By Michael Letendre

AVON – The Bristol Eastern and Avon football programs locked horns in a good one on Friday night and with less than four minutes to play, the Falcons were clinging to a four point lead at 12-8 but were driving to the goal. 

Two late scores over a whirlwind ninety seconds knocked out the Lancers as Avon won at home by a 24-8 final in a CCC Tier III event.

The Falcons (2-2) have won two straight while the program from Bristol – playing its third consecutive road game – is still looking for that first elusive win (0-4).

“We couldn’t really seem to get in sync or get into rhythm on offense,” said Eastern coach Anthony Julius. “I know we gave up twenty-four points, but I thought our defense played really well most of the night. That’s an offense [at Avon] that is designed to stay on the field and churn the clock and they were able to do that in the second half because we weren’t able to stay on the field on offense.”

“That was really kind of the story in the second half for us.”

Avon racked up all of its 247 yards on the ground, missing its only pass it attempted, as quarterback Connor Lavore had 120 yards on 25 carries for two TDs.

Nikolai Meltser (11-98) scored two touchdowns as well and just missed out on a 100-yard game.

The Falcons did a tremendous job following its blockers for extra yardage and first down tallies which kept the chains in motion on the sideline.

Eastern’s Jaiden Fore did a tremendous job over the first half, making 13 rushes for 64 yards but was injured before the conclusion of the second frame.

Josh Aubin (9-45) did well stepping up for Fore but Eastern was not able to cobble together a second-half score – limited to only 27 total yards of offense over the final 24 minutes of play.

“Jaiden really ran the ball well for us in the first half,” said Julius of Fore. “He’s run the ball really well for us all year. He’s a big part of our offense. But I thought Josh did a really good job stepping in and he had some big carries for us at the end of the half [and] did some nice things early out of the gate.”

“It was just the offense as a whole. We just couldn’t get going.”

Avon’s defense played extremely well, allowing Eastern only 130 yards on offense overall.

Credit belonged to Eastern sophomore kicker Gavin Damboise as he dropped in balls that forced the Falcons to start its offensive sets deep within its own territory.

That’s exactly what happened with 3:30 left in the first quarter when a Damboise punt rolled all the way to the Avon two yard-line.

And on the ensuing play, Lavore tried to rush a ball out of the end zone but bumped straight into Eastern’s Michael Sherrill.

His tackle in the Avon goal turned into a safety and a 2-0 lead for the Lancers.

“The special teams were really good today,” said Julius. “[In] the kicking game we did a really nice job. We kicked off well, we punted well, we covered well and defensively we did a lot of good things. We had a few breakdowns, a few lapses here and there, but that’s the game.”

“Eventually, [Avon’s] going to make some plays too.”

On the free kick, which was booted from the Avon 20 due to the safety, Eastern’s Zaveyn Tate made a slick return all the way to the Falcons’ 39.

Four plays later, Fore punched a ball into the goal for a 10-yard touchdown sprint and with 1:32 left to play in the first frame, the Lancers snared a quick 8-0 push.

Despite offensive gains by Eastern over the final three quarters, the visitors never got back to the red zone again, but the Lancers’ defense didn’t allow much in terms of gains either.

On an Avon eight play, 67-yard drive, Meltser eventually scored on an eight-yard run and with 9:24 to go in the first half, Eastern’s edge was trimmed to 8-6.

To end the second quarter, Eastern drove to Avon’s 25 but a sack on BE quarterback Alexander Corvo and the loss of Fore stopped the locals from scoring.

However, the Lancers still held the edge at the break by two points.

Eastern fumbled and lost the ball to open the third quarter and then nine plays and 56 yards later, Lavore punched a ball up the gut for a one-yard TD plunge and with 5:14 to play in the period, the Falcons were in front 12-8.

But Avon couldn’t shake the Lancers and late into the fourth, it was still a one possession game.

“We made it hard for them,” said Julius. “They had to go the length of the field a few times. That really helped us, get us the ball back, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to generate enough offense tonight to win the game.”

Avon made a late, time-gobbling drive midway through the fourth frame and once the home team got into Eastern’s red zone with 4:30 to play, Meltser scored an insurance four-yard touchdown – giving the Falcons a 18-8 push with 3:13 left.

The Lancers then fumbled on its first play off the score and Avon had a short field with the ball on Eastern’s 11 yard-line.

Two plays later, Lavore slipped in for a seven-yard touchdown jaunt, making it a 24-8 game with 1:49 remaining which saw the Falcons pick up a big 16-point win over the Lancers in the end.

“Overall, the defense did a nice job tonight,” said Julius. “They were just on the field for a long time.”

BRISTOL EASTERN FOOTBALL (CCC Tier III Showdown)

AVON 24, BRISTOL EASTERN 8

from Avon High School

Bristol Eastern (0-4)  8 0 0 0 – 8 

Avon (2-2)  0 6 6 12 – 24

SCORING

First Period

BE – Safety (Avon quarterback Connor Lavore tackled in end zone), 3:21

BE – Jaiden Fore 10 run (failed run), 1:32

Second Period

A – Nik Meltser 8 run (failed run), 9:24 

Third Period

A – Connor Lavore 1 (failed run), 5:14

Fourth Period

A – Meltser 4 run (failed kick), 3:13

A – Lavore 7 run (failed kick), 1:49

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – Bristol Eastern: Jaiden Fore 13-64, Rayshon Andrews 5-14, Alex Corvo 2-(minus-13), Chase Dauphinee 1-10, Joshua Aubin 9-45; Avon: Connor Lavore 25-120, Nikolai Meltser 11-98, Cole Mirado 7-20, Tanner Cote 3-9.

PASSING – Bristol Eastern: Corvo 4-of-9, 10 yards, Andrews 0-for-1, 0 yards; Avon: Lavore 0-of-1, 0 yards.

RECEPTIONS – Bristol Eastern: Austin Shorette 1-3, Andrews 3-7.

Records: Avon 2-2 overall; Bristol Eastern 0-4.

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