Avon’s Caleb Jackson (20) and Andrew Blackmore (24) find it tough to bring down East Catholic’s Conor Hills in Saturday’s CCC game in Avon. The visiting Eagles prevailed, 22-20.
AVON, Sept. 19 – Avon High coach Jim Caouette could see this one coming. He saw it in practice as his Falcons prepared to face East Catholic Saturday in a battle of top CCC Division III squads.
“We were very lethargic,” he said. “We were going through the motions and we weren’t very physical.”
On Saturday, the Falcons ran out of time against East Catholic. The visiting Eagles controlled the contest with its ground game, built a 16-point lead in the third quarter and held off a late Avon rally to earn a 22-20 decision.
Avon (1-1) scored two touchdowns in the final 7:39 to pull within two points but the Eagles tripped up running back Andrew Blackmore at the goal line to stop a two-point conversion with 1:19 remaining to secure the victory.
Several Falcons were stunned that Blackmore was stopped short of the goal line.
Trying to tie the game and possibly force overtime, Avon handed the ball to Blackmore but he was tripped. He fell onto one of his linemen and rolled over him into the end zone. But the referee in the end zone was right there, saw the play and ruled Blackmore down on the one-yard line.
“(East Catholic) played a very tough, physical football game,” Caouette said. “We just didn’t play that well for four quarters. We played well for a half a quarter to come back the way we did. Our kids don’t quit. But we should’ve played better.”
Avon’s Geoff Kirk caught two TD passes from quarterback Ian McDonald Saturday.
Under fourth year head coach Steve Calande, the Eagles have established a reputation for running the ball. They ran for nearly 4,000 yards a year in putting together an 8-3 campaign – its first winning season since 2009.
East Catholic marched 71 yards down the field on nine plays to score on the opening drive of the game with Andre Brackett, Jr., scoring from the two-yard line. Marc Zazzaro ran in the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.
The key sequence of the drive came after Brackett ran for four yards on a fourth down and 1 play near midfield to keep the drive alive. Then, East Catholic QB Jack Droney completed a 38-yard pass to Brackett to the seven-yard line.
Avon responded on its second possession with big 13-yard scramble from Falcon QB Ian McDonald and a 24-yard run by Teddy Allmendinger to the one-yard line. Andrew Blackmore scored from the one with 10:44 left in the second quarter. The two-point run failed and the Falcons trailed, 8-6.
On its next possession, Avon was driving for potential go-ahead score. Sean Del Gallo made an outstanding 37-yard catch, in stride, from McDonald down the far sideline to give the Falcons the ball on the East Catholic 18-yard line. But two plays later, the Eagles’ Marc Zazzaro stepped in front of Del Gallo to intercept the ball in the end zone and end the threat.
On a warm September afternoon, East Catholic grabbed control of the game in the third quarter. Avon ran just three plays on its opening drive of the second yard and didn’t gain a yard. They punted to the Eagles, who ate up a whopping 9:15 on a 14-play, 84-yard drive that ended with Zazzaro scoring from the one-yard line on fourth down with 1:04 left in the third quarter for a 14-6 lead.
Twice, East Catholic converted on third down to keep the drive alive.
“Clock management is real important on a hot day like this,” Calande said. “We don’t have a lot of (substitutes). Our offense is good for holding the ball and shortening the game. I think it fits our kids.”
The Eagles are consistent. There is no hurry as they come up to the line, get set and knock the opposition off the ball. “You have to be physical with (East Catholic),” Caouette said. “They line up, toe-to-toe and try to punch you in the face. It was tough.”
The Eagles weren’t punching anyone in the head but they moved bodies. Brackett ran for a game-high 100 yards on 14 carries and scored two touchdowns. Conor Hills ran for 58 yards on 11 carries.
Brackett seemingly clinched the game when he broke free for a 43-yard scramper with 8:32 left in the game. A successful two-point conversion run from Droney gave the Eagles a 22-6 lead.
Avon, under Caouette, has shown that they seldom throw in the towel. They will fight to the end. McDonald (8-19-1, 123 yards) completed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Kirk (five receptions, 78 yards) with 7:39 remaining. A two-point run from McDonald cut the lead to 22-14.
The Falcons came up with two big defensive plays to get a final opportunity to tie the game. Hills was held to no gain on second down and Avon’s Ryan Nolan sacked Droney for a six-yard loss with 3:35 left to force an East Catholic punt.
With 2:04 remaining, McDonald hit Del Gallo with a six-yard reception on fourth down and five to keep the drive alive. McDonald’s 21-yard scramble put Avon on the 17-yard line with 1:29 left. McDonald hit Kirk with a five-yard pass and he powered his way into the end zone with 1:19 remaining to cut the lead to 22-20.
East Catholic was thrilled with the win, especially with the extra CIAC playoff points they will get for beating the Falcons, a Class L team. “It’s a huge win,” Calande said. “We get those playoff points. We’ve been talking about playoffs, getting in there and making some noise.” East Catholic hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2004 as a co-op team with Cheney Tech when they went to the Class LL semifinals, losing to Greenwich.
Here's the failed (and disputed) Avon 2point conversion play that decided East Catholic's 22-20 win #cthsfb pic.twitter.com/ECVZACIVY6
— Sean Patrick Bowley (@SPBowley) September 19, 2015
And here was Geoff Kirk's 17yard TD with 1:19 left that gave Avon a chance to win the game #cthsfb pic.twitter.com/QWhHtrFh1M
— Sean Patrick Bowley (@SPBowley) September 19, 2015
GRID DUST: Both are CCC Division III schools but Avon plays in the Eastern Division while East Catholic plays in the Western Division. … It was the first game between the two schools since 2005 when both were members of the Nutmeg Football Conference and the Eagles were a co-op team with Rocky Hill. … East Catholic has won seven straight over Avon, dating back to 1998. Avon’s last win over the Eagles came 20 years ago in 1995.
East Catholic 22, Avon 20
At Avon
East Catholic (2-0) 8 0 6 8 — 22
Avon (1-1) 0 6 0 14 — 20
First quarter
EC: Andre Brackett, Jr. 2 run (Marc Zazzaro run), 7:08
Second quarter
A: Andrew Blackmore 1 run (run fails), 10:44
Third quarter
EC: Zazzaro 1 run (run fails), 1:04
Fourth quarter
EC: Brackett 43 run (Jack Droney run), 8:32
A: Geoff Kirk 16 pass from Ian McDonald (McDonald run), 7:39
A: Kirk 17 pass from McDonald (run fails), 1:19
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Avon – Ian McDonald 9-66, Teddy Allemendinger 6-52, Andrew Blackmore 5-7, Leon Ashbury 1-8; East Catholic – Jack Droney 4-minus 3, Conor Hills 11-58, Tommy Smith 6-18, Andre Brackett, Jr., 14-100, Marc Zazzaro 11-35, Josh Mendoza 1-7
PASSING: Avon – McDonald 8-19-1, 123; East Catholic – Droney 2-6-0, 57
RECEIVING: Avon – Geoff Kirk 5-78, Sean Del Gallo 3-45; East Catholic – Brackett 1-38, Connor Heslin 1-19
SACK: Ryan Nolan (A) 1-6, INTERCEPTION: Zazzaro (EC) 1-0; FUMBLE RECOVERY: McDonald (A) 1-0
RETURNS: Kickoffs – Zazzaro 1-22, Punt – Del Gallo (A) 1-0
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