really, really well. Adam [Zavecz] blocked his tail off [as did] Randy DeNoto at tight end.”

The rain made it tough on the throwing game for both programs.

Eastern chucker Kamden Laprise made 3-of-4 passes for 31 yards and churned out two huge runs for a total of 26 yards.

Laprise had a couple critical connections with Zion Otero (two passes, 32 yards) and showed his leadership in the midst of a back-and-forth contest. 

“Kam did an excellent job today in tough conditions,” said Julius of his quarterback. “He only had one miss throwing the ball. We did a lot of good things.”

Both squads had possession six times, but South Windsor was able to make 55 plays with the ball compared to just 32 for Eastern as the visitors won the battle of the minutes.

The Bobcats were able to tally 16 first downs, draining the clock with long, sustained drives.

And when it came to early drives by the Lancers, the Bobcats were able to make two critical stops.

“Defensively, you’ve got to credit South Windsor,” said Julius. “They played ahead of the chains. They had positive yardage on first down. They had a lot of second and shorts, third and shorts. The defense played well. We couldn’t just quite get off the field enough.”

Eastern’s Hunter Wells made a big tackle for a loss while Zavecz, per his usual, was everywhere on the gridiron defensively.

On South Windsor’s first drive, quarterback Mitch Chaves (three rushing touchdowns, 3-of-7 passing, 44 yards) drove his offense eight plays for 62 yards – scoring a one-yard rushing touchdown up the gut to make it 7-0 with 7:27 to play in the first quarter.

Both teams punted on the ensuing drives but Eastern made good on a series midway through the second stanza.

Starting from the Eastern forty-seven, Laprise made a 12-yard jaunt on a third down conversion, Otero caught a pass for 24 yards to get into the red zone and three plays later, Fore sprint into the goal for a two-yard TD – making it a 7-6 game after a botched PAT attempt by the Lancers.

However, South Windsor followed with a clock-stuffing 14 play drive, ending the series with a 16-yard sprint from Chaves – running over the pylon on the front right of the field for the score – as the squad captured a 14-6 edge with 19 seconds remaining before the half.

The teams then exchanged scores over the next two drives to open the third tilt.

Eastern, receiving the ball to start the next quarter, tied the game up at 14-14 when Fore made all seven carries, rushed a total of 51 yards and nabbing the score via a two-yard, up the gut rush.

And when Fore ran the ball in for two, it was a brand-new game at 14-14 with 7:49 remaining in the contest.

But the Bobcats chewed up 10 minutes on a tremendous 17-play, 80-yard drive – via a touchback off the foot of the returning Gavin Damboise – but had to cash in a couple fourth down conversions to get it as Eastern’s defense made several big stops.

Back Logan Sherwood rushed in a couple third and fourth down conversions and when Chaves made a one-yard splash into the end zone, South Windsor snared a 21-14 edge with 9:48 left.

After an ensuing Eastern fumble, South Windsor went three-and-out and with 7:09 remaining in the fray, the home team was determined to capture one final score.

Fore led the charge from the Eastern 20, starting with a blistering 32-yard sprint down the South Windsor sideline that got the Kingstreeters over midfield.

He made seven more tough rushes, getting the Lancers all the way down to the 11.

A delay of game sent Eastern back five yards but on second-and-15, Laprise made a mad dash towards the Lancers’ sideline for a 14-yard carry to get the South Windsor four.

On the following play, Fore made a rush towards the left side, got to the one before the ball popped out and bounced into the end zone as South Windsor pounced on it with 1:53 showing on the clock.

“It’s part of the game. It happens,” said Julius about the fumble. “It’s a wet night. [But] it’s situations like that where we’re not down there [in the red zone] without Fore. I feel for our guys here. They got really, really close there within a couple yards, maybe [punching one] in, maybe trying to take the lead on this thing but it’s not a lack of effort issue there.” 

“We didn’t execute quite as well as we needed to.” 

From there, the Bobcats attempted to run out the clock, but the Lancers called timeouts to help prevent that.

Eastern had South Windsor on third-and-five before Chaves sprinted up the field six yards for final first down of the game, securing the 21-14 victory.

“Our kids played their tails off,” said Julius. “South Windsor’s a well-coached team and they deserved it tonight. We’ve got to go back to the drawing board, and we have a short week to get ready for a good Rocky Hill team.” 

Bristol Eastern Football – CCC Tier III Challenge

SOUTH WINDSOR 21, BRISTOL EASTERN 14

from Alumni Field, Bristol

South Windsor (2-1) 7 7 0 7 – 21  

Bristol Eastern (3-1) 0 6 8 0 – 14 

SCORING

First Period

SW – Mitch Chaves 1 run (Josh Gordon kick), 7:27

Second Period

BE – Jaiden Fore 2 run (Gavin Damboise failed run), 7:07

SW – Chaves 14 run (Gordon kick), 0:19

Third Period

BE – Jaiden Fore 2 run (Fore run), 7:49

Fourth Period

SW – Chaves 1 run (Gordon kick), 9:48 

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – South Windsor: Totals: 48-212; Bristol Eastern: Jaiden Fore 26-141, Kamden Laprise 2-26.

PASSING – South Windsor: Chaves 3-of-7, 44 yards; Bristol Eastern: Laprise 3-for-4, 44 yards.

RECEPTIONS – South Windsor: Ryan LaGuardia 1-16, Ethan Burke 2-28; Bristol Eastern: Zion Otero 2-32, Ryan Corvo 1-(minus-1).

Records: Bristol Eastern 3-1 overall; South Windsor 2-1.