By Michael Letendre
Week 4 in the scholastic football season has two very different challenges for the public schools in Bristol on Friday.
And you can bet both Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern are ready to get back to the pay window once the night is over.
The Rams, rolling a bit right now off the power of two consecutive victories, travels to Farmington for a confrontation against the River Hawks while the Lancers meet Plainville as two old rivals re-ignite an old Colonial Conference feud.
Central would love to continue its outstanding play and Farmington could be in for a long night of pigskin play.
On the flip side, Eastern was foiled by bad luck against Wilbur Cross last Friday and looks to clean up those mistakes against an up-and-coming Blue Devils outfit.
Here’s the deal with the two scholastic games on Friday, starting with Bristol Central:
Bristol Central (2-1) at Farmington (0-3)
Location: The turf field at Farmington high school
Day and Time: Friday, 6:00 p.m.
All-Time Series: The squads will battle for the eighth time with the River Hawks leading the all-time series, 5-2.
Last Encounter…Back on October 7, 2016, Central spun Farmington by a 29-19 final from Farmington High School. Since that game, the programs were usually preseason opponents of one another.
Last Week…Central had a huge Week 3, sinking previously undefeated Wethersfield by a 28-18 push while Farmington allowed undefeated Newington 51 points last week. The River Hawks fell by a 51-6 final.
Casual facts…The Central secondary will be ready for the challenge this Friday as the River Hawks like to toss the ball around the field…Farmington employs two quarterbacks, sophomore Cayden Markowitz (30-of-52, 427 yards, 142.3 yards-per-game) and junior Kevin Ives (8-of-13, 63 yards)…The duo has amassed nearly 500 yards in offense but have more interceptions (five) than touchdowns (three)…Farmington isn’t a big rushing squad, scooping just 127 yards on the ground for two touchdown scores…Junior Luke Watson (30 carries, 64 yards) averages about 10 carries a contest but the squad scrambles up just 42.3 yards-per-game…The River Hawks don’t tally a ton of points, scoring just 34 this season over three lopsided losses…Farmington has been outscored this season by 90 points and allows opponents 41.3 points-per-game…And what’s going to happen when Central’s Victor Rosa hits the turf on Friday? It could be over early…Rosa is averaging just under 240 rushing yards over his last two games with seven rushing touchdowns to his credit…His speed will cause mismatches all over the field and the River Hawks knows who they must stop, or at least slow down…Rosa might be able to chuck the ball a little too against Farmington and expect the Rams to bring the entire offensive package over their CCC Tier 3 challenge…Central’s defense must also be highlighted this season, allowing opponents just 8.3 points-per-game and the showdown against Farmington will give a chance for the locals to improve upon that already impressive number…Farmington’s offense could be easily overwhelmed by Central’s size on both sides of the ball…The Rams have a great shot to move to 3-1 overall after its challenge against the River Hawks.
Bristol Eastern (2-1) at Plainville (2-1)
Location: Alumni
Day and Time: Friday, 6:30 p.m..
All-Time Series: The series belongs to the Lancers, leading 7-4-5 overall. This is the 17th overall showdown for Eastern against Plainville
Last Eastern win against Plainville: Just over 19 years ago, on September 19, 2002, the Lancers pulled out a 16-14 victory on the road to topple the Blue Devils.
Last Week…Eastern fell to Wilbur Cross, 28-12, while Plainville turned away winless Lyman Hall by a 21-12 final.
Casual facts…The Blue Devils are having another solid season and one of many programs in 2020 that took advantage of 7v7 football…For players like Plainville quarterback, junior Michael Bakaysa, it was all about getting reps. And the experience of the 7v7 season helped the signal caller improve his game…The Plainville QB, the son of former Eastern football player Mike Bakaysa (1990-93) has been tremendous to start 2021…He chucked two touchdowns against both South Windsor and Lyman Hall over Plainville’s two victories…Bakaysa can and will make connections with the likes of Justin Emery, Cam Lamothe – a big tight end – and Joe Vasques…The Blue Devils average 16.0 points-per-game but have allowed 85 points on the flip side, 48 of those coming against undefeated Bloomfield during Week 2…Plainville is scrappy, well-coached by Tim Shea – along with old friend, former Bristol Eastern football assistant coach Rich Klett – and the squad will compete for the full 48-minutes…Eastern is going to have its hands full, no doubt…However, the Blue Devils are in for a fight as well, headlined by the exploits of senior running back Alex Marshall…The senior is well on his way to a 1,000-yard campaign and has tallied two 200-plus rushing games already…And don’t expect the offense to make another half-dozen turnovers. The Lancers were back to fundamentals this week at practice according to Eastern head coach Anthony Julius…And if Eastern defense made its first tackle count last Friday, Cross wouldn’t have posted 28 points during that Week 3 battle…Eastern’s defense posted four tackles-for-losses against an extremely quick Cross team with Alex Vita, Austin Shorette, and Marshall making those tackles…Also against Cross, Shorette, Marshall and Jeremy Kolloverja tallied a combined 22 tackles over a big defensive showing…Ditto for Connor Gimpl as well with four tackles…The team certainly misses the all-around efforts of Conor McCormick who is out with an injury but the warrior could be back in action near the end of October…Here’s a little fuel for the fire for the showdown at Plainville: Currently, the Blue Devils are ranked sixth in the Class M football standings. A loss to the Lancers on Friday takes Plainville out of the postseason picture through four games.
