By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – The third and fourth periods for the Bristol Central football team this season have been a tough twenty-four minutes for the program in 2022.
And after a tremendous first-half effort against New Britain this past Thursday, the Rams – trailing just 21-14 at the break – were looking to erase those nightmares over the ensuing couple quarters.
But two third period turnovers foiled Central on the scoreboard and in the end, the locals suffered a tough 41-14 loss to the Golden Hurricanes in a CCC Tier II football engagement from the turf field on the campus of BCHS.
“It’s been the story of our season right now,” said Central coach Jeff Papazian. “I liked our energy. I liked the way we played in the first half. Unfortunately, we’ve been in that situation too many times this year at halftime where we’ve followed it up with another two quarters and we just haven’t been able to get it done.”
The Rams (1-8) squared up a 14-7 edge with 10:13 to go before halftime but never scored again.
And Central had good chances to score over that third stanza but a turnover on downs at the New Britain 25 yard-line, plus an interception late in the frame, saw the home team stuck in neutral offensively.
The Golden Hurricanes (5-4) notched the final 34 points of the showdown to get above .500 for the first time this season – winning four of its past five games.
“I made some adjustments at halftime that I thought would get us going and it didn’t work out,” said Papazian. “I was the guy calling the plays and I put them in a bad spot tonight in the second half.”
But the one move that has paid out brilliantly this season is senior Tre Blair moving to quarterback over a recent switch.
And the athlete had a career night against the Golden Hurricanes.
Blair busted New Britain for 249 yards on 31 carries – scoring his two touchdowns on jaunts of 42 and 32 yards.
He managed to make two connections for 13 yards and accounted for 93-percent of his team’s total offense – posting 110 yards on the ground over just the first period alone via quarterback draws with the likes of Nik Salinas and Johnny Rios plowing the path for the senior standout.
For the season, Blair has tallied a combined 1,044 yards over Central’s air and ground schemes.
“We made the move knowing that would happen and he emptied the tank,” said Papazian of Blair at QB. “Nothing’s really clean right now [and Blair is] doing a lot of it on his own. Same with Johnny and Nik when they get the ball.”
New Britain tallied nearly 300 rushing yards while QB Donovan Campbell was 1-of-3 throwing the ball, but his one strike led to a touchdown.
A blazing 54-yard sprint by Blair opened the contest for Central but a 29-yard field goal attempt from kicker Oscar Kuzniar just missed the mark.
Big stops on defense by Central’s Mason Stokes and Ayden Pratt foiled New Britain’s first drive as the home team turned around to score.
On a three-play drive, Blair took the ball, eluded the defense and sprinted down the Central sideline for a 42-yard touchdown carry to make it 7-0 midway through the first frame.
New Britain’s Jaizon Lee matched the score off a three-yard run up the middle to tie things up at 7-7 with 3:08 left in the first.
It remained tied going into the second period but Central was threatening and off another QB draw, Blair galloped 32 yards into the goal and with 10:13 left before the half, it was a 14-7 contest in the Rams’ favor.
But New Britain scored twice to end the half as Campbell lobbed a short pass to 6-foot-6 receiver Dontay Bishop who added most of his 60-yard TD via yards after catch as the visitors had the score all tied up at 14-14 with 8:07 remaining in the second tilt.
Off ensuing punts by the two combatants, Blair fumbled the ball to New Britain – leading to one final first-half score for the Hurricanes.
Lee made a 24-yard dash to score another six points and with 2:19 left before the half, New Britain took the lead for good at 21-14.
But to open the third period, a huge tackle for a loss by Stokes got Central the ball back early in the stanza.
However, a four-play drive by the Rams ended in a turnover and later in the fray, a 65-yard touchdown sprint by New Britain’s Cayden Hill (171 rushing yards) made it a 28-14 game with 2:19 left to go in the third.
Central was still hanging around towards the tail end of the third but a short Blair pass was intercepted – eventually leading to a four-yard rushing touchdown by Hill – and with 9:43 left in the contest, New Britain led 35-14.
To end the game, a long drive by Central saw the locals turn the ball over on downs at the New Britain 43 with 4:17 left and the Hurricanes – feeling the need to score late – saw Lee take in the ball 16 yards for one final touchdown and with a minute remaining, the visitors had its 41-14 push in hand and came away with a huge road victory despite a pesky effort by the Rams.
“I don’t think we backed down from them,” said Papazian of his team against New Britain. “That’s a good team. We’re all in the same boat. They play the same teams we have. Every week, we’re in a battle. We just haven’t been able to break through yet.”
The contest marked the final game for Central’s senior core on Central’s turf field. Bristol Central/Bristol Eastern is on tap for Thanksgiving from Muzzy Field.
BRISTOL CENTRAL FOOTBALL (CCC Tier II Football Showdown)
BRISTOL EASTERN 41, BRISTOL CENTRAL 14
from the Bristol Central Turf Field
New Britain (6-2) 7 14 7 13 – 41
Bristol Central (2-6) 7 7 0 0 – 14
SCORING
First Period
BC – Tre Blair 42 run (Oscar Kuzniar kick), 5:29
NB – Jaizon Lee 3 run (good kick), 3:08
Second Period
BC – Tre Blair 32 run (Kuzniar kick), 10:13
NB – Dontay Bishop 60 pass by Donovan Campbell (good kick), 8:07
NB – Lee 24 run (good kick), 2:19
Third Period
NB – Cayden Hill 65 run (good kick), 2:19
Fourth Period
NB – Hill 4 run (good kick), 9:43
NB – Lee 16 run (failed kick), 1:00
Records: New Britain 5-4 overall; Bristol Central 1-8.
