By Michael Letendre
The Bristol Central football team made a loud statement on Thursday night, making all the big plays late and keeping the ball away from an aggressive Middletown offense as the Rams picked off the Blue Dragons 14-13 from the turf field at BCHS.
The win, certainly a huge one by Central over Middletown (4-4), moved to 3-5 overall as the program is still on track for a .500 finish after a 1-5 start.
Middletown’s four-game winning streak was halted while Central has now won two straight contests.
“Just like last week, it would have been easy for these kids to pack it in at 1-4 at the break,” said Central coach Jeff Papazian. “We had a stinker against Manchester coming out [of the bye week] but it’s been two straight weeks of really good effort. There was some high energy football out there. I think the kids are really starting to believe in what’s happening here. They like the feeling. It’s addictive.”
With the game on the line, Central needed to make a stop late and got it with 3:20 showing on the clock as Middletown was gunning for overtime – trailing 14-7 with less than four minutes to play.
However, that extra session never came to pass.
Middletown backup quarterback Jeremiah Ribeiro crashed into the end zone on a four-yard TD plunge — getting within one point of the lead (14-13), setting up an extra point by Michael Gennaro.
And when Gennaro went to boot the PAT, Central’s Anthony Paulino saved the contest as he blocked the attempt — watching the ball roll towards midfield — keeping it a one-point game in the home team’s favor.
“You need a play,” said Papazian of the blocked extra point. “There’s nothing scheme wise that you can really do there. You say we’re going to come hard and we’re going to try to make a play. Anthony is always in the mix for us. When we need a play, he seems to always be around it.”
“You don’t draw up any crazy plays or anything like that. You’ve got to come hard. You’ve got to make a play and Anthony got it for us.”
The contest was nearly even in terms of overall yards.
Central captured 239 combined yards on the evening while Middletown nabbed just over 200.
Middletown was limited thanks in part to a sterling defensive effort — the second straight tremendous effort that has limited opponents to 12.5 points-per-game.
Jack Jones once again had his share of big tackles, Luis Padilla was loud on “D” while Aiden Lamarre, Julian Colon, Quincy Lawson, Paulino and Jack Hartley all made big stops for the winners.
“They’re playing hard,” said Papazian about Central’s defense. “I thought our defensive line played pretty hard tonight. Jack Hartley makes a big difference in there at linebacker for us. In the secondary, we worked on their screens all week. Middletown is a big perimeter screen team, and they got us a little bit early. I thought by the end, we kind of took it away and obviously, they got some guys banged up and whatnot throughout the game which hurt them.”
Each team started the showdown with long, time crunching drives as Central made a 14-play gambit while Middletown went 10 straight but, going into second period play, it was a scoreless game.
Off a Blue Dragons turnover, Central marched 65 yards for a score as Jayden Glasper made a mad dash down the right side of the field for a 24-yard touchdown score and when Lamarre — whose two PATs made all the difference — scooped up a 7-0 lead with 5:58 remaining in the second stanza.
However, two plays later, the Blue Dragons made a loud response.
Middletown starting quarterback Colin Skene found the crafty Zy’Kie Askew for a 48-yard strike – running down the BC sideline and into the goal — as the game as all tied up at 7-7 with 5:12 left to play before the half.
Both teams were forced to punt before the break — keeping the showdown a 7-7 tilt.
Each squad made third period fumbles over the first 5:52 of the third quarter before Central used an eight-play series to capture the edge for good.
On a second and long situation, Paulino made a huge 13-yard jaunt for a first down as Central got to Middletown’s 30 with 3:00 to go in the third period.
“He had a big [second] down run here,” said Papazian of the Paulino carry.
Six plays later, Donavan Rodriguez (35 carries, 107 yards) punched in a seven-yard rush, netting the game-winning score, as Central sized up a 14-7 lead with 1:26 left to go in the third.
From there, each squad gave up the ball and with 8:00 to play, the Blue Dragons went for broke.
Off 10 plays, going 66 yards, Ribeiro pushed his way forward for a four-yard touchdown plunge and with 3:20 showing on the clock, it was a 14-13 game.
But the Paulino block turned the game upside-down for the visitors as the Rams nearly held the ball until the end.
A late five-yard run by Glasper made it a short 4-and-1 situation and off the only Middletown penalty of the game — an encroachment call that led to a five-yard penalty — got Central a fresh set of downs and the home team nearly ran out the clock.
A couple timeouts later by the Blue Dragons, Central turned the ball over on downs but with five seconds left to play, Middletown needed a miracle.
With Central’s prevent defense on the field, Ribeiro floated a ball towards Paulino who tipped it, but it found the hands of Middletown’s Josh Ferguson (five catches, 66 yards).
However, the receiver was tackled by Caleb Simard to end the contest as Central came away with a huge 14-13 win from home.
“Middletown is Middletown,” said Papazian. “Anytime you can knock off a team like that, they’ve got good coaches, they’ve got good players over there, we’re happy for our kids. We’re going to try to keep on rolling.”
Bristol Central Football – CCC Tier 2 Tilt
BRISTOL CENTRAL 14, MIDDLETOWN 13
from Bristol Central high school, Bristol
Middletown (4-4) 0 7 0 6 – 13
Bristol Central (3-5) 0 7 7 0 – 14
SCORING
First Period
No Scoring over, perhaps, the fastest ever first quarter in BCHS history
Second Period
BC – Jayden Glasper 24 run (Aiden Lamarre kick), 5:58
M – Zy’Kie Askew 48 pass by Colin Skene (good kick), 5:12
Third Period
BC – Donovan Rodriguez 7 run (Lamarre kick), 1:26
Fourth Period
M – Jeremiah Ribeiro 4 run (kick blocked by Paulino), 3:20
Individual Statistics
RUSHING – Middletown: Zy’Kie Askew 19-77, Jeremiah Ribeiro 1-4, Jason Fleurejiste 1-1, Cornelius Moore 2-(minus-1); Bristol Central: Jayden Glasper 11-76, Donovan Rodriguez 35-107, Cassias Breland 1-11, Tristian Toussaint 3-2, Anthony Paulino 2-21.
PASSING – Middletown: Skene 4-for-5, 65 yards, Ribeiro 3-for-4, 56 yards; Bristol Central: Rodriguez 0-for-1, 0 yards, Cassias Breland 1-for-1, 22 yards, Glasper 0-for-2, 0 yards.
RECEPTIONS – Middletown: Askew 1-48, Rayon Buttram 1-7, Josh Ferguson 5-66; Bristol Central: Jack Hartley 1-22.
Records: Bristol Central 3-5 overall; Middletown 4-4.
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