Week 9 of the high school football season saw Bristol Central force a three-way tie in its division while Holy Cross continued to chase a Class S state playoff berth. Here’s what happened in area games:
Bristol Central 21, Platt 20
The Rams already owned one big home win over a Meriden school, and they added a second one on Friday night. Justus Fitzpatrick’s one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter and Kevin Tovar-Rivera’s extra point gave Bristol Central a one-point lead over Platt, which it held on to for the victory.
The Panthers led 14-7 at halftime on the strength of two touchdown passes. The Rams picked up their score on a 47-yard touchdown strike from Fitzpatrick to Nate Rosa. Darrell Payton’s four-yard touchdown run and Tovar-Rivera’s kick tied the game at 14-14 in the third quarter. Platt went ahead on Lorenzo Sanson’s third touchdown pass of the game, but Bristol Central rallied and pulled off another big home win.
The Rams made it a three-way tie for first place in the CCC’s Division II West with Platt and Maloney. All three teams are 3-1 in the division, but Bristol Central owns wins over Platt and Maloney. The Rams improved to 5-3 overall with the victory.
Holy Cross 42, Torrington 7
The Crusaders kept their hopes of a state playoff berth alive with a shellacking of the Red Raiders on Thursday in Torrington.
Corey Fappiano threw two touchdown passes to Qaron Brown, and Alex Ward ran for two scores. Matt Judson recovered a blocked punt by Marcus Payne in the end zone for another Holy Cross touchdown. The Crusaders are 6-2, but sit in 12th place in Class S entering Saturday’s action. Seymour, which edged Holy Cross 14-13 in the final seconds on Sept. 28, is also 6-2 but it is in 11th place. The Top 10 teams in Class S are either undefeated or have one loss, so the Crusaders will need some help.
Holy Cross has to take care of its own business to be in the hunt, however, and it has a major road test in front of it this Friday at undefeated Naugatuck (8-0) at 7 p.m.
Wolcott 42, WCA 20
After a week of controversy, the Eagles returned to the field on Thursday and beat the Spartans at Ray Snyder Sr. Field (Municipal Stadium) in Waterbury.
Note: Several Wolcott players caused damage to St. Paul’s locker room on Oct. 26. The two coaches who were in the locker room at the time will serve one-game suspensions, and the school and the team have apologized to St. Paul. The Wolcott administration has said further consequences will be forthcoming. Go to the Waterbury Republican-American website to read more about the situation.
As for the game, Anthony Ligi ran for three touchdowns while Jake Sforza had two scoring runs. Matt Olmstead returned a kickoff for a touchdown for the other Wolcott touchdown. The Eagles are 6-2 and ranked sixth in the Class M state playoff standings. Wolcott hosts Sacred Heart/Kaynor Tech on Friday at 6 p.m., then plays at Holy Cross on Thanksgiving morning.
Savion Ettson threw for two touchdowns and ran another for WCA (3-5).
Watertown 14, Wilby 12
A matchup of one-win teams went against the Wildcats by a slim margin in Watertown.
Wilby quarterback Kenneth Figueroa had a monster game throwing the ball and connected for two touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough. Dylan McKitty and Dashaun Wilson caught the scoring passes. The Wildcats fell to 1-7.
Oxford 49, Sacred Heart/Kaynor Tech 28
Marques Williams and Saijon McIntosh ran for touchdowns for the co-op, which fell to 1-7.
Wethersfield 34, Bristol Eastern 14
Justin Marshall threw for a touchdown and ran for another for the Lancers, who dropped to 0-8.
Derby 66, Crosby 20
The Bulldogs hit a season-high in points, but fell to 0-8 with the loss.
St. Paul-Kennedy
In a tough break for the Falcons, Saturday’s Homecoming game against the Eagles has been moved to Sunday at 1 p.m. at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury.
