By Michael Letendre
Once again, the excitement continues to build this month as the return of scholastic football is less than a week away.
Yesterday in TBE, we looked at Bristol’s all-time leading rusher – Tim Washington – and observed his All-State accomplishments and records.
Washington had a brilliant career for Bristol Central but the second leading rusher in town also did pretty well for his respective program.
And this tremendous athlete still holds several records at his school in terms of rushing, defense, and the like.
So, which player is Bristol’s second leading all-time rusher?
Here’s a special look at former Eastern standout Reinaldo Soto – the Mum City’s second leading scholastic rusher:
Reinaldo Soto, Bristol Eastern, 5,161 rushing yards (1995-1998)
*Collected a then school record 1,713 yards in 1996 as a sophomore and added to those totals with nearly 1,600 yards in both his junior and senior campaigns. He raced for 1,582 yards in 1997 and added another 1,586 in 1998 as a senior standout.
The lowdown: Before Washington was running wild at Central, there was Reinaldo Soto busting tackles over at Eastern.
Soto was tremendous over his final three seasons for the Lancers, breaking numerous school scoring records and leaving defenders in the dust at tailback.
Like Washington, he even threw the ball from time to time.
Soto started showing his mettle as a freshman and simply took off as a sophomore under then head coach Chris Cassin – leading the Lancers to a tremendous 9-2 ledger in 1996.
Soto was offensive to the extreme against Hall back on October 3, 1998, when the senior put on a show as the Lancers dropped the Warriors by a 27-0 final in West Hartford.
He tallied touchdown scores of 73, 74, and 47 yards while rushing for 260 yards on just 17 carries.
Soto notched 74 career touchdowns at Eastern and zipped up 33 TDs for the then Connecticut state record as a sensational sophomore.
As a senior, Soto nabbed 20 touchdowns as the 6-foot, 185 pound speedster had the third most career TDs to that point in Connecticut scholastic history.
Eastern was a slick 22-10 over Soto’s final three seasons for the program.
He also tallied All-Conference and All-State honors (three times) over multiple seasons which included tremendous defensive efforts.
In 1996, Soto made six fumble recoveries which is currently tied for the 15th most in a season in Connecticut history.
Alone on November 16, 1996 – in a 41-6 blitzing at Bulkeley – Soto scooped in three fumbles for half his season total.
But it’s the offense that he’s most known for and when Soto was barreling past the line of scrimmage at back, he simply could not be stopped.
Thanksgiving was a fun time for Soto and that excellent offensive line between 1996-1998.
Soto won the Thomas R. Monahan Offensive Player of the Game Award in both 1996 and 1998, rushing for 100-plus yards over three wins by the Lancers over the Rams during that stretch.
In 1996, Soto raced for 183 yards on 32 carries as Eastern won 29-14.
And then in 1997, the back zipped up 114 yards on 20 carries in a 33-7 Eastern thrashing over Central.
Finally in 1998, Soto tallied 137 yards (20 carries) as the Lancers got to the pay window over the Rams, 35-7.
And by the completion of his career at Eastern, Soto was Bristol’s all-time leading rusher with 5,161 yards – surpassing Garry Pearson’s 5,084 he compiled at both BC and BE.
Soto had collegiate suitors in the form of UMASS, Northeastern, and Central Connecticut State University and picked from that lot.
He attended CCSU but his football talents were never fully utilized as Soto eventually left the program – never to play collegiately again.
But in terms of athletes from Bristol, he doesn’t rank that much off the abilities of Washington, the current all-time leading rusher in town.
What’s the common thread between Soto and Washington (well, besides football)?
The duo were competent basketball players who used their blazing speed to slash to the hoop.
This November, Soto takes his place in the Bristol Sports Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2022.
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