By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – The Bristol Eastern football program is looking for a .500 finish to its campaign in 2021 and step one of that process was attempting to top winless Farmington on Friday night.
It was ‘Senior Night’ for the Lancers and the squad gave its outgoing class one more outstanding effort under the bright lights of Alumni Field.
Eastern amassed just under 500 yards in total offense against the River Hawks as the home squad nabbed a huge 54-22 victory – pulling the Lancers to 4-5 overall,
while Farmington fell to 0-9.
The Lancers wrangled up 296 yards in offense over the first 24 minutes of play and never looked back – leading to a 30-14 halftime push that was never challenged.
“We did a nice job tonight,” said Eastern coach Anthony Julius of the offense. “We challenged the guys up front. We knew our ball carriers were going to do their thing. We definitely hopped on the backs of our offensive lineman, fullbacks, and tight ends and [they all] did a great job.”
The 54 points is the highest total ever posted by a Julius coached team and was just one touchdown and two-point conversion off the school record for points scored in a game.
And then there was an outstanding night by senior back Alex Marshall who took on all comers and smashed his way for 260 yards on 31 carries – good for four rushing touchdowns.
By virtue of that performance, Marshall now has 1,638 rushing yards officially this season.
Only Reinaldo Soto (1,713 yards in 1996) has rushed for more yards in a single season at Eastern. That record is in jeopardy come Thanksgiving as Marshall needs just 75 yards to top Soto’s sophomore campaign from 1996.
But the night also belonged to Rayshon Andrews who churned out 202 yards in total offense, including three rushing touchdowns over a career evening.
And once the talented sophomore, at 6-foot-3 and 170 pounds, got to the outside and turned the corner, he was nearly unstoppable to catch.
“[Farmington] certainly had a hard time matching up with his speed once he got to the perimeter for sure,” said Julius of Andrews. “Farmington was trying to take away our inside run game like [opponents] should try to do because we’ve done it so well over the year. And we knew we had to get to the perimeter and have big plays and we did.”
Defensively, Nate Shorette tallied his second interception of the season while Jeremy Kollaverja added his first career pickoff.
Austin Shorette, Luke Dauphinee, Connor Gimpl, Josh Aubin, and Cooper Harris all tallied tackles-for-losses for Eastern while senior Malik Sherill – filling in for the injured Gavin Damboise and Chase Dauphinee – did a great job drilling the ball all over the field on kickoffs and made his shares of tackles as well.
“Malik has been a really kind of jack of all trades for us on the team this year,” said Julius. “He can play outside on the defensive line. He showed tonight he could play inside on the defensive line. He kicked a little bit. He’s a big personality and he’s happy to be out here and we’re happy he’s been contributing for us.”
Eastern needed just one play to get on the scoreboard as Marshall took the first ball he saw a blistering 72 yards for a TD and a gave the home squad a 6-0 lead with 9:38 left in the first quarter.
But on the flip side, a short field allowed Luke Watson to eventually dash up the middle for a score as his seven yard touchdown gave the visitors their only edge of the game at 7-6 at the 7:35 mark of the first frame.
And then it was Andrews turn for a big play as his 64 yard explosion down the Farmington sideline made it a 14-7 contest with 5:48 remaining in the first tilt.
The Eastern defense held the fort into the second stanza when the Kingstreeters found pay dirt once again.
This time, off s slick 13 play drive, Marshall made a five yard plunge into the goal and with 4:18 left before the half, Eastern led 22-7. Farmington answered when QB Kevin Ives found Thomas Keough in the back of the Lancers’ goal for an 11 yard connection – chopping the deficit to 22-14.
But Eastern invaded the red zone one more time before the half as a sweet reverse by Andrews saw the speedster score on a 16 yard rush and off a Marshall conversion, the home team – on senior night – held a 30-14 cushion with 11 seconds left in the second stanza.
A late interception by Kolloverja sealed the deal at halftime with BE leading by 16 with the home team receiving the ball to open the third tilt.
And Eastern scored in just 58 seconds to begin the following stanza.
Andrews made one of those long jaunts, sprinting towards the Farmington sideline, making a sharp turn and barreling down for a 62 yard TD jaunt and when Marshall made what turned into a 17 yard conversion pass to Andrews due to a penalty, the home squad scooped up a 38-14 push with 11:02 left.
“The guys on the perimeter did a great job as they always do,” said Julius. “Jeremy, Rayshon, and Nate Shorette did an outstanding job blocking on the perimeter. They allowed our ground game to really go along with the offensive line, tight ends and fullbacks. Our receivers take pride in their stop blocking abilities and it showed tonight.”
Farmington answered with one final score as Watson capped a nine play drive with a three run touchdown rush as the visiting aggression cut the deficit to 38-22 with 6:16 left to play in the third.
From there, the River Hawks induced an Eastern punt but got stuck by the Eastern defense on a 10 play gambit that dried up just outside the red zone.
Eastern then made Farmington pay as Marshall broke two tackles on his way to a sweet 29 yard TD burst and when Nate Shorette nabbed his interception, the Lancers’ offense went right back to work with a 46-22 edge in hand and 7:37 remaining in the fray.
Marshall then scooped up a total of 40 yards on eight straight rushes, culminating with a one yard zip into the end zone and when Jaiden Fore ran in the two-point conversion for his first points of the season, Eastern sized up a 54-22 edge to close out the contest with 2:47 left.
“It’s a good way for our kids to rebound offensively and put up over fifty points on the board and only attempt one or two passes,” said Julius. “It’s a good night by any former offensive lineman’s standards.”
NOTES…Eastern’s senior core of Joseph Davis, Leon Chatelle, Cameron Goodman, Nathan Shorette, Dylan Bradley, Nashon Price, Malik Sherrill, and captains Luke Dauphinee, Alex Vita, Conor McCormick, and Alex Marshall all played in their final home game from Alumni Field.
Bristol Eastern Football
Central Connecticut Conference Tier 3 Football Challenge
BRISTOL EASTERN 54, FARMINGTON 22
from Alumni Field, Bristol
Farmington (0-9) 7 7 8 0 – 22
Bristol Eastern (4-5) 14 16 8 16 – 54
SCORING SUMMARY
First Period
BE – Alex Marshall 72 run (kick failed), 9:38
F – Luke Watson 7 run (Thomas Keough kick), 7:35
BE – Rayshon Andrews 64 run (Brady Brown run), 5:48
Second Period
BE – Marshall 5 run (Marshall run), 4:18
F – Keough 11 pass by Kevin Ives (Keough kick), 1:27
BE – Andrews 16 run (Marshall run), 0:11
Third Period
BE – Rayshon Andrews 62 run (Andrews catch from Marshall), 11:02
F – Watson three-yard run (Keough catch), 6:16
Fourth Period
BE – Marshall 39 run (Marshall run), 7:37
BE – Marshall 1 run (Jaiden Fore run), 2:47
Individual Statistics
Passing – Farmington: Kevin Ives 9-for-16, 93 yards, Cayden Markowitz 4-for-4, 32 yards; Bristol Eastern: Brady Brown 1-for-3, 5 yards.
Rushing – Farmington: Luke Watson 24-93, Kevin Ives 4-19, Cody DeGrandi 3-33; Bristol Eastern: Alex Marshall 31-260, Rayshon Andrews 6-202, Brady Brown 3-14.
Receiving – Farmington: Ryan Parker 6-44, Thomas Keough 4-28, Luke Watson 2-46, Cody DeGrandi 1-7; Bristol Eastern: Nate Shorette 1-5.
