Granby beats Lewis Mills with long drive, late field goal

Granby’s Matthew Holmes (10) celebrates with teammates after his interception with 1:54 left in the game. Holmes’ field goal with 3.6 seconds won the game for Granby.

GRANBY – Granby High senior Matthew Holmes played in the soccer program for three years before trying out for the football team this fall. A year ago, he was a midfielder on the varsity boys soccer team.

“I thought I would get more of an opportunity to play,” he said.

Holmes made some big plays Saturday. With the score tied, he outleaped a Lewis Mills receiver to intercept Mills quarterback Lucas Lanning with 1:54 remaining in the game to stop a potential game-winning scoring drive.

With 3.6 seconds left in the game, he hit a 36-yard field goal to lift the Bears to an exciting 17-14 Pequot West Division victory over Lewis Mills on Homecoming.

Holmes’ field goal capped off a 94-yard march that began on the Bears’ six-yard line. Granby quarterback Curtis Field, who had a tough day throwing the ball, completed 3-of-5 passes on the drive for 28 yards. He had completed just six of his previous 15 passes with one interception before the game-winning drive.

Field had a crucial 12-yard run to the Lewis Mills 19-yard line with 24 seconds remaining to put the Bears into field goal range. On the play, Field got a key block from his brother, Connor.

The Bears nearly missed its opportunity for the field goal when the ball was fumbled on a handoff two plays later but Granby’s Nathaniel Sindland outfought Mills’ Dominick Jankowski to keep possession. But the Bears lost five yards to the Mills 24-yard line.

Holmes lined up for a 41-yard attempt but then the whistles blew and a lone yellow penalty flag flew to the ground. Lewis Mills had 12 men on the field. The penalty resulted in moving the ball five yards closer to the Mills 19 for a 36-yard attempt.

Holmes’ kick just cleared the crossbar to spark a Granby celebration. It was his longest kick of his career. He had missed two field goals of 31 and 34 yards in a 6-0 OT loss to Hyde earlier this year.

“You just try to take the emotion out of your head,” he said. “It’s a lot like taking a penalty kick in soccer. You can’t feel the pressure in situations like that.”

Lewis Mills’ Max Stone (5) ran for a school record 160 yards in Saturday’s 17-14 loss to Granby.

It left Mills winless (0-5, 0-3 Pequot West). The Spartans had taken their first lead with 4:23 left in the game on a one-yard run from Lanning to complete a 22-yard, seven-play drive after Collin Thorn had intercepted Curtis Field and returned the ball 14 yards. Lanning also completed a two-point conversion pass to Jankowski for a 14-7 lead.

“We fought hard,” Mills coach Jose Santana said. “We’ve come a long way. But we’re still young and we’re still making a lot of mistakes. We made some key mistakes.” He took the blame for the 12 men on the field penalty on the game-winning field goal.

But he also pointed out how close the Spartans came to their first win of the season. This wasn’t a 30, 40 or a 50-point loss. It was a three-point loss at the end of the game.

“As painful as this is now, it is a positive step for us,” he said.

Stone ran for 160 yards on 29 carries, which is probably a school record. He ran 65 yards for an apparent touchdown in the first quarter but the run was cut to 25 yards on a holding penalty. He also a 43-yard run in the third quarter.

Granby took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 5-yard run from John Brucker.

Mills responded with a 13-play, 71-yard drive with Lanning finding Thorn open in the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown pass. Stone ran for 53 yards on the drive. Granby’s Jacob Largay blocked the extra point to give Granby a 7-6 lead.

With 7:55 left in the game, Thorn intercepted Fields and returned the ball to the Granby 36. A 15-yard penalty for grabbing the facemask moved the ball to the 22. Stone carried the ball five times for 19 yards before Lanning scored from the one on fourth down. With a successful two-point conversion pass, Mills led, 14-7.

But on its next offensive play, Granby scored on a 55-yard pass from halfback Dom Pagano, who found Ian Downey wide open behind the defensive backs. Downey had to stretch to catch the ball but he did in stride to allow Granby to tie the game at 14-14. 

Granby 17, Lewis Mills 14
At Granby
Lewis Mills (0-5)                  0  6  0    8 — 14
Granby (2-3)                        7  0  0  10 – 17
First quarter
G: John Brucker 5 run (Matthews Holmes kick), 1:43
Second quarter
LM: Collin Thorn 14 pass from Lucas Lanning (kick blocked), 8:09
Fourth quarter
LM: Lanning 1 run (Dom Jankowski pass from Lanning), 4:23
G: Ian Downey 55 pass from Dominic Pagano (Holmes kick), 4:07
G: Holmes 36 FG, 03.6
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Lewis Mills – Lucas Lanning 11-8, Max Stone 29-160, Jared Czarnecki 1-minus 4, Cody Lessard 2-0; Granby – John Brucker 6-28, Dominic Pagano 9-52, Curtis Field 3-13, Jacob Largay 4-11, Anthony LaTorre 5-16, Logan Strain 1-0, Nathan Sindland 1-minus 4
PASSING: Lewis Mills – Lucas Lanning 3-7-1, 74 yards; Granby – Curtis Field 9-21-1, 96; Dominic Pagano 1-1-0, 55
RECEIVING: Lewis Mills – Collin Thorn 1-14, Trevor Watts 1-44, Dom Jankowski 1-16; Granby – Jacob Largay 2-38, Connor Field 2-18, Dominic Pagano 2-16, Ian Downey 4-79