The days leading up to Week 10 of the high school football season had plenty of off-field drama.
Once the local teams hit the field, three of them picked up victories. Here’s what happened in each game:
Waterbury Career Academy 34, Wilby 13
The Spartans put themselves a win away from a .500 season with a victory over the Wildcats at Ray Snyder Sr. Field on Thursday night.
Savion Ettson threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, and Jacob Torres ran a punt back 45 yards for a score for WCA (4-5). Jalen Gopie scored on a touchdown run. Ettson threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Langstun Racine and connected with Darrell Coombs for a 35-yard score. Ettson ran for an 11-yard touchdown while Gopie scored from two yards out.
For Wilby (1-8), Kenneth Figueroa threw for two touchdowns. Figueroa connected with Dashaun Wilson for a 16-yard touchdown and hit Eric Pelton for a six-yard score.
The Figueroa to Wilson connection put the Wildcats up 6-0 after one quarter. The Spartans scored twice in the second quarter, one on a Gopie run and the other on the Ettson to Racine connection to lead 14-6 at halftime. WCA went ahead 20-6 on Ettson’s touchdown run, but Wilby clawed to within 20-13 on Figueroa’s pass to Pelton and Christopher Pickering’s extra point. With 3:19 to play, Torres broke free on a punt return to put the game away. Ettson’s touchdown throw to Coombs and a Gopie two-point run accounted for the final score.
WCA plays Gilbert/Northwestern on Thanksgiving morning in Winsted. Wilby faces Sacred Heart/Kaynor Tech on Thanksgiving Eve at Snyder Field. Thank you to Bryan P. Baker for the Twitter updates from the WCA-Wilby game.
St. Paul 48, Torrington 36
The Falcons picked up their second win of Week 10 on Friday and moved within one victory of a .500 season.
St. Paul (4-5) has won two straight games and will play at Oxford on Thanksgiving Eve. The first win of the week was 32-24 over Kennedy in a game moved from Saturday in Bristol to Sunday in Waterbury due to field conditions at St. Paul.
Bristol Central 34, East Catholic 13
A day after having to forfeit away two wins, the Rams overcame a slow start Saturday and beat the Eagles in Manchester.
Freshman Victor Rosa ran for the first two touchdowns of his high school career and finished with over 100 yards rushing. Justus Fitzpatrick ran for two touchdowns and Jose Navedo added a rushing touchdown for Bristol Central (4-5), which can still salvage a .500 season with a win over city rival Bristol Eastern on Thanksgiving morning in The Battle for the Bell at Muzzy Field.
Manchester 29, Bristol Eastern 13
The Lancers scored first on a rainy Friday night at home, but the Indians ripped off 27 straight points on their way to victory.
Trinidad Gonzalez and Justin Marshall ran for touchdowns for Bristol Eastern (0-9).
Naugatuck 42, Holy Cross 0
The Crusaders saw their Class S playoff hopes dashed in a loss to the undefeated Greyhounds.
Holy Cross (6-3) was eliminated from playoff contention in the defeat to Naugatuck, but it can still end the season on a high note with a win over Wolcott on Thanksgiving morning at Alumni Field.
Derby 44, Kennedy 32
The Eagles lost a home game on Friday night in the rain at Snyder Field.
Kennedy (3-6) travels to Crosby on Thanksgiving morning.
Watertown 57, Crosby 6
The Bulldogs fell to the Indians in Watertown on Thursday night.
Crosby (0-9) finishes its season at home on Thanksgiving morning against Kennedy.
