By Michael Letendre

EAST HARTFORD – This past Saturday, the University of Connecticut football squad held a 21-0 edge over Yale and with 11:15 left in the third period, the Huskies were in complete control of the game.

But the Bulldogs staged a late furious rally, chopped the deficit to six and was actually one Hail Mary pass away from stealing the game against UCONN.

In the end, the ball was picked off as UCONN survived, knocking off Yale in a 21-15 final from Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.

It was the first showdown between the squads in twenty-two years and was Homecoming weekend for the Huskies.

Nearly 18,600 fans attended the competitive bout and there was a significant Bristol presence at the game as several football fans traveled from the Mum City to see former Bristol Central standout Dathan Hickey take the field for the Bulldogs.

He had a solid game for Yale as the visitors were just a hair short in seizing the game in the end – holding the UCONN offense scoreless over the final quarter-and-a-half of the showdown.

Hickey had a season high in tackles with four as Yale gave UCONN (now 1-7) all it could handle over the second half of play.

Three of Hickey’s tackles were of the solo variety and his four tackles overall were the most in 2021 for the speedster.

This season, the 6-foot-1 junior has nine total tackles to his name, including a half-tackle for a loss of one yard.

With the loss, Yale fell to 2-3 overall while the Huskies earned its first win of the campaign since defeating UMASS (56-35) back on October 26, 2019.

Current Central standout Victor Rosa will be attending UCONN in the fall as both squads will soon have representatives from the Bristol Central football program.