By Michael Letendre
As predicted, the CCC Tier III confrontation between Platt and Bristol Eastern football programs on Friday night went down to the wire.
Trailing by one, the Lancers could have taken the game from the Panthers with a late score but in the end, Platt snuck by Eastern over a 7-6 final from Alumni Field in Bristol.
The Panthers moved to 5-1 overall while the Kingstreeters dropped to 4-2 as both programs were in position to take the showdown in the end.
“I think we showcased two evenly matched teams tonight,” said Eastern coach Anthony Julius. “Platt’s a heck of a team, well coached. They’re physical [and] they did a lot of good stuff. Our kids, I thought we made [Platt] play our way a lot of the night.”
All the scoring came over a five-minute stretch that sandwiched halftime.
Eastern scored a touchdown at the halftime horn but missed the two-point conversion to snare a 6-0 edge at the half.
And on Platt’s first series of the third quarter, the visiting aggression answered with a TD and on a successful PAT, the team scooped in a 7-6 lead with 7:01 remaining to play in the period.
Otherwise, it was an offensive struggle by both outfits with similar statistics.
Platt just out gained Eastern 206-173 overall in total yards which is pretty close over the grand scheme of things.
The Lancers had the ball just one more time than the Panthers (48-47 in terms of possession) while Platt held longer control of the ball (26:27 to 21:33).
And with Eastern’s running game shut down a bit, the program went to its quarterback, Kamden Laprise, in several clutch situations and the junior delivered.
Laprise went 8-of-21 overall for 93 yards and a touchdown while squaring up 30 yards on seven carries. His 123 combined yards was an excellent contribution to nearly topple the Panthers.
With Eastern’s rushers limited to 80 combined yards, Laprise made several big strikes late to keep a couple drives alive.
“We had to rely on him a little bit,” said Julius of Laprise. “Platt’s a tough front and they did a nice job of taking some things away. Plus, the way the game kind of flowed, we kind of had to get into some throwing situations a little earlier than [we wanted] but Kam stepped up. He used his legs, he made a lot of big completions, and the receivers did a nice job out there.”
“We just came up a point short.”
Defensively, Eastern caused havoc on Platt’s first two drives, ending with a sack by Randy DeNoto and an interception from Alex Corvo.
Adam Zavecz (11 tackles), Mikey Sherrill, Ryan Zavecz and Hunter Wells all made tackles-for-losses to help limit the drives of Joel Ray (26 carries, 102 yards) and Amari Robinson (8-38) while quarterback Melvin Sanchez was limited to only 4-of-9 passes for 65 yards.
The game was scoreless through one and with 3:46 left to play in the second period, Platt was stopped at its own 18 and forced to punt — leading to the first score of the game.
On the ninth and final play of Eastern’s drive with three seconds before the half, Laprise scrambled to the right, sprinting towards the BE sideline as the clock showed 0:00.
Laprise slung the ball to an open Zion Otero — all alone in corner — as the receiver made the reception and the Lancers captured six points.
But on the two-point conversion run, Eastern’s Jaiden Fore (12 carries, 42 yards) was stopped at the one yard-line by Platt’s Landon Freemantle to keep it 6-0 going into the break.
“We had a big play at the end of the half,” said Julius. “Unfortunately, we didn’t convert there on the [two-point] conversion.”
The Lancers got the ball to open the third period but went three-and-out.
And on a very short field, Platt put together the game-winning score — starting on Bristol Eastern’s 24-yard line.
Punctuating a five-play drive, Robinson received the ball via direct snap and charged through the middle of Eastern’s line on a seven-yard touchdown scamper to tie the contest up at 6-6.
And when Jesus Vasquez kicked in the extra point, the tally proved to be the game winner in the end – making it 7-6 with 7:01 remaining in the third.
But there was still over 18 minutes left in the game and Eastern had chances to steal the game back.
Off the score, Eastern turned the ball over on downs, the teams then exchanged punts and with 10:31 to play, Platt had the ball and the lead.
The Panthers stitched together a nine-play jaunt, got to the Eastern red zone but turned the ball over on downs.
The Lancers had the ball with 4:19 remaining in the game and off a huge 17-yard strike by Laprise to Noah Albert (three catches, 43 yards), the home team entered the Panthers’ territory.
However, on the final play of the drive, Laprise made a run up the gut.
Laprise was stripped from behind as Platt pounced on the ball with 2:13 remaining.
“It comes down to a one-point game,” said Julius. “In those situations, you have to be mistake free and unfortunately, it just didn’t go our way tonight.”
Eastern held the fort on the ensuing Platt drive as the squad called timeout and forced to a 4-and-long situation.
Platt was forced into one final punt and on Eastern’s final offensive play, Laprise’s pass was picked off – ending the contest as the Panthers nabbed a huge 7-6 win on the road.
“The ball didn’t bounce our way,” said Julius. “We have two really tough losses here, back-to-back, at home – games we feel we could have won. We just have to stay together as a group. We still have to do a lot of good things this season and that’s the hope. I’m really proud of the kids. The effort was really, really good.”
“Platt’s a 5-1 football team and if a couple things go our way, we would be [5-1].”
Bristol Eastern Football – CCC Tier III Challenge
PLATT 7, BRISTOL EASTERN 6
from Alumni Field, Bristol
Platt (5-1) 0 0 7 0 – 7
Bristol Eastern (4-2) 0 6 0 0 – 6
SCORING
First Period
*No Scoring
Second Period
BE – Zion Otero 23 pass by Kamden Laprise (failed run), 0:00
Third Period
P – Amari Robinson 7 run (Jesus Vasquez kick), 7:01
Fourth Period
*No Scoring
Individual Statistics
RUSHING – Platt: Joel Ray 26-102, Amari Robinson 8-38, Melvin Sanchez 3-1; Bristol Eastern: Jaiden Fore 12-42, Kamden Laprise 7-30, Adam Zavecz 8-8.
PASSING – Platt: Sanchez 4-of-9, 65 yards; Bristol Eastern: Laprise 8-for-21, 93 yards.
RECEPTIONS – Platt: Robinson 1-12, Zack Baker 3-53; Bristol Eastern: Zion Otero 2-21, Ryan Corvo 2-29, Mikey Sherrill 1-0, Noah Albert 3-43.
Records: Platt 5-1 overall; Bristol Eastern 4-2.
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