Maloney strikes early and often to end Bristol Central’s playoff hopes

Football

The script was amazingly consistent for Bristol Central all season. They would ride the legs of Victor Rosa to score a slew of points, and a steadily improving defense would shutdown the opponent, leading to one dominant victory after another.

On Tuesday night from Falcon Field in Meriden, Maloney would have none of that.

The Spartans dominated on both sides of the ball on Tuesday and came away with an easy 49-14 victory over Bristol Central in a game that was never really close.

Central sputtered on offense from the very start, losing the ball on a botched hand-off on their second play of the game. Maloney took over on the BC 30, and 4 plays later reached pay dirt for a score. Angel Arce threw a perfect pass to a slanting Ian Graham from 26 yards out, and in less than 3 minutes, the score was already 7-0.

On the Ram’s second possession, Maloney intercepted a Victor Rosa pass on 3rd and long, one of four interceptions they had on the night. After an impressive drive featuring strong running by the Spartans Joshua Boganski mixed with pinpoint passing by Arce, Maloney punched it in on a 1 yard dive by Kenneth McMillan to make it 14-0.

Rosa briefly revived Central’s hopes with a 59 yard sprint down the left sideline. The conversion pass was intercepted, but the Rams were back in the game with a little more than 2 minutes remaining in quarter 1.

Central’s hopes did not last much longer. On the ensuing kickoff, Maloney’s Josiah Gonzalez returned the ball all the way to BC’s 25 yard line, and on the first play from scrimmage, Arce struck again, throwing a perfect strike to Austin Studley in the end zone for a 21-6 Maloney lead.

The Rams had only two plays on their next possession, as Rosa was intercepted again by Maloney’s Jack Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald took his interception into the end zone, but Central gained a brief reprieve when a holding penalty negated the score.

Shortly later, Maloney’s Rashawn Shelton picked off another Rosa pass, and he also brought it back for a score, this time with no penalty, and the Spartans led 28-6 late in the 2nd.

With 4:30 remaining in the second quarter, Rosa threw his first completion of the game, but it was huge, a 50 yard bomb down the middle to Damion Glasper. A couple of plays later, Rosa plunged into the end zone for his second score of the game. He also ran in the 2 point conversion and the score stood at 28-14 with under 4 minutes to play in the half.

Unfortunately for the Rams, that did not end the scoring in the first half. Maloney calmly drove the length of the field, with large chunks of yardage eaten up by Boganski, who had 152 yards rushing for the game. With 1:30 left, Arce again hit Studley, this time for a 28 yard TD. The score at the half, 35-14, and Maloney in total control.

The second half began with another Maloney TD, Arce’s fourth touchdown pass of the game, an arching 15 yard fade to Ian Graham. With the score at 42-14, the mercy rule was within reach, and the Spartans did not let up.

After stopping Central on its next possession, Maloney drove the length of the field and capped off the night’s scoring with an 8 yard run by Boganski. With the score now 49-14, a running clock was instituted, and the fourth quarter ended quickly with no further damage by either side.

For Central, Victor Rosa gained 128 yards on 29 carries. He was forced into several long yardage passing situations, and finished 4 of 14 for 100 yards and 4 interceptions. Damion Glasper led BC receivers with 2 catches for 56 yards, while Jarrett Boxley had 1 big catch for a 39 yard gain.

Arce finished 10 of 12 passing for 159 yards and 4 touchdowns. He was able to sit comfortably in the pocket, and when he found some wide open receivers, he delivered the ball precisely.

Maloney, now 10-1, will be home on Sunday in the Class L semi-final against the 7th ranked Masuk team, who upset the 2 seed Naugatuck Tuesday night.

Bristol Central finishes their outstanding season with a record of 9-2.