It took a strong comeback, but Holy Cross football made sure next Saturday’s matchup against WCA will be a battle of 3-0 teams.
The Crusaders rallied to beat Seymour, 28-21, on Friday night at DeBarber Field in Seymour. Only one other local team picked up a victory, and that was Crosby, 42-8, over Derby. Bristol Central, Bristol Eastern, Wilcox/Kaynor, Kennedy and Wolcott all lost.
Here’s more on what happened Friday:
Holy Cross 28, Seymour 21: The Crusaders trailed 7-0 and 14-6 but came back to beat the Wildcats.
Tom Ligi had another monster performance, carrying the ball 36 times for 242 yards and three touchdowns. Drew Caouette tossed a 40-yard touchdown to Dylan Gray for the other Crusader score.
On defense, Marques Campbell had two interceptions while Dillon Fernandes pulled in one.
Holy Cross hosts WCA in a city showdown next Saturday at 4 p.m. at Municipal Stadium’s Ray Snyder Sr. Field. The game is part of Homecoming Weekend for the Crusaders.
Crosby 42, Derby 8: Michael Scott (22-156, touchdown) and Stacy Speaks Jr. (14-103) each went over the century mark on the ground for the Bulldogs in a dominant home win at Jimmy Lee Stadium.
Jeremiah Febus ran for 45 yards on just three attempts, and he also threw for 185 yards and three touchdowns. John Herrington (3-49), Michail Scott (2-63) and Jashua Sanabria (2-60) each caught a touchdown pass from Febus. Scott had three two-point conversions.
Michail Scott had another tremendous game on defense with 14 tackles, including 5.5 for loss, along with two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Speaks tallied nine tackles and a forced fumble while Willie Redd added seven tackles and a pair of interceptions. Sanabria intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble. Melvin Ismaili totaled six tackles and recovered a fumble.
Sanabria had a wild game, scoring touchdowns on both offense and defense. He caught a touchdown pass from Febus on offense. On defense, Sanabria had an interception and fumble recovery for touchdowns.
Wilton 14, Bristol Central 6: The Ram defense kept the team in the game, but the Warriors picked up the Connecticut High School Football Alliance win in Wilton.
Central (1-2) had just 28 yards rushing. Nik Salinas led the Rams offensively with 104 yards passing, and he accounted for his team’s lone touchdown. Tim Sample intercepted pass and Aiden Lamarre recovered a fumble for the Central defense.
Fairfield Warde 27, Bristol Eastern 7: The Lancers scored their lone touchdown in the fourth quarter in a CTHSFA loss to the Mustangs in Fairfield.
Eastern fell to 0-3 with the loss.
NW United 22, Wilcox/Kaynor 6: Interceptions proved to be the undoing of the tech co-op at Nonnewaug High School.
Wilcox/Kaynor (1-2) was intercepted three times, including one that went for a NW United touchdown.
Oxford 35, Kennedy 6: Dereck Ledee ran for the lone Eagle touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Kennedy fell to 0-3 with the loss.
Naugatuck 52, Wolcott 7: Matt LaMontagne scored from 15 yards out in the second quarter of the Eagle loss to the defending NVL champion Greyhounds, who improved to 3-0.
Wolcott fell to 0-3.
GALLERY: Here are my photos from Friday night’s Wolcott game.
PHOTO CAPTION: Wolcott’s Matthew Johnson works on his kickoffs into a brisk wind before Friday night’s road game against Naugatuck at Veterans Field. The Eagles lost and fell to 0-3 on the season. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69)