Bristol Central opened the 2022 football season with a disappointing 21-14 loss to Manchester Friday night. Four turnovers and a slew of defensive miscues led to a disappointing night for the Rams in front of a big home crowd.
Central jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead when quarterback Nik Salinas capped a 14-play, 93-yard drive on eight-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter.
Manchester countered when one of those defensive miscues reared its ugly head. Facing a first and 18 after a penalty deep in his own territory, quarterback Jaden Kennedy scrambled while the defense ignored receiver Jared Lindstrom standing near the 40-yard line.
Kennedy connected with Lindstrom who took it the rest of the way for a 77-yard scoring play that tied the score on the opening play of the second period.
The score remained tied at 7-7 well into the fourth period as each team committed three costly turnovers. Central fumbled the ball away at the 32 and the Rams’ Can Tomak picked off a pass to stop a Manchester drive in the first half.
Central got a big defensive play when Anthony Paulino intercepted a pass in the endzone to thwart a drive off the second half kickoff. But the Rams fumbled twice in the second half, with the second leading to the go-ahead touchdown with eight minutes left. After Salinas connected with Carmelo Thompson to tie the score for the Rams with four-and-a-half minutes to go, the Rams suffered a series of defensive breakdowns, allowing Manchester runners to make big gains in crucial situations and leading to the game-winning score with just 1:34 left.
“We had them where we wanted them multiple times and we let them get away,” said coach Jeff Papazian. “We created turnovers in some really big spots. Our defensive had double stakes many times, but we let them scramble to get back in it.”
“Too many major breakdowns at the wrong times,” Papazian added. “They capitalized on our mistakes. I can’t say the same for us.”
Manchester, which won only one game last year, celebrated the win on the Central field while the Rams vowed to get back to work to prepare for next week’s battle at South Windsor.
The Rams unveiled a new offense under the leadership of Nik Salinas but the attack started to look like the attack of Central offenses for most of the past decade with the quarterback calling his own number almost as often as he handed off. Salinas was the team’s leading rusher with 57 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. He passed for 62 yards with a 4-for-8 effort for 62 yards and a score.
Thompson, the talented sophomore who hopes to be Central’s next big numbers back, started his career with 12 carries for 51 yards and caught a touchdown pass.
One aspect of the game that was a complete new look for Central fans was the kicking game. Ken Whitford kicked two extra points, matching the team’s total kicking output from a year ago in the very first game. And Oscar Kuzniar sent three kickoffs into the endzone, an exciting event for fans used to watching kickoffs bounce barely over the midfield stripe for the past few seasons.
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