By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – The Bloomfield football program proved to be a bad match-up for the squad from Bristol Eastern on Friday night.

The Lancers slowed the Warhawks offensively early on and then made gains defensively and on special teams, but the visitors never took its collective foot off the gas despite those setbacks.

Midway through the second frame until the very end of the contest, Bloomfield scored the final 33 points of the showdown – eventually inducing a running clock – as the Warhawks roped the Kingstreeters by a 61-13 final in a CCC Tier 3 showdown from Alumni Field in Bristol.

Eastern posted just six yards of total offense overall while not gaining a single first down against a very tough Bloomfield front but the Lancers made gains none-the-less.

Josh Aubin zipped up an interception off Bloomfield quarterback Darrien Foster in the end zone and Rayshon Andrews also made a pickoff play and flipped that turnover into a 52-yard TD jaunt midway through the second half.

Kyle Babin pumped in an 80-yard kickoff return for a score as Eastern refused to go quietly into the night.

And Bloomfield’s first two offensive drives were stopped in its tracks as it was just a 7-0 game going into the final seconds of the first quarter.

“We had a couple plays on defense and special teams,” said Eastern coach Anthony Julius. “The defense came out and played pretty well early in the first half. For most of the first half, they played pretty well.”

Eastern continues to suffer losses on the injury front as Zaveyn Tate, who was tremendous over the Plainville victory, along with Wyatt Scarritt, wasn’t available to play.

The injury list is still a mile long as Brady Brown, Kamden Laprise, and Jeremy Kolloverja have been lost for most of the campaign along with several others.

And plenty of newer faces, who were thrown into the mix against Bloomfield, forced a tough situation in Eastern’s offensive and defensive schemes.

“Unfortunately, injuries are part of sports,” said Julius. “We have to be ready for the next kid to pop in. We had to have some guys go in tonight that haven’t played a ton of varsity football. One of them was even a freshman whose never played a varsity snap in his life, and he did a pretty good job.”

Bloomfield snuck in two first quarter scores, including a 70-yard punt return by Davien Kerr at the buzzer, to make it a 14-0 game after one quarter.

After Bloomfield’s Edwin Rodriguez ran in a two-yard score to push the deficit to 21-0 early in the second quarter, Eastern turned defense into offense.

Andrews plucked a ball away from Foster for a score and when Babin blasted through several tackles over his 80-yard kickoff return for a TD with 3:00 remaining in the second stanza.

And it was just a 28-13 game off a Gavin Damboise PAT – keeping the Lancers in the mix.

But from there, it was all Warhawks as missed offensive chances and short fields allowed the visiting aggression five unanswered scores.

“Our offense didn’t put our defense in very good positions throughout the night,” said Julius. “We really struggled to maintain offense. Bloomfield is an athletic front [with] a lot of pressure. We struggled near the perimeter. We had a hard time running the ball up the middle, so it was definitely a struggle for us tonight on offense.”

Rodriguez scored on an 11-yard run to make it a 35-13 game at the half while two TDs in the third period – highlighted by a 52 Foster strike to Davion Kerr with 4:15 left in the quarter – gave Bloomfield an opposing 48-13 edge through three.

In the fourth and final frame, Foster dropped in a 55-yard touchdown pass to Davien Kerr while Ja’den Jesurum made a 11-yard sprint up the gut for the final touchdown of the evening as Bloomfield won it 61-13.

“The effort was good by the kids,” said Julius of Eastern. “You have to tip your cap to Bloomfield. They’re a good team.” 

BRISTOL EASTERN FOOTBALL (CCC Tier III Football Showdown)

BLOOMFIELD 61, BRISTOL EASTERN 13

from Alumni Field, Bristol

Bloomfield (6-2) 14 21 13 13 – 61  

Bristol Eastern (2-6) 0 13 0 0 – 13 

SCORING

First Period

BL – Jose Feliciano 8 pass by Darrien Foster (Matt Miller kick), 1:32

BL – Davien Kerr 70 punt return (Miller kick), 0:00

Second Period

BL – Edwin Rodriguez two run (Miller kick), 7:47

BE – Rayshon Andrews 52 interception (failed kick), 5:30

BL – Davion Kerr 23 pass by Foster (Miller kick), 3:16

BE – Kyle Babin 80 kickoff return (Gavin Damboise kick), 3:00

BL – Rodriguez 11 run (Miller kick), 2:12 

Third Period

BL – Greg Kite 21run (failed kick), 8:12 

BL – Davion Kerr 52 pass by Foster (Miller kick), 

Fourth Period

BL – Davien Kerr 55 pass by Foster (failed kick),

BL – Ja’den Jesurum 11 run (Miller kick), 

Records: Bloomfield 6-2 overall; Bristol Eastern 2-6.