The Wolcott High football team became the first to play a varsity game on the new turf of Joe Monroe Field on Friday night.
Wolcott hosted WCA in a matchup of first-year head coaches, Tony Bell for the Eagles and Jonas Rousseau for the Spartans. WCA spoiled the dual debuts of the turf and Bell with a 36-12 win over Wolcott.
Spartan quarterback KaVaughn Canady was 8 of 12 for 190 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Canady also ran for a touchdown. Jordan Williams caught five of those eight passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Dvonte Lane gained 46 of his 54 yards (14 total carries) in the second half. Dasani Yates had a 13-yard touchdown reception while Newman Reeves returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown.
Eagle quarterback Anthony Bell was 19 of 38 for 182 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Nathan Northrop led the receiving corps with seven catches for 105 yards and a touchdown. Matt LaMontagne ran 22 times for 85 yards and a touchdown.
Here’s what happened in other Week 1 football games:
GALLERY: Here are my photos from Friday’s game.
Seymour 48, St. Paul 6: Jeremy Taveras scored on a 31-yard run in the second quarter for the Falcons on Saturday afternoon at McPhee Field in Bristol.
GALLERY: Here are my photos from Saturday’s game.
Crosby 50, Watertown 34: The Bulldogs unloaded on offense in a road win on Friday night in Watertown.
Jeremiah Febus was 13 of 16 for 247 yards and three touchdowns in his first start. Nevon Burke led Crosby in receiving yards with 95 and scored a touchdown. John Herrington tallied seven catches, 87 yards and a touchdown while Jashua Sanabria added three grabs for 45 yards and a score. Michail Scott had a reception for 20 yards and scored on four two-point conversions. Twin brother Michael Scott tallied 114 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown. Stacy V. Speaks Jr. ran 10 times for 82 yards and a touchdown while Febus rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown. Sanabria chewed up 70 yards and scored once. Burke and Herrington each tallied a pair of two-point conversions.
On defense, Michail Scott and Speaks each tallied 12 tackles while Jorge Sanchez added seven. Kalib Shaw had a quarterback sack and Willie Redd intercepted a pass for the Bulldogs.
Wilby 30, Torrington 20: The Wildcats rallied from an early 14-point deficit to beat the Raiders on Thursday night on the turf of Ray Snyder Sr. Field at Municipal Stadium.
Aaron James ran for three touchdowns (37, 37, 25 yards) and threw to Jamare Hall for a 25-yard score to lead Wilby. The Wildcats trailed 14-0 until the final 20 seconds of the first half. James hit Hall for the score and Wilby was within 14-8 by halftime. The score was still 14-8 entering the fourth quarter. James Richards erupted for a 59-yard run before James scored from 37 out to tie the game, 14-14. Torrington retook the lead, 20-14, with five minutes remaining, but just 52 seconds later, Wilby led for good after James’ second 37-yard scoring run of the quarter. James’ 25-yard touchdown with 58.3 seconds left put the game away.
Holy Cross 32, Kennedy 6: Tom Ligi ran for five touchdowns and caught another for the Crusaders in their win over the Eagles at Snyder Field on Friday night.
Ligi ran for scores of 1, 31, 8, 20 and 9 yards, and he caught a touchdown of 20 yards from quarterback Drew Caouette. Holy Cross led, 7-6, after one quarter, but outscored Kennedy, 25-0, over the next two quarters to pull away.
Dereck Ledee threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Danny Rodriguez.
Manchester 21, Bristol Central 14: Nik Salinas ran for 57 yards and a touchdown and threw for 62 yards and another score in a Ram loss on Friday night.
Carmelo Thompson caught the touchdown pass from Salinas and also had 51 yards rushing.
RHAM 23, Bristol Eastern 20: The Lancers sprinted out to a 20-0 lead but couldn’t hang on in a tough loss to the Raptors on Friday night.
Lyman Hall 40, Wilcox/Kaynor 14: The tech co-op may have lost Friday, but a local picked up a win in his first game as Trojan head coach.
C.J. Monroe, a former Wolcott standout, won his debut with Lyman Hall. Monroe was an assistant coach under former Wolcott head coach Jason Pace at Newington.
PHOTO CAPTION: WCA’s Perry Spencer chases down Wolcott’s Michael McCormack on a kickoff return during Friday night’s game at Joe Monroe Field. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69)
