The opening week of the 2024 high school football season has come and gone. There was a mix of good games and some one-sided affairs. For starters, here’s the final score of every local contest for opening week:
THURSDAY
Bristol Eastern 27, Avon 0
Oxford 13, Wilby 6
FRIDAY
Bristol Central 32, South Windsor 13
Derby 41, St. Paul 0
WCA 18, Kennedy 8
Holy Cross 24, Woodland 15
Naugatuck 47, Wolcott 12
Lewis Mills 35, Montville 28
SATURDAY
Torrington 19, Crosby 6
Wilcox/Kaynor 26, O’Brien Tech 0
WILDEST GAME
That would be WCA and Kennedy, which was a scoreless affair through three quarters on Friday night at Ray Snyder Sr. Field. The teams then combined for a whacky 26-point fourth quarter where the last score came on the game’s final play.
Trailing by two points, WCA put up a pair of touchdowns in the final 39 seconds. Mekheem Ambursley scored from six yards out to give the Spartans a 12-8 lead. WCA’s conversion attempt failed, but it had the lead. Kennedy, however, was getting the ball back.
Jameer Guest ended the final Eagle rally attempt with a scoop and score off a fumble recovery as the final seconds ticked off.
WCA struck first just 39 – there’s that number again – seconds into the fourth quarter on a four-yard run by Ambursley. The extra point missed, but the Spartans had a 6-0 lead. It took Kennedy less than three and a half minutes to answer. The Eagles scored on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Jonathan Mattaboni to Damian Elliott. Kennedy took the lead, 8-6, on a fake extra point attempt where Jaydon Lopez, who is also a quarterback, hit fellow signal caller Mattaboni with a pass.
No points were scored until the final 39 seconds, but then were a bevy of them from WCA, and it was able to pull off the win.
SPOILER ROLE
Woodland opened its new artificial turf, multi-sport facility Friday night, and it scored the first touchdown on its new field when Jack Brunetti and Nico Scampolino connected for a 48-yard score. A Hunter Crock kick made it 7-0 in favor of the Hawks.
The next 24 points came from Holy Cross on the way to a 24-15 win. All three touchdowns came via the air on passes from Drew Caouette, two to Dae’Sean Graves and one to James LaFleur. The Hawks limited the Crusader rushing attack, but Caouette completed 19 of 28 passes for 220 yards. Graves scored on passes of 15 and 42 yards while LaFleur hit the end zone on an eight-yard reception. Brandon Doherty made all three extra points and kicked a 31-yard field goal for good measure.
Woodland gave the home fans something to cheer about in the fourth quarter when Brunetti threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to David O’Brien. Scampolino ran in the two-point conversion, but the Hawks were never closer than the nine-point final margin. The Crusaders intercepted Brunetti three times on the night.
BRISTOL’S VICTORIES
On Thursday night, Eastern rode a dominant second half to a 27-0 road win over Avon. Alex Corvo completed eight of 12 passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns while Lincoln Badshaw rushed 13 times for 67 yards and two scores. Corvo threw scoring passes of 25 yards to Noah Albert and nine yards to Chase Dauphinee. Gavin Damboise was three of four on PAT kicks.
Badshaw also recovered a fumble on defense for the Lancers, which held the Falcons and their single-wing offense to 166 yards on 42 plays. Avon gained all of its yards on the ground in 39 attempts and was 0 for 3 passing.
On Friday night, Central used a 20-point third quarter to turn a one-point halftime deficit into a 32-13 home victory over South Windsor. Donovan Rodriguez and Jake Deveau each scored two rushing touchdowns for the Rams. Rodriguez ran for 128 yards, Deveau tallied 117 on the ground, and Jayden Glasper got in on the scoring with an 11-yard rushing touchdown of his own. Rodriguez and Glasper scored in the first half on runs of one and 11 yards. In the third quarter, Deveau sandwiched his touchdown runs of 49 and 47 yards around the 28-yard scoring run by Rodriguez as Central took control of the game. Glasper also ran in a two-point conversion.
BIG ROAD WIN
Lewis Mills knocked off Montville, 35-28, in a Connecticut High School Football Alliance matchup between members of the CCC and ECC. The Spartans ran for four touchdowns, including two by Alex Weaver. Gianluca Dolzadelli ran for a touchdown, as did Mateo Dolzadelli. Gianluca Dolzadelli made all five of his PAT kicks.
Patryk Kolnowski got the scoring started for Mills by returning the opening kickoff of the season for a touchdown. Gianluca Dolzadelli scored from five yards, and Mateo Dolzadelli ran his touchdown in from 11 yards. Weaver scored on runs of one and 37 yards.
WILCOX/KAYNOR ALSO A WINNER
The tech co-op shut out the O’Brien Tech Condors, 26-0, on Saturday evening at Snyder Field. Logan Stone ran for 74 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries to lead the way. Logan Casini ran for a 65-yard touchdown for the other score for Wilcox/Kaynor. On defense, Uzziah Nelson had a team-high 12 tackles.
WEEK 2
THURSDAY, 9/19
Plainville at Bristol Central, 6
GNH at Kennedy (Snyder Field), 6
Bristol Eastern at East Catholic, 6:30
FRIDAY, 9/20
Naugatuck at Holy Cross (Snyder Field), 6:30
Wolcott at Woodland, 7
St. Paul at Torrington, 7
Wilby at Watertown, 7
SATURDAY, 9/21
Derby at Crosby (Jimmy Lee Stadium), 10 a.m.
E.O. Smith at Lewis Mills, noon
Oxford at WCA (Jimmy Lee), 6 p.m.
