Bristol Eastern football jumped out to a 12-3 lead during Friday night’s CCC game at Bristol Eastern High School.
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| Bristol Eastern’s offense lines up against Farmington’s defense. |
The Lancers had scored on their opening drive of the game, then saw Josh Sampson get around the corner for a score from a yard out with 10:52 left in the second quarter.
Eastern looked to be in control, but Farmington had other ideas. The Indians scored 21 straight points for a 24-12 lead with 9:35 left in the third quarter.
The Lancers got to within 24-20 early in the fourth quarter, but the Indians pulled away for a 38-20 victory. Farmington improved to 1-1 while Eastern dropped to 0-2.
The Lancers had their chances, but shot themselves in the foot too often.
“We have to make sure there’s one opponent when we play the game,” Eastern head coach Paul Philippon said. “We can’t beat ourselves.”
Give Farmington some of the credit. The Indians did make some big plays. Sean Dunleavy had a long catch and run for a touchdown to pull Farmington to within 12-10. An interception gave the Indians got field position, and Brian Buono ran 19 yards for a 17-12 lead, which the visitors took into the half.
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| Bristol Eastern head coach Paul Philippon and the Lancer sideline look on during Friday’s 38-20 loss to Farmington. |
Farmington had the momentum entering the second half, and upped its lead to 24-12 when Buono scored from seven yards out with 9:35 left in the third quarter.
Eastern drove inside Farmington’s 5 with just over three minutes left in the quarter, but a fumble gave the ball back to the Indians.
The Lancers did pull to 24-20 on Sampson’s one-yard touchdown run and Edgar Hernandez’s subsequent conversion run with 8:39 left in the fourth quarter. The Indians responded with a big kickoff return from Alexis Walter. Michael Popilizio snuck in from a yard out for a 31-20 lead, then Buono added a 23-yard score with 1:17 left for the game’s final score. Dunleavy made all five of his extra points, and he also added a 32-yard field goal.
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The Lancers have work to do after an 0-2 start, but Philippon has seen improvement.
“All we want them to do is show up and work hard, and they’re doing that,” Philippon said.
The next step is cutting out self-inflicted wounds. Given the double-wing offense that the Lancers run, they can’t afford penalties or turnovers, which kill drives.
Eastern will need to play really well next Friday when it hosts Wethersfield at 7 p.m.
