By Michael Letendre
FARMINGTON – The contest that pitted the Bristol Eastern football team against Farmington in a CCC Tier 3 tilt could have gone a number of different ways on Saturday.
But in the end, two late scores by Eastern’s Jaiden Fore – coupled with some outstanding defense along the way – saw the Lancers hold off the River Hawks by a 27-24 final from Farmington High School.
The Kingstreeters have won three out of its last four games as Thanksgiving – and a Super Bowl like date against Bristol Central – is just around the corner.
With Farmington (2-7) threatening late, the home team had the ball with less than four minutes to play, trailing by three.
The Lancers were able to force a four-and-out and with 2:57 left, Fore (23 carries, 127 yards, three touchdowns) pushed through carries of five and six yards to secure one final first down – allowing Eastern to run out the clock.
“All night when the defense had to make plays, it did,” said Eastern coach Anthony Julius. “Adam Zavecz had two picks that set us up in plus territory. We came up with big plays when we needed it.”
And Zavecz’s interceptions came at the best times as the River Hawks were churning offensively.
His intercepts from the Eastern 40 in the first half and then on its own 32 yard-line over third period play kept Farmington’s offense from adding extra scores to its till.
“We were going through it all week. We saw all those screens coming through,” said Zavecz of Farmington’s passing attack. “We went through it in play. I saw it in the game, I was able to go and read it and then boom, [the ball] was right there.”
The Eastern grouping of Austin Shorette, Connor Gimpl, Zion Otero, Josh Aubin and Jackson Mitchell all made tackles for losses against the River Hawks.
Midway through the first frame, Farmington back Luke Watson cashed in on the final carry of a nine-play drive, running outside to the left to sneak in the Eastern goal as his one-yard plunge made it 7-0 with 3:50 left.
Eastern responded with a seven-play jaunt, capped by a slick nine-yard end around carry by Ray Andrews as his TD trimmed the deficit to 7-6 with 27.6 second left in the first.
“We had some really inspired efforts by some kids tonight,” said Julius. “Ray had an early touchdown and we kind of just rode Jaiden in the second half. He did what he’s done all year. He absolutely hammered some people. We saw some matchups we liked, and we took advantage of them.”
The River Hawks responded off the Andrews score with a slick toss from quarterback Kevin Ives to receiver Thomas Keough for an 11-yard TD connection, giving the team a 14-6 edge with 7:45 left before the half.
“Farmington is a good offense,” said Julius. “They’ve been scoring on everybody all year.”
The squads then exchanged turnovers, including Zavecz’s first interception of the evening, putting Eastern on Farmington’s 21 yard-line as Fore ended up punching in a 17-yard touchdown rush and when Chase Dauphinee made a tough two-point conversion run with 1:47 left in the second, the game was all tied up at 14-14.
However, Farmington responded but did not score a TD when its drive stalled out on Eastern’s 21 yard-line on a fourth-and-15 set up.
But kicker Jacob Skinner managed to sink a long 38-yard field goal and with just 31 seconds showing on the clock before the half, Farmington managed to snare a 17-14 edge.
To open the third tilt, which included some tough rushes by Eastern’s Jack Hartley (seven carries, 33 yards), the Kingstreeters orchestrated an 11 play, 65-yard scoring drive to snare the lead for good.
“Jack is literally a jack of all trades,” said Julius of Hartley. “Honestly, between running the ball, playing defense and kick return, he does so many things well for us. And the good thing is that he’s just a sophomore.”
The series was punctuated by a one yard up the gut touchdown by Fore with 5:23 left in the stanza as Eastern scooped up a 20-17 lead.
Five plays into the ensuing drive, Zavecz made his second pickoff and got Eastern to cusp of the red zone once again.
A four-play scoring drive saw Fore smash his way to his third TD of the day – a four-yard carry for six points – and when kicker Gavin Damboise dropped in the PAT, the Lancers held a double figure cushion at 27-17 with 51.3 seconds to play in the third.
But Farmington turned around to score on a long 15 play drive, ended with a physical one-yard push into the end zone by Ives and with 6:20 remaining in the fourth, the deficit was trimmed to 27-24.
Eastern could not generate a first down on the ensuing series and with 4:15 left, Farmington had the ball – looking to generate one final score to steal away the showdown.
However, the Eastern defense held the fort, forcing two missed passes, which led to one last turnover as the Lancers had the ball with 2:49 remaining
“In the second half, I think we did a really good job holding them back a few times, making it so our offense [had the ball] in the end,” said Zavecz. “Even though we weren’t able to get that first down, we were able to stop them, so I think that’s what led us to the victory here.”
From there, Fore made his two final carries of the game, Eastern nabbed that all important first down and Dauphinee took two knees to run out the clock – allowing the Kingstreeters to hit the pay window via the three-point win with Thanksgiving on deck.
“I was very happy with our offensive line and our fullbacks, our tight ends and our running backs,” said Julius. “We just kind of kept leaning on them. Eventually, pressure breaks after a short period of time. Guys stepped up and did a great job.”
BRISTOL EASTERN FOOTBALL (CCC Tier III Football Showdown)
BRISTOL EASTERN 27, FARMINGTON 24
from Farmington High School
Bristol Eastern (3-6) 6 8 13 0 – 27
Farmington (2-7) 7 10 0 7 – 24
SCORING
First Period
F – Luke Watson 1 run (Jacob Skinner kick), 3:50
BE – Rayshon Andrews 9 run (failed kick), 27.6
Second Period
F – Thomas Keough 11 pass by Kevin Ives (Skinner kick), 7:45
BE – Jaiden Fore 17 run (Chase Dauphinee run), 1:47
F – Skinner 38 field goal, 31.5
Third Period
BE – Fore 1 run (failed run), 5:23
BE – Fore 4 run (Gavin Damboise kick), 51.3
Fourth Period
F – Ives 1 run (Skinner kick), 6:20
Records: Bristol Eastern 3-6 overall; Farmington 2-7.
