Donovan Rodriguez had the ball in his hands in overtime on Friday night, and that was the best place it could be for Bristol Central football against Wethersfield at Joseph T. Cottone Field.
Rodriguez ran for a two-yard touchdown to tie the game, then converted the two-point conversion with his legs to give the Rams a thrilling 42-40 win over the host Eagles. Central improved to 4-0 while Wethersfield fell to a tough 3-1.
Rodriguez carried 27 times for 155 yards and three touchdowns (18, 4, 2). The senior quarterback was 4 for 7 passing for 70 yards, two touchdowns – both to Quincy Lawson – and one interception. All four completions also went to Lawson. Tristian Toussaint rushed for 71 yards on four attempts. On defense, senior Jack Hartley totaled 12 tackles, and fellow senior Eduar Rodriguez had six total tackles, but more importantly, an interception that he returned 35 yards for a touchdown. Lawson tallied six tackles on defense, as did senior Lincoln Archibald.
Eduar Rodriguez’s pick-six, and Donovan Rodriguez’s two-point conversion run, put Central ahead, 34-26, with 4:23 left in the fourth quarter. That completed a comeback from a 19-6 deficit that the Rams faced early in the third quarter. Donovan Rodriguez’s four-yard touchdown run, which came a mere 47 seconds before Eduar Rodriguez’s pick-six, tied the game, 26-26.
There was some controversy in the game. In the final 30 seconds of regulation, Rodriguez was hit while rolling to his left. Wethersfield picked it up and ran it back for a touchdown with 16 seconds left, but it was ruled that Rodriguez was trying to throw and the play was an incompletion.
