Offensive explosion lifts undefeated Farmington past Bristol Central

Colin Gratton moves downfield after intercepting a Bristol Central pass with 1:24 left in the fourth quarter. Farmington scored three plays later with 19 seconds left for a 35-28 win.

BRISTOL, Sept. 29 – The Farmington High football team proved they could move the ball against Bristol Central Saturday at Muzzy Field. They also proved they were adept at shooting themselves in the foot, too.

The Indians had two third quarter drives stall after key penalties and a lost fumble. Farmington saw a seven-point halftime lead turn into a seven-point deficit.

Still, the Indians didn’t lose their faith. Farmington drove 65 yards on nine plays to tie the game and barely missed a go-ahead field goal with 1:44 remaining before Colin Gratton intercepted a Central pass with 1:24 left in the game giving the Indians the ball on the Rams 29-yard line.

Four plays later on fourth-and-one, Ivan Guadalupe scored the game-winning touchdown from the 20 with nine seconds left in regulation to lift Farmington a thrilling 35-28 victory.

Guadalupe ran for 142 yards on 16 carries and was stopped on his initial surge into the line. But he kept his legs moving and kept driving. He slipped past two tacklers and kept running hard, eventually making into the end zone as undefeated Farmington (3-0, 2-0 CCC West Division II) won for the 14^th time in its last 15 starts, dating back to 2010.

Farmington QB Kenny Jones breaks a tackle in Saturday’s win over Bristol Central at Muzzy Field.

New Farmington quarterback Kenny Jones ran for a game-high 150 yards on 13 carries and two touchdowns. Jones also completed 8-of-11 passes for 133 yards and two TDs.

“This speaks volumes for our team,” Farmington coach Chris Machol said. “In the first two games, our defense carried us. Today, our offense carried us.”

Farmington had allowed just 13 points in its first two victories over Maloney and E.O. Smith. They needed more against a Bristol Central squad led by QB Andrew Laviero, who completed 15-of-19 passes for 192 yards and 3 TDs.

“We put in a new offense this week,” Machol said referring to the decision to start Jones at quarterback in place of Jeremy Buck. Jones had previously played wide receiver. “We wanted to get him into the huddle more than normal.”

Jones also played a big role, defensively with a team-leading nine tackles including an impressive five-yard tackle for a loss in the third quarter on a screen pass.

Big plays dictated action in the first half. Central (1-2, 0-2 CCC West Div. II) took a 14-7 lead on a pair of touchdown passes of 31 and 45 yards from Laviero to Taylor Whitten and Keon Walter, respectively. But Farmington took a 21-14 lead on a 61-yard run by Jones and a 15-yard TD pass to Anthony Carpenter.

Farmington marched the ball downfield on its first drive of the second half but penalties ruined that opportunity. Bristol Central tied the game at 21-21 when Tyler Burrow (team-high 31-115 yards) scored a 20-yard TD run on a fourth-and-1 play.

Central’s Ronnie St. Denis recovered a fumble at the Farmington 31-yard line late in the third quarter and scored on a two-yard run with 10:23 remaining in the game to give the Rams a 28-21 lead.

It took Farmington less than three minutes to tie the game. The Indians marched 65 yards on nine yards with Jones scoring from the 1-yard line with 7:04 remaining. Key plays in the drive included a 15-yard completion to Anthony Carpenter on third down and five play on the Indian 40.

Farmington took over again with 3:32 remaining and Jones began the drive with a big 15-yard gain to the Central 40 yard line, followed by a 17-yard completion to Carpenter to the Ram’s 23-yard line. The drive stalled and a 38-yard field goal attempt by Tyler Chaia had the distance but it was wide right with 1:44 remaining.

The game looked like it might go to overtime. But with 1:24 remaining, Gratton, a Farmington linebacker, stepped in front of two Ram receivers to intercept a Laviero pass. Three plays later, Farmington faced fourth-and-one from the Central 20-yard line and Guadalupe’s efforts put the Indians ahead for good with nine seconds left, 35-28.

“I’ve been waiting for this (offensive) explosion for a little while now,” Machol said. “We knew we could run the ball.”

Defensively, Jack Sucato and Mitch Berlandy each had six tackles while Grattan and Stevens had two tackles each. Jo Fillian had two sacks for the Indians, who had four tackles for losses.

Farmington 35, Bristol Central 28
At Bristol
Farmington (3-0)                        7  14  0  14 – 35
Bristol Central (1-2)                    8    6  7   7  — 28
First Quarter
BC: Taylor Whitten 31 pass from Andrew Laviero (Tyler Burrow run), 9:44
F: Elijah Johnson 9 pass from Kenny Jones (Tyler Chaia kick), 5:41
Second Quarter
BC: Keon Walter 45 pass from Laviero (kick failed), 8:35
F: Jones 61 run (Chaia kick), 5:27
F: Anthony Carpenter 15 pass from Kenny Jones (Chaia kick), 2:32
Third Quarter
BC: Ronnie St. Denis 15 pass from Laviero (St. Denis kick), 2:26
Fourth Quarter
BC: Burrow 1 run (St. Denis kick), 10:23
F: Jones 1 run (Chaia kick), 7:04
F: Ivan Guadalupe 18 run (Chaia kick), 0:09
MISSED FG: Chaia (F) 38 wide right
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Farmington (321 yards) – Ivan Guadalupe 16-142, Kenny Jones 13-150; Bristol Central – Tyler Burrow 31-115
PASSING: Farmington – Kenny Jones 8-11-0, 133; BC – Andrew Laviero 15-19-1, 192
RECEIVING: Farmington – Anthony Carpenter 5-83, Elijah Johnson 1-19; BC – Ronnie St. Denis 5-72, Keon Walton 3-53, Taylor Whitten 1-33