By Michael Letendre
Last week against E.O. Smith, the Bristol Eastern football team let opportunity slip away, fumbling and bumbling the ball, penalized for numerous infractions and allowed the Panthers additional possessions — culminating in a frustrating 24-14 loss on the road.
But one week later, the Lancers fixed those miscues, took Avon to task and 48 minutes later, the Kingstreeters were big 48-8 winners from Alumni Field in Bristol on Friday evening.
In the final contest for Eastern’ senior core from Alumni Field, the program put together a tremendous effort that will fuel the team into the Thanksgiving break.
“We had a long talk on Monday after our game on Friday [against E.O. Smith] where we felt we didn’t have our best” effort said Eastern coach Anthony Julius. “We talked about holding ourselves to a higher standard, not just on Friday nights but Monday through Thursday as well in practice. We had a much more focused effort in practice and I’m really proud of the way we played tonight.”
The 48 points were the most scored by Eastern since dumping 54 against Farmington back on Nov. 12, 2021.
Eastern moved to 6-3 on the campaign, the most wins in a season for the team since the 2014 campaign when the program went 7-4 — its first year that the Kingstreeters played all of their home games from the high school instead of Muzzy Field.
History was made against Avon as Eastern senior running back Jaiden Fore became the latest 1,000-yard rusher for the program.
He cashed in on 183 yards on 16 carries for four touchdowns — doing all his damage over first half play.
On his final carry of Eastern’s second drive, a 19 yard TD scamper, Fore nabbed his 1,000th yard on the play and now has 1,147 yards on the year.
“It was just like another game with my boys,” said Fore of the accomplishment. “It’s our last time on this field [and] I’ve got to put it all out there, nothing else to it.”
Overall, including a sterling effort by Nelson Riley (career-high five carries, 133 yards, touchdown), the squad wrangled up 368 total yards in offense.
That effort included a terrific 45-yard touchdown pass by Eastern quarterback Kamden Laprise to receiver Mikey Sherrill for a huge second quarter score.
Kicker Aiden Liseo went 6-of-7 on PAT’s and is 10-for-12 overall this season on his one-point attempts.
And there were stars all over the gridiron for the Lancers on defense.
Adam and Ryan Zavecz got their usual quota of tackles, Chase Dauphinee cashed in on a fumble recovery for a touchdown while Sherill tallied a strip and a sack.
Tackles for losses were also compiled by Hunter Wells, Lincoln Bashaw, J’Kai Hickey-Davis and a couple from King Stewart — seeing more time on the gridiron as of late.
The Falcons were held to just 149 yards in total offense, leading to one score — an eight-yard TD rush by Nik Meltser — but not much else.
“Avon, despite its record, is really competitive with a lot of teams,” said Julius. “They churn it up on offense and they’re very physical. The coach does a great job over there. For us to hold that offensive in check and force them into long yardage situations, it was really good to see.”
And once the score reached 48-8 with 10:56 left to play in the third quarter, the contest moved into running time.
Eastern scored three times over first-period play to snare a sizable 20-0 advantage.
On Avon’s first drive of the game, Sherill made a slick strip on a John Murphy carry and Dauphinee scooped up the ball –rumbling 31 yards into the end zone as Eastern took a 7-0 edge just 1:35 into the showdown.
The Falcons then went three-and-out as Eastern took over on Avon’s 46-yard line via punt.
On that ensuing drive, it was all Fore — making three huge rushes, capping on a 19-yard touchdown carry for his 1,000th yard as the Lancers collected a 14-0 lead with 6:44 to go in the first period.
“The offensive line played great,” said Julius. “Jaiden was outstanding, obviously, in the first half.”
The Falcons followed up with a four-and-out while a six-play Eastern drive ended with a three-yard touchdown jaunt by Fore and with 1:14 remaining in the first period, the home team roped up a 20-0 push.
Early in the second period, Avon was forced into a quick punt and on the flip side, Laprise made a sweet seeing-eye pass to Sherrill as the big man roped in a reception, eluding the contact, for a 45-yard TD and a 27-0 Eastern lead with 11:35 left to play in the half.
“We didn’t have to throw the ball very much but Kam [Laprise] was obviously very efficient, bought time and hit a long pass to Mikey [Sherrill]. I’m happy for them as well, too,” said Julius.
Another Avon turnover led to an 11-yard score by Fore and with 7:14 to play in the second stanza, Eastern’s edge reached 34-0.
The Falcons finally scored on a 10-play drive, encompassing 55 yards as Nik Meltser (13 carries, 53 yards) ran into the Eastern goal for an eight-yard touchdown and with 55 seconds left before the half, Avon trimmed the deficit to 34-8.
Forty-four seconds later, Eastern used a couple timeouts to set up Fore for one final touchdown as he scampered into the end zone on an eight-yard jaunt — his fourth and final TD of the night — to propel the Kingstreeters to a 41-8 halftime cushion.
The Lancers then put the event away off the first play of the third period.
Bashaw made a quick rush to open the half and then Riley went wild on a huge 64 yard, shake-and-bake explosion — leaving the defense in the dust — as he scampered in for his second touchdown of the year, propelling the Lancers to a 48-8 lead with 10:57 to play.
That Riley score activated running time for the remainder of the game.
The Falcons ended up empty on its final two possessions, leading to Eastern’s big 40-point win with its game against Bristol Central looming in the not-so-distant future.
“It was a good team win for us,” said Julius. “We played better on special teams this week. That was a lot of points of emphasis for us so I’m happy we came out and played well.”
Bristol Eastern Football — CCC Tier III Showdown
BRISTOL EASTERN 48, AVON 8
from Alumni Field, Bristol Eastern High School
Avon (2-7) 0 8 0 0 – 8
Bristol Eastern (6-3) 20 21 7 0 – 48
SCORING
First Period
BE – Chase Dauphinee 31 fumble return (Aiden Liseo kick), 10:25
BE – Jaiden Fore 19 run (Liseo kick), 6:44
BE – Jaiden Fore 3 run (kick blocked), 1:14
Second Period
BE – Michael Sherrill 45 pass from Kamden Laprise (Liseo kick), 11:35
BE – Fore 11 run (Liseo kick), 7:14
A – Nik Meltser 8 run (Nick Seminara run), 0:55
BE – Jaiden Fore 8 run (Liseo kick), 0:11
Third Period
BE – Nelson Riley 64 run (Liseo kick), 10:57
Fourth Period
*No scoring
Individual Statistics
RUSHING – Avon: Nick Seminara 10-25, John Murphy 9-16, Nik Meltser 13-53, David Minami 4-13, Carter Davies 2-11; Bristol Eastern: Jaiden Fore 16-183, Nelson Riley 5-133, Lincoln Bashaw 2-7.
PASSING – Avon: David Minami 2-for-6, 31 yards; Bristol Eastern: Laprise 1-for-2, 45 yards.
RECEPTIONS – Avon: Ethan Lavore 2-31; Bristol Eastern: Mikey Sherrill 1-45.
Records: Bristol Eastern 6-3 overall; Avon 1-8.
All TBE readers, supporters and donors
The Bristol Edition will be limiting the number of stories non-members and free readers may access each week. This decision is based on our financial projections and, most certainly, to remind people that TBE is serious about providing accurate, timely and thorough reporting for Bristol. To do this we have devised a financial support structure that makes unlimited access extremely affordable, beginning with a $6 monthly donation.
- Non-members will be able to access four (4) articles per week.
- Free readers and people who have subscribed by email will be able to access four (4) articles per week.
- Donors and financial supporters will have unlimited access as long as they log in.
Note: Donors may have to contact TBE if they find they are being limited, since we will need to set up a membership account for you. Email editor@bristoledition.org for instructions. Sorry for any inconvenience. People with financial difficulties may write editor@bristoledition.org to be considered for free access.
