By Michael Letendre
PLAINVILLE – With four minutes left to play in its CCC Tier 3 showdown against Plainville on Friday, the Bristol Eastern football squad was leading 14-7 and limiting the home team to just one touchdown.
But the Blue Devils were on the cusp of stealing the momentum of the game.
Plainville quickly tied up the contest and one possession later, the home squad squared up 21-14 edge with 1:22 to play.
Would there be a response by the Lancers? Could the visitors make a comeback?
Eastern had one heck of a response as it took two plays to almost steal away the game back from Plainville.
With less than ninety seconds to play in regulation, the Lancers scooped in an amazing touchdown and went for two points, just missing on the conversion, as the Blue Devils hung on to win, 21-20 from Tinty Field in Plainville.
“The kids played really, really hard and that’s what I told them at the end of the game,” said Eastern coach Anthony Julius. “I’m very, very proud of them.”
Trailing 21-14 with Eastern on its own 44 yard-line, Eastern quarterback Brady Brown (6-for-11, 70 yards, TD) boosted a ball in the direction of receiver Rayshon Andrews.
As the ball came Andrews’ way, Plainville’s Joseph Vasquez batted the ball away from the receiver.
However, the pigskin fell right into the hands of Eastern’s Nathan Shorette.
And even Carl Lewis wasn’t going to catch the senior as he steamrolled into the end zone – picking up a 56 yard TD to make it a 21-20 game with 1:01 left.
Eastern was going to have kicker Gavin Damboise tie it up with a PAT but the Lancers called time and when the squad lined back up, the Kingstreeters were going for two.
Brown tossed a ball over to Austin Shorette who just missed hauling it in as Plainville still led by one, 21-20.
“When you draw things up, you hope they work that well,” said Julius. “An inch more and I think we’re having a different talk right now.”
Plainville quarterback Michael Bakaysa (17-for-25, 217 yards, TD) was the perfect taskmaster on the field – directing traffic, making a few hard runs and scored a TD on the ground while tossing one to Cameron Lamothe (six catches, 86 yards).
“He’s definitely a good football player,” said Julius of Bakaysa. “It showed on film. He made a couple nice scrambles [and] he scored on a touchdown run. He’s got a bright future.”
Brown certainly had a gritty outing at quarterback, Nate Shorette made four receptions for 68 yards, and veteran Alex Marshall busted Plainville for 170 yards on 34 carries.
Eastern’s defense sacked Bakaysa three times while tallying a season best seven tackles-for-losses.
Austin Shorette was everywhere, totaling 2.5 sacks and two tackles-for-losses, costing the Blue Devils 24 yards in total offense.
Cooper Harris, Connor Gimpl, Kyle Babin, Marshall and Austin Shorette also stopped rushers behind the line of scrimmage for the Lancers.
On Eastern’s first drive of the game, the squad went nearly 60 yards on 12 plays but turned ball over on the Plainville 21.
But on Plainville’s first hike of the ensuing set, the ball went way over Bakaysa’s outstretched arms and headed into the end zone.
Gimpl ended up pouncing on the ball for a touchdown as Eastern led 7-0 with 3:52 remaining in the first frame.
That score carried into the second stanza and halfway through the period, Plainville tied the score up at 7-7.
On a slick 10-play drive, Bakaysa found Lamothe for a 43 yard reception to get on Eastern’s three yard-line.
But two tackles for losses and an incomplete pass saw the Blue Devils go all in on fourth down.
From the five, Bakaysa charged into the goal from the left side, punching the ball across the line, for a score to tie the game.
“Plainville made some plays tonight,” said Julius. “They caught the ball well.
Late in the second, a bad Plainville punt saw Eastern charge into the red zone but a fumble and recovery by the Blue Devils snuffed out the drive with 2:51 before the half.
And the 7-7 stalemate lasted into the fourth period when the teams came up empty on their first drives of the second half.
But as the fourth and final frame commenced, the Lancers were on the attack.
Marshall, rushing all 53 yards of an eight play drive, finally scored on a fourth-and-goal situation.
The senior dashed, crashed and fell into the Plainville goal for a four yard TD rush and with 11:53 to play, the visitors led 14-7.
But the Lancers went three-and-out over its next three drives, allowing Plainville to tie and eventually scoop up the lead.
To get into the red zone, Bakaysa roped a slick 34-yard pass to Vasquez with less than five minutes to play.
And from there, back Kyle McGraw (19 carries, 51 yards) made a one yard jaunt into the end zone and with 3:47 to go, it was a 14-14 game.
“[Plainville] made a really nice play on their [throw] down to the one yard line that tied the game up at 14-14,” said Julius. “Up until that point through, we kind of really smothered them. They had a hard time operating. It’s the same story for us every single week. It’s a matter of [us having] to limit big plays and that’s any high school defense.”
And when Eastern punted the ball after the ensuing drive, Bakaysa made three quick passes to get his squad on the Eastern five.
To tally the game-winning touchdown, Bakaysa calmly flicked the ball up to Lamothe as the TD strike propelled Plainville to a 21-14 edge with 1:22 to play.
From there, Nate Shorette made his game-saving touchdown reception, Eastern missed out on the two-point conversion but Plainville couldn’t run out the clock as the home team was forced to punt one more time.
With 38 seconds left, Andrews made a huge rush via a reverse and a Brown nine yard run helped get Eastern to Plainville’s 39 yard-line.
But the Lancers never advanced any further, turning the ball over on downs with five seconds left, as the Blue Devils came away with a 21-20 win.
“We went down swinging, and that’s all you can ever ask for from the kids,” said Julius. “They’re some upset kids on our sideline right now and we should be because we’ve lost two in a row here. But [we] were in the football game. We had an opportunity to win the game late and that’s all you can ask for.”
CCC Tier 3 Football
PLAINVILLE 21, BRISTOL EASTERN 20
from Tinty Field, Plainville
Bristol Eastern (2-2) 7 0 0 13 – 7
Plainville (3-1) 0 7 0 14 – 7
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
BE – Connor Gimpl fumble recover in the end zone (Gavin Damboise), 3:52
Second Quarter
P – Michael Bakaysa 4 run (Gabe Hernandez kick), 6:54
Third Quarter
No Scoring
Fourth Quarter
BE – Alex Marshall 4 run (Damboise kick), 11:53
P – Kye McGraw 1 run (Hernandez), 3:47
P – Cameron Lamothe 5 pass from Michael Bakaysa (Hernandez kick), 1:22
BE – Nate Shorette 56 pass from Brady Brown (pass failed), 1:01
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Passing – Bristol Eastern: Brady Brown 6-for-11, 70 yards; Plainville: Michael Bakaysa 17-for-25, 217 yards.
Rushing – Bristol Eastern: Alex Marshall 34-170, Brady Brown 7-29, Rayshon Andrews 2-31; Plainville: Kye McGraw 19-51, Michael Bakaysa 8-20, Team 1-for-(minus-21).
Receiving – Bristol Eastern: Austin Shorette 1-5, Nate Shorette 4-68, Rayshon Andrews 1-for-(minus-3); Plainville: Cameron Lamothe 6-86, Joseph Vasques 4-57, Jacob Benvenuto 4-41, Justin Emery 3-33.
