By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – Thursday night’s a great night for football…again!
And for the second straight week, a Mum City favorite will play a little ball on Thursday.
This time, its Bristol Central’s turn as the Rams have a date at Edwin O. Smith High School – in the looming shadow of the University of Connecticut campus.
Central will be looking for its sixth straight victory while the following day, the program over at Bristol Eastern is hoping for lightning in a bottle and a second straight win.
But the Lancers must battle a suddenly hot South Windsor group and that should be an extreme test.
It’s going to be a fun Thursday/Friday of action as the public schools in Bristol are ready to throw down in Week 8:
Bristol Central (5-1) vs. Edwin O. Smith (1-5)
Location: The turf field at Edwin O. Smith High School
Day and Time: Thursday, 6:30 p.m.
All-Time Series: This series is as lopsided as it gets. Central has a clean sheet against the Panthers, going a cool 8-0 against the program.
Last Encounter…On opening day in 2019, Central defeated Smith by a 27-6 push. Then sophomore Victor Rosa flipped the Panthers for 170 yards on 18 carries while running for three touchdowns.
Last Week…Central and Tolland decided to make a little pigskin history for the Rams last Friday, combining for a school record 118 points. The Rams ended up toppling the Eagles, 68-50, over a showdown that was as offensive as it gets. On the flip side, Smith was slammed at home by Lewis Mills, 32-6. Smith is currently on a four-game losing streak.
Casual facts…There won’t be any combined 100-point efforts for the third consecutive week by Central and its opponent. That’s a TBE promise…After generating 31-7 victory against Farmington on September 17, the Panthers have wrangled up a total of twenty points over the past four weeks…In fact, Smith has been outscored 135-20 over that four game losing streak…Again, this will not be a score-a-thon as Central will show improvement defensively, make that first tackle count, and score enough to put the event away quickly…But going back to last week, man, what a show by Central…Rosa went for 406 yards on the ground, scoring eight rushing touchdowns to establish a new school record. The 406 yards was the third best single game rushing total in program history and Rosa is already fifth on the list for single season TD’s scored with 26…For the season, Rosa has compiled 1,562 yards and needs just 37 more to surpass D.J. Hernandez (1,599) for seventh place in single season rushing totals…And speaking of offensive weapons, Tre Blair and Justin Despins have been amazing complements to Rosa this year, along with Damion Glasper, helping to set the offensive table and scooping in 100-plus yard rushing totals as a trio…That big offensive line deserves credit, too. That’s a tough crew – helping Central average a mind boggling 60.0 points-per-game over its last two contests…Over that same stretch, however, the Rams have allowed 49.0 ppg but the program hopes to revert to its first three weeks of play defensively as Central let opponents score just twenty-five total points over that opening stretch of games…In Week 1, E.O. Smith let Eastern’s Alex Marshall run wild for 243 yards in the Lancers’ 35-6 win over the Panthers…Eastern’s defense held E.O. to just 109 yards in total offense and that’s a tally Central would like to contain the squad to…Smith is very young with a boatload of underclassmen earning playing time this season…QB Sebastian Szymczak is a pretty good athlete and can toss the ball all over the field…But is Smith going to be ready for Central’s defense, looking to make some big stops and reverse the squad’s recent defensive woes?…Here’s the bottom line: this scoring bonanza is going to stop for Central’s opponents, starting on Thursday in Storrs.
State Tournament Picture – Bristol Central is in the mix
St. Joseph (1020 points, 170.00 average) is in the pole position in the Class L rankings but must tangle with Darien on Saturday. A loss there would be a big deal while No. 2 Thames River (6-0, 845 points, 140.83) battles No. 8 Cheney Tech (5-1, 730, 121.67) from Cheney Tech.
If the correct team losses, it will flip Central a notch or so up the Class L ladder.
Also this weekend, Maloney (No. 3, 5-1 overall, 840 points, 140.00) battles one-win New Britain while No. 4 Quinebaug (6-0, 815, 135.83) travels to Northwest United but plays both Cheney Tech and Thames River in November.
After No. 5 Central takes it shot at Edwin O. Smith on Thursday, Windsor (No. 6, 780, 130.00) battles an impressive Platt squad (4-2) while No. 7 Naugatuck (4-1, 620, 124.00) takes on surging Holy Cross (5-1).
And by the completion of the weekend, there could be some upward movement for Bristol Central as the month of November approaches.
Bristol Eastern (3-3) vs. South Windsor (4-2)
Location: Alumni Field on the campus of Bristol Eastern
Day and Time: Friday, 6;30 p.m.
All-Time Series: Eastern is in the driver’s seat in the series, holding a 5-4-1 edge over the Bobcats.
Last Encounter…Before that overtime game on Thanksgiving in 2019, the Lancers traveled to South Windsor on November 16 and fell via a 13-0 shutout in what was a winnable contest by the locals.
Last Week…South Windsor held on late to stop Hartford Public, 30-24, while Eastern nabbed an impressive 38-18 win at Cheney Tech.
Casual facts…Fresh off Eastern’s 250th program victory, the Lancers have one heck of an opponent to face this Friday in Bristol…This should be an exciting contest as South Windsor brings in a quarterback who can do it all…Against Hartford Public last week, Ethan LaGuardia zipped up three touchdowns in that huge six-point victory…He rushed for two touchdowns while scooping in 100 yards on the ground. He also tossed the ball for nearly 70 yards and a touchdown to lead the Bobcats offense…Don’t sleep on LaGuardia’s passing abilities as he can and will make pin-point connections…LaGuardia (45-of-91, 660 yards, eight touchdowns through five games) will find connections with Sam Meleshenko (8 passes, 154 yards, TD), Anthony Maddox (9-157, 3 TDs) and Tyron Casey (7-83, 3 TD’s)…Since the 21-0 shutout against Bristol Central back on Week 2, the Bobcats have been playing extremely well…The squad is averaging 30.3 points-per-game over its 4-0 winning streak and defeated Tolland (20-17) and Hartford Public by a combined nine points…This is a program that has figured how to win a close game after dropping its opening day game to Plainville (27-25) and then was shutout by Central…On the flip side, Eastern’s twenty-point win against East Catholic was impressive as back Alex Marshall dropped in 220 rushing yards and four TD’s on the Eagles and nearly has 1,200 to his name this year…Josh Aubin was tremendous defensively against Catholic, helping force a turnover off the Eagles first kickoff return while scooping in a team-leading eight tackles…Marshall had his usual collection of tackles while Austin Shorette added a sack and a half-tackle for a loss. Between sacks and TFL’s, East Catholic lost 26 yards in offense…South Windsor better be ready for the run as the Lancers notched over 400 yards versus the Eagles as Aubin (five rushes, 69 yards) and the elusive Rayshon Andrews (3-71) each rushed for their first touchdowns of the campaign from the ground…The Eastern squad has been very good on third down conversions this season (44-percent) and outgained its opponents by more than 300 yards overall…South Windsor is attempting to make an outside dash for a state tournament berth but an Eastern victory squashes any kind of postseason scenario for the Bobcats.
