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| Kennedy football improved to 2-2 on Friday night and kept Wilby from snapping a long losing streak. The Eagles won 50-48 in overtime. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69, 2017 file) |
Wilby football hasn’t won a game since the 2014 season finale against Sacred Heart/Kaynor Tech.
The Wildcats came oh so close to ending their losing streak on Friday night at Ray Snyder Sr. Field against the Kennedy Eagles. The teams battled back and forth and eventually reached overtime. Kennedy scored and made a two-point conversion to overtake Wilby 50-48 in overtime. The Wildcats have lost 24 straight games. Kennedy improved to 2-2 on the season, the other win coming via forfeit from Holy Cross.
Wilby forced overtime on a touchdown with 2:24 to play in regulation, according to a tweet from Bryan P. Baker, who was the public address announcer for the game. Alexandre Gonzalez threw four touchdown passes and ran for another score for the Wildcats.
Kennedy scored on a six-yard run to pull ahead 6-0 with 9:56 left in the first quarter. It was the first points scored on a night that ended up with 98 on the scoreboard.
Gonzalez threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Andres Urena and Wilby hit on its two-point conversion for an 8-6 lead with 7:31 left in the first quarter. Kennedy countered with a 16-yard score to go up 14-8 at the 5:03 mark of the first quarter.
Gonzalez hit Raekwon James with a four-yard score to tie the game at 14-14 late in the opening quarter.
Kennedy opened up a 28-14 second quarter lead with runs of four and eight yards. The scored remained 28-14 into the halftime break. Wilby rallied for a 30-28 third quarter lead on touchdown passes from Gonzalez to Dashaun Wilson (12 yards) and Urena (16 yards). The Wildcats made both two-point conversions and claimed the two-point lead with 3:11 left in the third quarter.
Wilby took the lead into the fourth quarter, only to see Kennedy steal it back, 34-30, on a 16-yard run with 9:49 to play. Gonzalez punched it in from three yards out for a 36-34 Wildcat advantage at the 7:11 mark. The Eagles busted free for a 45-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion to snag a 42-36 lead, setting up the dramatic end to the fourth quarter and overtime.
Thank you to Bryan P. Baker for updating the game on Twitter!
Crosby 50, Oxford 40: In a game that featured 126 offensive plays, 25 first downs and 24 penalties, Raecuan Digsby’s touchdown run in the fourth quarter finally pulled the Bulldogs away from the Wolverines in Oxford.
Alberim Klenja threw six touchdown passes to lead the Crosby offense, according to the linescore reported on The Zone. Jaedon Wolfe had two touchdown receptions (23, 54) and Davonte Howard hauled in two scores (48, 14). Marquel Jackson-Smith had a 24-yard touchdown catch while Iziah Barnes added a score of 61 yards.
Crosby overcame two-point 14 deficits in the first half and improved to 2-2 with the win. Oxford led 14-0 in the first quarter and 20-6 in the second quarter, but Crosby caught up at 20-20 by the half. The Bulldogs held a 14-12 edge in the third quarter and entered the final 12 minutes ahead 34-32.
Watertown 34, Wolcott 32: The Eagles entered the fourth quarter ahead by 11 points, but the host Indians rallied for the victory.
Watertown was able to overcome a huge effort from Wolcott’s Anthony Ligi. Ligi ran for two touchdowns and also returned an interception for a 75-yard touchdown. That return put the Eagles up 32-21 in the third quarter, according to a story from Mark Jaffee posted on The Zone. A pair of Nick D’Elia touchdown passes in the fourth quarter were the difference.
Michael Polzella tossed a touchdown pass to Nick Longo and ran for a score for Wolcott, which dropped to 2-2.
Maloney 34, Bristol Central 7: Dathan Hickey had the lone Ram touchdown in the second quarter at Falcon Field in Meriden.
Hickey scored from 15 yards out and Dillon Hudson’s extra point cut Maloney’s lead to 12-7 in the second quarter. That was close as Bristol Central would get. Hickey had 77 yards rushing while Justus Fitzpatrick hauled in seven passes for 90 yards, according to a story from Dave Greenleaf on The Bristol Press website.
The Rams fell to 2-2 on the season.
